A few years ago, I received an unexpected email that quickly turned into a coaching call.
The woman who emailed me told me something that I didn’t even think was possible.
Her whole life, she wanted to memorize the Quran.
And unlike most people, she actually followed through. She enrolled into a madrassa part time. Devoted hours every day to study, day after day, for years.
Eventually, as you might have guessed, she succeeded and became a Hafiza. She achieved the greatest goal ever! She memorized the entire Quran!
Only, there was a problem.
Since achieving the goal, she was totally, completely…
Depressed.
“Whaaaa..?!”
How is that even possible?
She was so confused, that upon seeing my TV show ‘The Quran Coach’ (or maybe it was coming across the old Quran For Busy People podcast… I forget which one, it was so long ago), she reached out and asked to book a coaching session.
During the session, I shared with her what I had discovered about the “Ultimate Nafs Trap”.
In a nutshell, the ego keeps us trapped in the type of thinking that says, “I’ll be happy when…”
When she was memorizing, she had convinced herself that she will finally be happy after she has completed her memorization.
So her happiness kept being put off day after day to this fantasy moment at some point in the distant future.
And now that that moment had arrived, she found herself in the… “Wait a minute, why aren’t I happy? I’ve achieved the biggest goal and accomplishment I’ve ever attempted” version of the Ultimate Nafs Trap.
The most ironic part of this is that the whole time she was actually memorising, she wasn’t focused on the future or the past, and wasn’t in the actual Nafs Trap during those moments (and hours) of memorisation.
I know this for certain because if you try memorizing a text and the text actually goes into your brain… there was no chance that you weren’t concentrating on what you were doing. If your mind wonders, you ‘wake up’ a few minutes later to realise you weren’t concentrating and re-focus (back to the present moment).
So what was the solution for this Hafiza’s newfound depression?
In a word: insight.
I recommended she go back and read through the Quran, not just for the purpose of keeping her memory of it sharp, but also to read it a little bit differently this time.
This time she was to read it for insight, not just information.
And in order to make sure the insights come thick and fast as she reads, I also recommended she join an earlier version of what we now call “The Nafs Mastery Program”.
You are only ever one thought away from a life-changing, mind-blowing insight that can leave depression and anxiety as distant memories of the past.
When you get the ‘download’ about how to master the nafs, then not only can you sail smoothly through achieving a huge goal like Quran Memorization… but you can do in a way where you’re happy every step of the way – and after you’ve completed it insha’Allah.
If you want to put yourself in a program that all-but-guarantees that you’re showered in these kinds of insights week after week and month after month, then you’ll love this:
