“Mom, why do I have to read Qur’an every day? Can’t I skip it just this once? The Arabic is so hard.” These sentiments may be familiar to parents who are teaching their kids to read the Holy Qur’an from a young age. How should we respond? To begin, we should acknowledge that these are valid questions. Why do we give so much weight to the Holy Qur’an? Why is its message valuable to us?

Through the Qur’an, we are given guidance from our Creator about how to behave in our day-to-day life. We should read the Qur’an as part of our ibadah (worship) and then apply this knowledge and wisdom in order to lead righteous lives. Allah (SWT) tells us, “There has come to you from God a light and a luminous Book, through which God, by His grace, guides all who seek His good pleasure on the path of peace, and brings them out of the depths of darkness into light and guides them unto a Straight Path” (5:15).

Our first story, “The Brightest Light” conveys this lesson. Asad is neglecting his Qur’an reading for video games. But when the entire town loses power, Asad learns that just like his flashlight can guide his way in the darkness, the Qur’an is how Allah (SWT) helps guide us in our lives. It’s important for children to understand that the reason we read the Qur’an in Arabic is so that we can read Allah’s (SWT) message in His own words. That is one way we strengthen our connection with our Creator.

In the second story, “The Wisest Words,” Shireen realizes this lesson and realizes that by reading the Qur’an in Allah’s (SWT) original words, we can cultivate our connection to Him.