My Personal Journey to Enlightenment

The simple truth is I always thought to myself that I was not good enough to read the Quran. Not good enough as my Arabic language was not up to standards, and maybe not good enough as I had very little knowledge of the Islamic religion and I always felt I had unconventional ways of thinking.

I tried to read it over and over again and just felt like a complete failure. I didn’t understand much, however I felt like I was in a race to read the whole entire Holy Book as I compared myself to people around me. I felt I was streaming through it as if I was reading a textbook just to get graded by my teacher. I immediately stopped and knew this way didn’t serve me. I started reading and listening to videos of recitations so I can pronounce the words properly, as well as  deepening my understanding through reading the English translation.

Year after year, I started receiving some sunlight of wisdom that radiated through my soul. I found many messages as if the Quran was speaking to me. The example closest to my heart was the Ayah فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا  when I had just launched my new business in 2011 which was at the same time of the revolution and God proved to me that even through the utmost hardship he was there for me to help me through my challenging journey. 

During that same period I started on my coaching journey; studied life coaching for a year with LLC led by Ahmed el Awaar, joined several programs with the spiritual writer and mentor Robert Holden, Functional Medicine Health Coaching 1-year certification by IFF, and I read many books about psychology, metaphysics, philosophy and health. The more I read the more similarities I found between those learnings and God’s words in the Holy Quran.

After receiving sparks of light from the Quran, I still needed a deeper connection and a deeper understanding. I’m the kind of character that loves deep 1-1 conversations, really dwelling deep within a topic, pausing to reflect and acting up on it. I decided to cultivate the same relationship with God and with the Quran. I thought to myself, what is each Ayah; each sentence was a big topic, pearls of wisdom to reflect upon.

One Ramadan, instead of skimming through the Quran, I made a decision to read one Ayah at a time, reflect upon it and act by it through the entire day. Blessings rushed into my life, the words became alive by embedding them within my brain and heart, and they became alive by resembling them. The words can turn from letters on a page to a lifestyle, an understanding and a deep blessing. 

This year I'm thankful that the project is now open to the public with  God's guidance, love and inspiration.

A special thank you to Heba Fadel, our amazing Project Manager and Editor, Zeina Moraad, part of the writing team, Omar Kafafi - Technical expert, Noha Seif and Nada -  Design, Mariam, Project Executive and everyone else who has contributed with references and guidance.

With Love,

Deena Fadel