Qur’an Competition

Concerning our discussion of Qur’an competitions last night, it made me flash back to my childhood. I remember being in Sunday School, which is basically just a day care with halal hot dogs. I remember being in one Qur’an competition that my friend coerced me into. I didn’t think much of it back then, but now I’m bothered by how it is such a popular practice within certain Muslim communities. It seems like a misuse of the recitation of the Qur’an. It could potentially foster feelings of jealousy between children and parents alike. The Qur’an should bring people together rather than vice versa. This reminded me of Ali Shariati’s argument about how Muslims concentrate too much on the aesthetics of the Qur’an such as the beauty of its cover or recitation without learning about the meaning behind it. For a Muslim, there is much more merit in knowing what the Qur’an’s message is rather than reciting it, completely ignorant of what it means. I definitely have not taken it upon myself to learn the meaning of the surahs which I have memorized, but hopefully, taking the advice of Dr. Ahmad, I can achieve this goal.