Abu Bakr alHusain alAjary has a book which talks about the characteristics of the bearers of the Qur'an (حملة القرآن):
1) "Adhere to the book of Allah, pursue what is therein of similitude, be people of perception regarding it. May Allah have mercy on a slave who presents himself and his actions to the Qur'an. If he sees that his action conforms with the teachings of the Qur'an, let him praise Allah and ask him for more of his grace. And if he has seen that his action is contrary to what is in the Qur'an, then let him scold himself and return to the goodness and to Allah in repentance" - Hasan alBasri
We need to magnify the Qur'an, pondering and reflecting over the meaning of the Qur'an, striving hard to understand it, and act upon it. This is how we adhere to it.
There are many parables in the Qur'an which Allah has set forth in order to emphasise an important matter. Whoever ponders over the similitudes will draw out abundant fruits.
تزكية النفس (Purification of the Soul)
This is how we will purify ourselves, by presenting ourselves to the Qur'an.
2) Abu Musa Al-Ashari gathered القراء (The people who had memorised the Qur'an) and addressed them. First he talked about the greatness of the Qur'an and then said, "Truly, this Qur'an can be a ذخراً (an asset) or it will be a وزراً (burden) for you. So follow the Qur'an and let not the Qur'an follow you because he who follows the Qur'an will take him to Paradise, and whomever the Qur'an follows will take him to Hell"
HADITH: The Prophet said, "Through the Qur'an there are people whom Allah exalts and people whom Allah disgraces"
HADITH: The Prophet said, "The Qur'an will either be a plea for a person or against him"
Qatadah said, "No one sits with the Qur'an and gets up but he either had increased or decreased (in faith, guidance, knowledge, etc)"
He concluded this statement from (17:82)
"و ننزل القرآن ماهو شفاء و رحمة للمؤمنين و لا يزيد الظالمين الا خسارا"
The people whom the Qur'an follows are either reciting and not acting or they are completely turn away from it's pondering and acting.
In (10:57)
As-Sa'di said regarding this verse, "Allah is exhorting his creation to adhere to the Qur'an by mentioning the descriptions of the Qur'an"
Allah mentions the descriptions of the Qur'an in order that we love it, attach ourselves to it, hold fast it.
"it is an advice by advising the people and warning them against every shameful deed by mentioning what it will bring of Allah's anger, his punishment, and mentioning the evil consequence of sins and evil deeds"
الشفاء (A Cure)
"It is a healing for two kinds of sicknesses:
1) Doubts الشبهات
2) Desires الشهوات "
This is a sickness which prevents the person from adhering to the laws.
Ex.Love for this Dunya. This is a kind of sickness which the Qur'an heals by mentioning the reality of this life and that the people who live it are hypocrites and disbelievers
Ex. Miserliness. People naturally love wealth, but when it exceeds the limit and the person becomes stingy, the Qur'an cures this sickness in him.
There is nothing which Allah orders or forbids us in the Qur'an except that our natural instinct agrees with.
Ex1.All people regardless of religion, sex, age, love justice and hate oppression. Oppression is to put something in it's wrong place. Tawheed is the utmost justice and Shirk is the utmost injustice. In the Qur'an Allah tells us about Himself and that He bestows blessings on he which cause us to love Him and thank Him but they thank and devote themselves to other God's. Our instinct accepts this without any difficulty
"This is because the Qur'an comprises of extortions, advices, intimidation, promises, threats, which make a person either have hope or fear. If one finds in it's encouragements to do good and warning against evil and these grow by frequent reciting and understanding of it's meaning, until the person reaches a state where he precedes Allah's love over what he loves, and Allah's requests over what he wants. When the heart becomes cured the limbs follow it.
هدى (Guidance)
"And this is guidance. It is knowledge and acting upon it."
رحمة (Mercy)
"And if a person knows the truth and act upon it then the Qur'an will no doubt bring him mercy"
Mercy is everything that is good.
So, How do I use the Qur'an to cure my sickness?
1) First, I identify my sicknesses.
2) I pick out verses which talk about particular sickness and encourage it's opposite
3) Then I try to understand these verses
4) I repeat the meanings to myself frequently
Example:
STEP 1:
بخل
شح
Ibn Mas'ood and Ibn Abbas said, "بخل is withholding money from spending in good and شح is greediness"
Ibn Qayyim elaborated the difference by saying, "بخل is the fruit of شح"
This means that شح is more serious than بخل. It is something hidden in the self which makes the person a بخيل. It makes a person always covet for worldly things. He doesn't care how he gets the wealth, lawfully or unlawfully. And when he gets the money he becomes miserly.
AlQurtubi said, "شح is بخل + Greediness (حرص)"
These are all based on the Ahadith of the Prophet:
HADITH1: "Beware of ظلم (Injustice) because oppression is a darkness on the Day of Judgement. Beware of الشح because it destroyed those who were before you because it incited them to shed the lawful and make the unlawful things lawful." (Muslim, Authenticated by al-Albani)
HADITH2: "Beware of الشح because it was the cause of the destruction of the people before you. الشح commanded them with بخل and they became miserly. It commanded them to cut the relation between the kith and kin and they did that. It commanded them to wickedness and they became wicked" (Abu Dawud, Authenticated by al-Albani)
HADITH3: "الشح and Eeman don't join together in the heart of the slave" (An-Nasaai)
We want the Qur'an to be a cure for this sickness. The opposite of this is to spend (نفق، ينفق، إنفاق)
STEP 2:
You need to understand the context in which the verse came as well.
1) (2:3)
- Encouragement -
Context: Allah is describing the Muttaqeen.
In Verse 5: "اولائك على هدى من ربهم و اولائك هم المفلحون"
They are pious, they are guided by Allah, and they are successful.
2) (2:195)
- Intimidation and Encouragement -
Allah commands us with spending in the way of Allah. This is to spend in all the ways of goodness which bring the person closer to Allah.
As-Sa'di said, "Spending in Allah's obedience and for His pleasure"
The best spending is to spend on Jihad and this is not restricted to the sword but by the tongue (like making Da'wah).
"و لا تلقوا بأيديكم الى التهلكة"
The relation between this part of the verse and the beginning: One type of putting yourself into destruction is by not spending.
Generally, you can throw yourself into destruction by abandoning anything Allah commanded you with or persistently committing sin.
Also it can be going to places which cause destruction to yourself. Where your Eeman goes down, or sites which cause you doubts, going to unsafe places,etc.
Allah is intimidating us in this part of the verse.
"و أحسنوا إن الله يحب المحسنين"
Another command from Allah: Do Good.
Perfect your worship to Allah and do good to the people.
The relation between انفاق: Spend good and Allah will love you. Allah is encouraging us here.
3) (2:254)
- Encouragement (ترغيب) , Intimidation -
"يأيها الذين آمنوا"
Allah is addressing the believers. We are believers.
"أنفقوا مما رزقناهم"
If you are a believer your belief should encourage you to spend. الشح and ايمان do not join in the heart of a person.
The money belongs to Allah, not us. So then why do we not spend?
"من قبل ان يأتي يوم لا بيع فيه....."
Spend now before a day where a person will not be able to ransom himself from the punishment even if he spent earthfuls of gold. A day when there is no beloved friend to save you from that punishment, nor an intercessor. Allah is warning us.
4) (2:261)
- Encouragement -
This is a parable.
"مثل الذين ينفقون في سبيل الله كمثل حبة انتدبت سبع
This verse is a clarification for verse 244 and 245:
Allah is talking about Jihad. Fighting in the way of Allah cannot be without spending. جحاد and انفاق always come together. The last part of Surah Baqarah is all about this.
When you spend in charity it is as if you are giving a loan to Allah which will be payed back to you in multitude. The way of multiplication is not mentioned in this verse, it is mentioned in verse 261.
Allah explains this in the form of a parable.
A parable comprises of four things:
1) Article of Resemblance (أداة التشبيه)
Like ك or the word مثل
2) مشبه (The resemblance/ The intangible matter)
3) مشبه به (The thing Allah is resembling with/ The Tangible matter)
4) وجه التشبيه (The similarity between the two)
اداة التشبيه -> The word مثل/كمثل
مشبه -> Allah is setting an example for the great reward and how it grows and increases for the believer.
مشبه به -> Allah resembles it with a حبه (a grain). It will grow seven ears and each ear will have 100 grains. One grain produced 700 grains.
وجه التشبيه -> The multiplication. How Allah gives manifold increase.
"والله يضائف لمن يشاء"
Not everyone will be increased. Only whom Allah wills, and Allah's will is dependant on His knowledge and wisdom. Allah who knows who was sincere and who was not.
لمن يشاء also indicates that Allah multiplies and his multiplication and reward is unlimited. It is not restricted.
"والله واسع عليم"
What is the relation between these names and the previous part of the verse? Don't think that this is an exaggeration, Allah is vast and is able to give more and more and this will not diminish his dominion in the slightest. It is so great that we can't encompass or imagine Allah's vastness or great.
Allah knows how much you give, in what situation you give, if it's with sincerity or truthfulness, etc.
After understanding these verses how will a person encourage themselves to spend?
- I want to be pious, guided, successful,
- I want to earn Allah's love
- I want to protect myself from destruction
- I want to be one of the true believers because my spending indicates my belief
- I don't want this money to be a cause of regret on the Day of Judgement.
This will help you to collect your intention when you're spending, to hope for these rewards. It will help you renew your intention.