As a child, I was taught to read Quranic Arabic, and for a non-Arabic speaker, it was quite literally gibberish. This and growing up raw with shame and fear in a post 9/11 New York City, I simply did not understand the Quran, or what it truly meant to be a Muslimah. 

Everything changed after my father died in 2020. In the rupture of that loss, the ummah, including Muslim strangers, said to me: “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un”. This translates to “Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return.” One line in the Quran cracked me open. I found a devastating peace in knowing he was held in the care of something far greater than any of us. 

So I began investigating the Holy Book for myself. When I read more deeply, I unravelled even more questions, sat with my grief, and tended to my spiritual evolution. 

Today, the world feels dystopian with climate change, rising wealth disparities, and global bloodshed. It is easy to become numb and desensitised to world crises, but Islam reminds me to stay conscious and loving.

I try to return the Quran every Ramadan; every time I do, the scripture holds new layers. The Quran is a living text; different lines rise to meet me depending on where I am in life. I am absolutely no Quran scholar, and there are passages I cannot yet fathom, but I surrender to the divinity and the uncertainty. 

Through my endless journey of unlearning, learning, and returning to Islam, I have come to characterise Allah as a poet. I meditate on the themes of forgiveness, love, patience, life and death in the Quran. These lines deserve to be unpacked. For anyone who is lost, curious, and/or passionate about Islam (I am all three lol), we can start with visiting some of my favourite quotes from the sacred book.

“Successful indeed is the one who purifies their soul” – (Surah Ash-Shams)

In a world that measures success by job titles and bank balances, this line is a radical reorientation. It is my favourite kind of reminder to move through this world tenderly.

“Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear” – (Surah Al-Baqarah)

There is something profoundly empowering about a God who not only sees your struggle, but believes in your capacity to move through it. It reframes everything: every setback becomes something to alchemise, and every challenge, an invitation to rise.

What strikes me first is the address itself – O Believers – not Muslims, but Believers: those committed to the ongoing work of purifying their hearts. And what this particular verse asks of them is radical in its simplicity: be ethical, be consensual, do not be greedy. In a world where financial exploitation is so normalised it barely registers as wrongdoing, there is something quietly revolutionary about a sacred text that condemns greed outright. I often find myself wondering what the world might look like if genuine integrity sat at the heart of every transaction.

“And the earth discharges its burdens…That Day, it will report its news”  – (Surah Az-Zalzalah)

ICYDK, climate change is Islamophobic!! This verse has never felt more urgent. The earth, according to the Quran, is not a passive backdrop to human activity, but a living witness that will testify on its own behalf. Additionally, beyond the ecological, this verse carries a wider reckoning that every atrocity committed will one day be accounted for through Divine justice. 

“And He it is who has caused waters to come down from the sky; and by this means have We brought forth all living growth, and out of this have We brought forth verdure. Out of this do We bring forth close-growing grain; and out of the spathe of the palm tree, dates in thick clusters; and gardens of vines, and the olive tree, and the pomegranate: [all] so alike, and yet so different! Behold their fruit when it comes to fruition and ripens! Verily, in all this there are messages indeed for people who will believe.” – (Surah Al-An’am)

In sweeping and sensory details, this verse invites us to slow down and truly look at the world we’ve been given. It is a verse about gratitude where biodiversity is a miraculous gift. It reminds me to nourish myself with what the earth so generously offers, and to receive every meal, every change, and every herb as the blessing it actually is.

“Men will be rewarded according to their deeds and women ˹equally˺ according to theirs.” – (Surah An-Nisa)

I am so tired of the narrative that Islam oppresses women because when you actually read the Quran, what you find is something far more nuanced and, frankly, far more progressive than the patriarchal lens through which it is so often filtered. This verse alone is a statement of divine equity: your deeds are your own, your accountability is your own, and God sees you fully, equally, without diminishment. The Quran offers women protective guidelines, financial independence, and the right to exit romantic relationships with dignity and grace. It champions equity over equality, recognising that protection and fairness can look different without being unjust.

Next, read about global Muslim women’s experiences with the hijab here.