Applied Reflection Skills

Abstract

Reflection is an interactive process of study that has well
defined steps and stages. It aims to produce an intellectual
and practical effect of the Qur’anic verse you wish to study
and reflect upon. There are several approaches, means
and skills that may be found helpful in a positive process of
reflection on the Qur’an.
This paper, ‘Applied Reflection Skills’, describes a number
of practical ways of reflecting on the Qur’an together with
illustrative examples. It is hoped that these will constitute
a starting point that helps in developing one’s skills
in reflecting on the Qur’an. A gradual application of these
skills should, with God’s help, be sufficient to make a
person ready to reflect on the Qur’an.
My search failed to find anything written on the subject.
Faced with the difficulty of giving an academic description
of practical skills and the need for careful accuracy in such
a study so as to ensure that identified skills remain free of
deviation and outlandish elements, I have tried to deduce
such skills from theoretical studies. I then trained myself

and others to implement them and discovered that they
were very effective on all those who participated in such
training. Hence, I have written this paper to present to my
teachers and colleagues, praying that it will be of benefit.
I praise and thank God for enabling me to write and explain
these skills. I have identified seven main skills that Muslims
need to apply in their reflection on the Qur’an.
One: Self preparation. This means taking suitable steps in
order to be mentally ready to reflect on a particular verse.
Two: Identifying the question. This requires a careful look
at what a particular verse says and its effect.
Three: The means that help to find the answer, or
answers, to the question.
Four: Finding interlinks between the meanings included in
the verse. The means used in skill number three should
help in this.
Five: Widening the area of reflection. This means that
students should not focus all the time on a particular point.
They should look on the Qur’an in total, and on life and its
need for divine legislation that combine comprehensiveness
and perfection.
Six: Revision. In one’s reflection on the Qur’an, the process
must remain within certain controls. One must always
consider whether one’s reflection is on the right course or not.
Seven: Dissemination and education. One should look at
what one has gathered from reflection on a particular verse
and consider how to retain it and how to teach it to others.

All these skills are arrived at through personal study.
Neither their number nor the name given to each was
intended in advance. It is hoped that they will be further
studied and consolidated so that they may be better
implemented and prove to be more effective, God willing.
It is hoped that these skills will be the nucleus of some
practical programmes and applied courses, enabling Muslim
individuals and communities, everywhere, to better reflect
on the Qur’an, as their own educational standards, time
and circumstances permit.

This paper reflects personal endeavour in this very important
subject. What is right and correct in it is achieved by God’s
grace, and whatever is faulty or wrong is due to my own
shortcomings and I seek God’s forgiveness.