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Quran Study – Vol. 1, Chapter 3

A wise man once said to me: Repetition increases the rate of success.

Today I am attending a lecture at the Islamic Center of New Port Richey; we are studying Sura Al-Jinn, the 72nd chapter of the Quran.

This chapter contains 28 ayat, or verses.

The Imam frequently holds lectures between Magrhib and Isha, and whenever I’m in attendance, I try to either record or take notes regarding the lecture, so that I can share my perspective as a New Muslim, while also helping to keep track of my studies.

I haven’t been studying long enough to establish a good routine, but I feel good about taking notes like this, and being able to keep track of my progress week over week. Originally, my plan was to update this blog once a week, but I realized I can update it a bit more according to how much I’m able to study. As long as I post at least once a week.

We actually studied this Surah last time, but instead of taking notes or recording it, I simply enjoyed the lecture offline, so I’m happy that we are going over it once again.

I want the content of this blog to be both a mix of the what I study on my own and what I study in groups. The idea is to encourage others to both to the mosque, particularly in group study or discussion, and to study on their own. The expectation should never be to learn everything during a lecture or class, but to use the class or lecture as a point of reference for what you’ve learned, and as a point of connection for building relationships with others.

Since I’m new to Islam, everything will be somewhat new to me, which is kind of the point of this blog.

At some point (Inshallah) the entire Quran will be familiar to me. Personally, I’m in no rush, and I’m genuinely enjoying my studies so far. Every chapter of the Quran has the overarching theme of submission to Allah so I’m very actually lost when I study.

I’ve spent all week essentially just learning the Adhan, the subject of last week’s article, which has allowed me to memorize the Shahada as well as learn some basic Arabic. It’s just hard to type since the script changes dramatically depending upon the characters used; it’s bad enough it’s an entirely different alphabet. I have however, learned how to type the following words:

الله

اذان

دين

One thing that is really cool is when you type Arabic into google it comes up with a completely different world (similar to when you type in Hebrew) and because I’ve studied Hebrew before I understand how certain articles are completely different when presented to a different audience [or otherwise in a different language] so I can look forward to the world opening up to me if I learn Arabic, including but not limited to the Quran.

Studying Arabic has improved my desire not just to learn more foreign languages but to learn them in a way that allows me to connect with the local audience in addition to translate the Quran. It’s not just expression but it’s also about learning more, teaching what I know, and spending quality time with people of different backgrounds and cultures; to expose myself to more knowledge, and to better understand the truth. As daunting as it sounds now, I plan on studying (or continuing to study) the following five languages.

1. Arabic
2. Haitian Creole
3. French
4. Spanish
5. Hebrew

I have to constantly remind myself not to get caught up in the idea of only paying attention to Scripture and disregarding life in general. This means doing basic study in Arabic such as reading books other than the Quran, watching TV, listening to music, et cetera.

I can’t readily translate the whole thing (I’m new to Arabic) but from an artistic standpoint I would like to incorporate more Arabic into my designs, the same way I’ve made a lot of designs that heavily feature Hebrew.

The above was a design I created in the military, with the left hand side being a draft and the right hand sign being the finished project. The design was part of a larger project of “Drill Instructor Cover Blocks” which is a very popular project typically offered to new recruits in the Marines from the NCOs responsible for their Basic Training. Over time, I’ll begin to incorporate more designs into this blog to complement my studies, while also offering an additional way to support me or my studies.

It’s not just about the designs having Arabic though, it’s about them representing my journey and the person I am becoming. The same way the above design represented my becoming a Marine, the influence of my “kill hat” and the relationship between us, the redesign will focus more on the concept of Jinn, replacing the Hebrew with ayat from Sura Al-Jinn, which was the subject of this weeks study, thus creating a beautiful parallel.

While the above project represented my transition from civilian to Marine, the new project will represent my transition into Islam, built upon the life I had before.