A father left his wife & children to work in a distant land to make money to provide for his family. His family loved him & respected him very much.

After a while, the father sent his family his 1st letter. Because it was a letter from someone so precious to them, they left it unopened, each kissed it then placed it in an expensive box lined with velvet.

Every now & then, they would take out the letter, kiss it, then return it to the velvet-lined box. None of them dared to open the letter. As the father sent more & more letters, they would take each one, kiss it, & place it in the velvet-lined box.

Years passed, & the father returned to his home to find no one but one son. He asked his son: “Where is your mother?”

The son replied: “She got very sick. We had no money to take her to a doctor, & she passed away.”

The father asked: “Didn’t you see the money I sent to you in my 1st letter?”

The son replied: “No. We never opened the letters. We kissed them & placed them in this velvet-lined box.”

The father asked: “Where is your brother?”

The son replied: “With no parents to look after him, he got involved with a group of bad people, & he’s now in prison.”

The father asked: “Didn’t he read my 2nd letter, in which I advised him to choose good friends?”

The son replied: “No. We never opened the letters. We kissed them & placed them in this velvet-lined box.”

The father asked: “Where is your sister?”

The son replied: “She got married to the man she told you about in her letter. He turned out to be corrupt, & she is quite miserable with him.”

The father asked: “Didn’t she read the letter I sent her saying he’s a bad person that she should not marry?”

The son replied: “We protected all your letters in this expensive velvet-lined box. We dusted the box, kissed your letters, but never read them.”

The father couldn’t understand how his family respected his words so much but never bothered to read them or follow them.

Now, think about the Qur’an. We place it in an expensive velvet-lined box that we dust every day. We kiss it, we respect it, but do we ever read it (aside from Ramadhan) or follow it or apply it to our lives?

Allah Subhana Ta’ala Who is supposed to be number 1 in our lives & the Most Beloved to us is Talking to us through His Glorious Qur’an. Let’s fulfil the rights of the Qur’an which is to read, reflect over its meaning & implement in our lives. We don’t have to wait until Ramadhan… none of us have been given the guarantee that we will survive until then..

Let’s make intention not to let a day pass without reading the Qur’an & start now!!!

O Allah! Make the Quran the delight of our hearts & the light of our breasts & the remover of our pain, sorrow & discomfort.