Connecting with the Qur’an in the Age of AI: A Guide from Shaykh AbdulNasir Jangda
In a world filled with constant distraction and rapid technological change, how do we maintain a deep, meaningful connection with the Qur’an? This timeless scripture, revealed over 1,400 years ago, holds profound wisdom, but making it relevant to our daily lives can feel like a challenge.
We sat down with Shaykh AbdulNasir Jangda, the Founder and President of the renowned Qalam Institute, to explore this very topic. Drawing from a lifetime of experience as a student, a teacher, and a community leader, Shaykh AbdulNasir shares powerful personal stories, practical advice, and a crucial warning about navigating our faith in the age of Artificial Intelligence.
This will guide you through his most transformative lessons, offering actionable steps to deepen your own relationship with the Qur’an.
Foundational Lessons: Wisdom Beyond Words
A true connection with the Qur’an begins long before academic study. For Shaykh AbdulNasir, it started with the silent, powerful examples set by his first teachers: his mother and his mentor.
A Mother’s Lesson in Service
“Even now, in her old age,” Shaykh AbdulNasir recalls, “if she gets a call and someone needs anything, she’ll literally just get up from her chair, put on her shoes, and walk out the door.”
This simple, unwavering commitment to service (khidma) became a living embodiment of the Qur’an’s core values. It was a lesson taught not through lectures, but through decades of consistent action.
A Teacher’s Masterclass in Humility
His mentor, Shaykh Muhammad, who presided over an institution with over 10,000 students, offered another profound lesson. Despite his prestigious position, he would walk the campus, personally greeting students and faculty by name.
He’d walk up to somebody and be like, ‘Hey, how’s your uncle doing? He was in a hospital, right?’ And the kid is like, ‘Oh my god, he knows that I exist.’ I just saw him living it… and that was a huge, profound lesson.
Actionable Takeaway: The Qur’an isn’t just a text to be read; it’s a manual to be lived. Embody its values through small, consistent acts of service and genuine care for others.
Unlocking the Miracle of the Qur’an, One Word at a Time
The Qur’an’s beauty lies in its layers, from its grand themes to the intricate details of a single word. Shaykh AbdulNasir shared how one word in Surah An-Najm captivated him: أَفَتُمَارُونَهُ (afa-tumarunahu).
This word, he explains, is perhaps the most difficult word in the entire Qur’an to pronounce. Its meaning? “Bizarre.”
“It’s so bizarre that even the pronunciation of it is bizarre,” he notes. This perfect marriage of sound and meaning is a small window into the linguistic miracle of the Qur’an.
Witnessing a Superpower: The First Encounter with a Hafidh
Shaykh AbdulNasir’s journey to memorising the Qur’an began with a moment of pure astonishment. As a 7-year-old in Dallas, Texas, he attended his first Tarawih prayer, led by a graduate student. He watched, mystified, as the Imam recited long passages without a book.
“What was he reading from?” he asked his father, who simply replied, “Nothing. He has it all memorised.”
Unconvinced, the next night he snuck around the house to peer through a window. There, he saw the Imam, hands folded, eyes squinting as if seeing the page in his mind, reciting perfectly from memory.
“My mind was blown,” he says. “I told him, ‘That is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.’ It’s like a superpower. I want to be able to do that one day.”
Making the Qur’an Relevant: From Ancient Text to Modern Guide
One of the greatest challenges for Muslims today is presenting the Qur’an as a timeless manual applicable to modern life. Here’s how Shaykh AbdulNasir suggests we bridge that gap.
Beyond Cliches: Understanding Misinterpreted Verses
Many Muslims casually use the verse “لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ” (Lakum deenukum waliya deen – “To you your religion, and to me my religion”) as a friendly way to “agree to disagree.”
However, Shaykh AbdulNasir warns that this is a grave misinterpretation. Citing classical scholars like Imam al-Razi, he explains:
“That’s not what it means at all. It’s actually quite a terse and tense statement. It’s saying, ‘You keep doing what you’re doing, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, and we’ll see who’s right.’ It’s not ‘agree to disagree.’ It’s ‘disagree to disagree.’”
This verse is a statement of conviction, not a casual dismissal. Understanding its true context restores its power and prevents us from cheapening its message.
How to Cultivate a Timeless Connection
So, how can the everyday Muslim begin to prove the Qur’an’s timeless nature for themselves?
- Start with a Translation: This is the essential first step. Don’t be intimidated if you don’t know Arabic.
- Don’t Stop There: Reading alone can lead to confusion. The next step is crucial.
- Quranic Discussion Circles: Create small, intimate forums where you can discuss the translation with others. By sharing reflections, you benefit from each other’s experiences and insights. When one person who has been reflecting for 15 years sits with someone just starting, both can grow.
The Parable of the Farmer: A Lesson in Patience and Faith
The Qur’an often uses the analogy of a farmer. While many of us can’t even keep a houseplant alive, this parable contains universal lessons. Shaykh AbdulNasir explains that Allah chose this example for two unique reasons:
- Patience: A farmer cannot rush the harvest. The crop will come only when its time is due. This teaches us to have unwavering patience in our endeavours and with Allah’s plan.
- Faith (Tawakkul): A farmer’s entire asset is left outside, vulnerable to weather, animals, and accidents. He must go to sleep every night with complete trust and faith in a higher power to protect his livelihood.
“Patience: Trust the process. Faith: Trust the Protector.”
The True Power of the Qur’an: Wisdom that Transcends Language
While the Arabic language is a profound aspect of the Qur’an’s miracle, its most powerful feature is its wisdom, the values, ethics, and principles that can transform a human heart, regardless of their linguistic ability.
Shaykh AbdulNasir shares the moving story of his grandmother, a deeply pious woman who could not read Arabic. She would read a transliteration of the Qur’an in the Gujarati script.
When he, as a young boy, recited the verses he was memorising for her, she wept. “This woman,” he says, “is maybe the most pious person I’ve ever met in my life. And she couldn’t even read the Arabic.”
The lesson is clear: If we can communicate the dignity, morality, and ethics of the Qur’an to humanity, we can change the world. These are universal values that resonate with every soul.
The Double-Edged Sword: AI, the Qur’an, and the Future of Faith
Perhaps the most urgent topic is the rise of Artificial Intelligence. While optimistic by nature, Shaykh AbdulNasir admits he is “terrified” of AI’s potential impact on religious learning.
The danger, he argues, lies in how AI directly contradicts the core principles of sacred knowledge:
- Humility and Hard Work vs. Laziness and Irrational Confidence: The Qur’an demands effort, humility, and a recognition of our limitations. AI offers instant answers, fostering a false sense of expertise without the necessary spiritual and intellectual struggle.
- The Chain of Knowledge vs. Anonymous Algorithms: Islamic knowledge has been preserved for centuries through an unbroken chain of transmission (isnad). Scholars would say, “Tell me who you learned from, not what you read.” AI swaps a trusted human teacher for a computer algorithm, which has a concerning tendency to “hallucinate.” This is the technical term for when AI generates information that is completely false or makes no sense.
“The fact that somebody would take out their phone… and just start typing it in, and it’s spitting things out… that should be very worrying to all of us.”
At Qalam, they are actively meeting with Silicon Valley experts to develop a methodical and cautious strategy for navigating this new reality, one that preserves the integrity of the deen without becoming a relic of the past.
Finding Peace in a Chaotic World
Connecting with the Qur’an in the 21st century requires intention. It means embracing the living examples of our elders, forming communities of reflection, and approaching new technologies with wisdom and caution.
Ultimately, the goal of this connection is to find tranquillity for the soul. Shaykh AbdulNasir leaves us with a verse from Surah Ya-Sin that offers exactly that:
“سَلَامٌ قَوْلًا مِّن رَّبٍّ رَّحِيمٍ”
“[It will be said], ‘Peace,’ a word from a Merciful Lord.” (Qur’an 36:58)
In a world filled with chaos and suffering, this reminder of the ultimate peace and serenity that awaits us with Allah is the most desperately needed food for the soul.
What was your biggest takeaway from Shaykh AbdulNasir’s insights? Share your thoughts in the comments below and subscribe to the OnePath Network for more enlightening conversations!