Here are some of the fallacies we have internalised! First, we are sure that Allah is our Rabb; nothing wrong about that! However, if we have made ourselves believe that He is our Rabb alone, not the Rabb of Mushrikeen, Kuffar, and of other creatures, then we actually failed to understand that He is the Rabbul Alameen (Rabb/ sustainer of the entire universe and of every creation within the vast creation).

And, therefore, He rewards everyone in this world as per his/ her worldly efforts, as He is the Most Just. Like, one needs to sow a seed for the plant to come up. Mere dua of a "Muslim" will not bring the desired result in comparison with the effort of a non-Muslim. If this was possible, our prophet (PBUH) would not need to lead the armies in the battle-fields. Whose duas, sitting at home, would have been more effective than his?

Commitments Made by Us to Allah at least 19 times Daily are Just Lip-Service?

The commitment starts with confirmation that we are "Abd" of Allah alone. "Abd" means slave, so we are not just committing to worship Allah, but we are also committing to remain His slave, and His alone. Worship then is just one element of our slavery; just one! Possibly the smallest one! We confirm and re-confirm at least 19 times daily that Allah is our Master, and He is the only Master Whose slaves we all are. Being in the habit of reciting without pondering upon the meaning of the verse leaves us in a deep well of ignorance as if worship alone would be enough to fulfill the commitment. Isn't it? This problem arises mainly because we have not tried to learn Arabic. How is that we commmit to serve our Master, and we don't even try to know what He wants from us!! If we really love our Master, we would also have loved His book (Quran) of instructions/ commandments and the language of His book. If we work for a Chinese company wherein all instructions from our bosses come in the Chinese language, can we understand what the bosses want without knowing the Chinese language? Or, at least finding its proper translation to know the instructions! Can we retain our employment without understanding the works we are supposed to do? Can we remain Allah's committed slave without knowing what He wants from us? How is the following of instructions possible? Recitation of Quran in Arabic alone gives enough rewards! The hadith that confirms this is narrated by those who spoke Arabic, understood Arabic, had a chance to clarify any confusion that might have arisen due to some Quranic Arabic terms being uniquely different. They did not need to find a translation to know the simple meaning of the verses. Right? So, if they received the rewards for each letter of the words being recited, can it be the same for those whose native language is not Arabic?

Worship & Slavery - Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan - Who is an Abd? What is Ibadah? Explained (English) in the light of Surah Al Kafirun

Worship & Slavery (Urdu) - What is Ibaadah in Reality? Maulana Maududi's Explanation

Will Allah accept us as His slave when we don't even know what He wants from us?

Second part of the commitment is to seek help from Allah alone. If we did not understand the Chinese employer's instructions (and thus not followed them), do we have any moral right to claim even our salary? What about any other help from the Chinese boss? Does it give us enough idea why Allah doesn't listen to our duas, the duas of billions of muslims worldwide who are subjected to humiliations of all kinds everywhere?

And, Surah Fatiha is just the opening chapter of the rule-book, the operations manual, the human resources manual! What about the detailed instructions contained in the other one hundred and fourteen chapters?

The third and final part is our dua (the best possible dua in the best possible mannerism taught by Allah). We ask Allah for guiding us on the straight path which has been elaborated in the other 113 chapters of the Quran. We make sure that this straight path is the one which brought Allah's blessings to those who traded on them. And, that this path is not that of the ones who had to face in the past (or face now, and will face in future) the angst of Allah because of disobeying Him despite knowing what He wanted from them, or the the path of the misguided - path of those who did not (do not / will not) care to understand what Allah wanted from them.

How do we understand these paths of our successful past predecessors and the reasons why they were the blessed/ chosen ones, or the paths of the accursed ones and the reasons why they had to face the wrath of Allah? How do we understand what leads to disgrace in front of Allah and the resulting ignominy and degradation? The entire quran after the opening Surah guides us in these aspects if we are ready to understand what our Master wants from us, what He would reward us for and what would make us eligible for worldly disgrace and final abode in hell.

Tilawat (recitation) enough? How easily has this great aspect of Islam (understanding so as to obey Allah like His true slave) been dumped into the pits of fallacy! Fallacy? Or, deliberate disobedinece of Allah Who we claim to be following as our Master?

Why was Quran given to the prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) in 23 long years?

We know that kids of our time are able to memorise the Quran in 3, 4 or 5 years, alhamdolillah! Why was the most intelligent person, chosen by Allah, given the same Quran in 23 years? Contemplating over the facts and going through a href="https://biharanjuman.org/pages/quran/seeratun_nabi.php" target="_blank">the biography of our leader, we can easily understand that it wasn't just given for reciting to the people, but to understand it properly and to act upon its instructions, practice it so that the entire quran could actually be interlised by everyone to whom it was recited. Are we special that we do not need to understand it in order to practice it in every aspect of our lives?

Quran is the Book (laws), the Source of Knowledge (ilm) and Wisdom (hikmah)

Quran is the Book of legislation (constitution), the source of knowledge (ilm) needed to live the life of Allah's slave and the source of wisdom (hikmah), and that's what Allah asked the prophets to pass on to His servants. Refer to Quran 2:151, 3:164 and 62:2 etc. This is the book which guides the agnostic, the atheists, the polytheists, scientists, doctors, engineers and scholars of other religions towards the pure religion of God - Islam. Those who delve deep into the treasures relating to political, historical, psychological, medical, astronomical, Cosmology, galaxies and space, embryology and the modus operandi of other creations hidden within the Quran get enough spark needed to come out from the darknesses of ignorance and misconceptions into the light of true guidance. Even the linguistic miracles and the composition of the book or the structure of the verses transmitted verbally provide enough evidence of its source being divine. This happens to those who delve deep with an intention to seek knowledge.

While "others" benefit from this miraculous book all over the world and come towards Islam, why is it that the ones born in muslim families focus just on "finishing" the quran? Who has the ability to "finish" the Quran? While the muslims-by-birth spend a lifetime studying Newton, Aristotle, Socrates, Pythagoras, Pluto, Darwin, Einstein or Gandhi, in a language that could easily be understood, why is it that they hardly spend time understanding the book from their Creator, Provider and Sustainer, Whose slave they commit to be, at least 19 times in their five daily prayers? By practice alone can a teaching be internalised after it has been understood. Once internalised, the external influences that have the potential to condition our minds in the opposite direction would automatically be defeated. Then, Quran shall become our guide in whatever we do - personal or family, business or management, education or training, politics or governance - and make us eligible for a successful life in the hereafter - the permanent life that must come after an extremely short span of life in this world.