Quran Reflection #1: Life Stories.

Written by: Nadrah

﷽
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

 

لَقَدْ كَانَ فِى قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَةٌ لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ ۗ مَا كَانَ حَدِيثًا يُفْتَرَىٰ وَلَٰكِن تَصْدِيقَ ٱلَّذِى بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَتَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

“There was certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding. Never was the Qur’an a narration invented, but a confirmation of what was before it, and a detailed explanation of all things, and guidance and mercy for a people who believe.” (Surah Yusuf 12:111)

 

A mother leaves her children behind due to financial constraint. A husband sends no news at all for 3 years after he said he’d leave to find for a job. Two teenagers left behind, just a few years shy of adulthood. How deeply painful is the fragmentation of a family?

A daughter buries her parent after long sleepless nights in the hospital. She is still in her university years, with just a few more semesters until she graduates. She is accustomed to carrying heavy emotional weights on her shoulders and is perceived as a tough cookie by the people around her. Will there come a point when she finally breaks down?

A little boy is in a difficult situation with little guidance from his parents, clueless about the world and its struggles. He is presumed to be too young to understand the circumstances that he is in. How would he grow into a man?

We all come from different walks of lives, bearing different experiences of the world.

We walk through different doors, have various experiences, some light, but most heavy. Sometimes, we walk straight up to a door, not knowing that entering it will leave a lifelong wound in our hearts.

And sometimes, we take U-turns due to some miscalculated (mis)adventure. We learn a life lesson.

Then there’s that empty hole in your heart. That hollow sensation, that burning yearn for something to make your heart whole. A whole lot of silent words, jumbled up with one million emotions that you can’t exactly pinpoint just yet. But you will eventually recognize what they are.

There are many life stories unheard, untold and unshared.

When life takess us for a stormy ride, it can be easy to lose sight of things. Our thoughts become jumbled up, emotions mixed and focus lost. It is easy to forget the brighter side of things and be buried in endless uncertainties.

Whenever I listen to the life stories of others, be it in or outside of therapy, it always brings me back and closer to the Qur’an–I remember verses like the one above.

Each and every story within the Qur’an is beautiful in its own way, despite the many struggles contained within. No matter how hard a heart breaks, no matter how bad a relationship turns out to be or how tough a situation gets, each story has a seed waiting to be planted, watered, and tended to. Each is a beautiful flower, waiting to bloom with the right nourishment.

Similar themes weave through each story. Heartbreak, loss, grief, uncertainty. . .everything under the sun. After all, the Qur’an is full of stories to be learned from previous generations bearing different lessons of similar themes.

Having a tough sibling rivalry? It has been narrated in Surah Yusuf (Joseph).

Facing discrimination or ignorance? Look to the stories of Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus), and Muhammad.

And for this very reason, I feel the urge to share this beauty and love I have for the very gift from God for all of us despite the differences we have.

Whatever our life stories are; it is easy to forget that answers to our riddles are hidden within them. We just need to find the right perspective to examine them from.

*Stories narrated above are not any of my clients’ stories, but are mere hypothetical situations.

Love and Light always,
Nadrah.