Improving Lives By Reflecting On The Verses Of The Quran
Improving Lives By Reflecting On The Verses Of The Quran is the life of a believer is conscious and is fuelled by the purpose for the sake of seeking betterment in all aspects.
Whether it is a family matter, work, personal or community level, we can seek guidance from the Divine Wisdom in the Quran and with the example of our Beloved Prophet ﷺ. It will help you to learn how to live with discipline, thought, and structure.
The Holy Quran guides Muslims to illuminate every aspect of our lives. We can beautify our lives and internal selves while improving our external conduct to attain closeness to Allah. Within The Book, all of us can find attributes and ways to improve ourselves, and in this article, we will highlight some of those:
Reflection of Quranic Verses for Improving Life:
Divine Commands in the Quran teach us qualities of the character we should nurture for success in this world and the next. Where on the one hand, there are Surahs like Surah Yaseen reiterates God’s sovereignty and the existence of Resurrection, but there are other Surahs that will teach you more about the qualities your character should reflect.
These qualities include:
● Good relationships with others
● Practicing gratitude
● Restraining from anger and other negative emotion
● Making the best of examples from ﷺ our role model
● Being consistent
● Being generous
Social Interactions:
Early in the Quran, we learn how we are not living as individuals but as highly social creatures that exist as part of a larger fabric of society.
They ask you, [O Muhammad], what they should spend. Say, “Whatever you spend of good is [to be] for parents and relatives and orphans and the needy and the traveler. And whatever you do of good – indeed, Allah is Knowing of it.” [2:215]
Neighbors:
Similarly to the above verse, we are told again in verse 36 of An-Nisa’:
“Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the neighbor farther away, the companion at your side, the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allah does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful.” [4:36]
In addition to excellent behavior with our parents, relatives, orphans, the needy, and the traveler, this verse tells us about caring for and being considerate of the neighbor, the further neighbor, and the companion at our side.
Neighbors, people in our proximity, and different people that we meet briefly as part of our day-to-day lives are, in various capacities, impacting our realities.
To enhance these parts of our lives and bring positive energy into our character by giving out good power, Allah emphasizes the importance of being good to them.
Be Consistent:
Managing our emotions is an essential part of self-improvement. We must maintain a sense of freedom that only comes from being light. Allah reminds us of this in Surah Al-Imran:
“Who spend [in the cause of Allāh] during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and
who pardon the people – and Allāh loves the doers of good” [3:134]
The consistency in spending in the way of Allah is mentioned here, and this spending can be financial but also time, energy, and provisions. Allah reminds us that we must be consistent in our efforts and that hardship and ease both come and go in life – they should not hinder our output.
People can often regret things said or done in anger. Allah tells us here that believers try not to be impacted by negative energy and control their anger. In addition to this, believers forgive.
Forgiveness is good for the one being forgiven but even better for the one doing the forgiving. If you control your anger and forgive others, you will grow in character and have a focused approach to life with lesser regrets.
Toward the end of the verse, we find our motivation to fight through negative emotions and to respond to evil with good, and we strive to do this for the sake of Allāh and to attain His love.
Practice Gratitude:
Allah reminds us that if we are grateful, He will increase us.
And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you
[in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.’ [14:7]
Often, self-improvement begins with recognizing what Allah has already given us. Recalling His favors and focusing on the blessings we already have allows for a positive mindset to manifest.
Gratitude is a principle that is widely known to be beneficial for us. Still, Allah promises something nobody else can: He will increase us in favor if we can be thankful for His countless blessings.
A grateful heart attracts more, while an ungrateful spirit cannot find peace even if it has acquired everything it desires.
Make the Beloved Prophet ﷺ a Role Model:
The heart of the Messenger of Allah was chosen as the heart upon which The Quran descended. Allah gave us the best examples for us to have guidance on how to live in a way that will attain the love and mercy of Allah. We read in The Quran that the Prophet ﷺ is told to say:
Say, [O Muhammad], “If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” [3:31]
When seeking ways of self-improvement, whether that is how to spend our time, how to elevate our thinking, how to manage our relationships, or how to be ethical when working,
we have been blessed with the example of the one that was the utmost honest, truthful, hopeful, patient, and dedicated.
The life of our Beloved Prophet ﷺ is priceless knowledge for us to gather and implement in our own lives for us to improve ourselves and attain the love and mercy of Allah.
Appreciate the Creations of Allah:
We have been given signs to affirm the truth in The Book, many of which are found in the natural world. For example, Allah tells us:
“And it is He who spread the earth and placed therein firmly set mountains and rivers; and from all of the fruits He made therein two mates; He causes the night to cover the day.
Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.” [13:3]
Being familiar with nature, appreciating its beauty in the provision, and pondering the skies, mountains, and galaxies are all good ways to remind us that we do not merely exist in the universe. We live as part of it.
The more we ponder His creation, learn about it and recognize His signs, the more we will feel motivated about our higher purpose, build character, hold ourselves accountable, and become more evolved from a developmental perspective.
Conclusion:
To conclude, much literature on self-improvement will tell us that there are qualities within a person that predicts their likeliness of success in this world. These ways of self-improvement, among many others, that The Quran guides us with will help us to lead fulfilling lives while we are on earth and will aid us in acquiring the good deeds we need for the hereafter.
In all self-improvement work, the intention is the first and foremost key element. Our goal should be pure, self-development should be for the sake of Allah, and we should turn to bestow us with success when we strive to refine, cleanse and improve.