Quran & Nature

In a world defined by differences in race, culture, language, and background , it’s natural to ask: Is there a message that speaks to everyone? For Muslims, the answer is yes. That message is Islam . More than just a religion, Islam presents a comprehensive way of life , one that is not bound to a single people, place, or period in history. It is universal  in its reach and relevance, calling all human beings to recognize their Creator, live with purpose, and treat others wit

The Sirat al-Mustaqim is the way of the heart—the only compass that remains steady when everything else shifts. It is the quiet orientation toward truth and balance, the inner direction that does not falter even when our outer world becomes disoriented. In periods of disorientation, when the velocity of modern life fragments our attention and exhausts our inner resources, the human being is invited to return to the primordial practices of walking, observing, and contemplating

Bismillah The concept of plausible truth within the Preserved Tablet (Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ) is articulated in the Quran, notably in Al-Burūj 85:22 and Al-Ḥadīd 57:22, which affirm that nothing occurs on Earth or within human beings without first being recorded in a divine register prior to its actualization. This principle embodies both divine predestination and omniscience while simultaneously affirming human moral responsibility. Observations of the contemporary environment sugge

"And Allah has made for you from your homes a place of rest…”  (Sura An-Nahl, 16 :80) The concept of home, both in the Qur’an and in human experience, is far more complex than its mere physical structure. It intertwines material, symbolic, spiritual, and cosmological dimensions. Even a garden can be a home : an open space where sky and earth meet and dance together. Each person gives home a unique meaning; for some, it is a dream, for others a reality, and for yet others, an

In today’s world, almost every aspect of life exists online. News, education, entertainment, and social interaction are mediated through screens. While this offers unprecedented convenience and access, it also presents unprecedented challenges. The digital landscape has become a complex ecosystem of distraction, misinformation, and moral ambiguity. From pervasive fake news to instant gratification through entertainment, the online environment can distort priorities and values

Some journeys don’t start with a step. They start with surrender. Some places cannot be reached by the body, but only by the soul. We chase God through rituals, through discipline, through movement. We stretch and bend, hoping the body will open the door the heart cannot. And the more we reach, the further He seems. Silence becomes a competition. Sacred spaces turn into arenas. And still, God can feel absent. Devotion is not comfort. It is collapse. Remembering, listening, s

The five keys of the Unseen For the Persians, the word garden  meant Paradise : a place of beauty, harmony, and peace where everything exists in perfect correspondence. And it’s precisely this correspondence  that I’d like to reflect on. The garden is a gentle workshop of creation, one that speaks in the language of nature rather than the noise of humankind. Flowers reveal their secrets only to those who observe with patience. They trust that only a few will truly understand.

"Verily, in the body there is a piece of flesh which, if it is sound, the whole body is sound; and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Verily, it is the heart.”(Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim) When I spend time in my garden, I often feel that I am not merely tending to plants, but I am in conversation with something deeper. Each leaf, each root, each fragile bloom seems to whisper a language of connection, of balance, of life unfolding effortlessly when it is in harm

Your Brain Is a Hidden Garden—And Forgetting Is Its Magic Imagine your mind as a vast garden: every memory, idea, and sensation is a seed. Forgetting isn’t loss, it’s the gardener, clearing space so the most vital thoughts can grow. Neuroscience shows this pruning keeps the brain flexible and resilient, while the Qur’an hints at a deeper layer, a central register where nothing truly disappears. In this hidden garden, every moment of your life is preserved, ready to bloom when

A mother’s hands hold a quiet kind of magic: the power to nurture, to heal October is a generous month: chestnuts fall from the trees, bright orange persimmons glow in the gardens, mandarins perfume the air, and walnuts scatter beneath our feet. Yet many still prefer to buy imported fruit, wrapped in plastic, coming from who knows where. Nora’s Garden  was created as a gentle reminder that true abundance doesn’t come from supermarkets but from the earth itself — from the tree

In everyday life, languages do not always serve as bridges of understanding. Quite often, they create barriers. When we fail to grasp the nuances and subtleties of expression, misunderstandings can easily arise — sometimes with serious consequences. This can happen in something as trivial as following the instructions for a children’s game. You might spend a Saturday evening trying to reach a conclusion, only to give up and play chess instead, where at least the rules are cle

Today, I found a huge spiderweb in the old shed at the back of my garden. Soon, that shed will be replaced by a more welcoming little garden house — hopefully with a more confortable place to write. I spent a long time observing the tiny spiders under the eaves, sitting on my bench, wondering what I could write about. This morning, I woke up with a word in my mind: Al- Ankabut . I didn’t even remember what it meant. I looked it up, reopened the Qur’an, and reread the Surah. O

If the Qur’an states that we are all born equal, in peace and submission to God and without sin, unlike other religions, and that we will "perhaps" die as Muslims (so once again in Islam, in peace and submission to God), based on my thought that everything is a "return", like time which I define as a circle and not a straight line, life would be – logically – just a ride on a merry-go-round, as Tiziano Terzani beautifully wrote in his book “Un giro di giostra” . A returning t

The structure of a tree in my garden made me reflect on the idea that time might not be linear, but circular or branching, as if it revolves upon itself. In fact, it has neither a beginning nor an end, no "now" or "tomorrow," but only a "yesterday" that was once a "tomorrow" for those awaiting it. In nature, everything turns. The Earth revolves around the Sun, electrons orbit the nucleus, plants turn toward the light, and during Hajj, believers circle the Kaaba in a sacred a

“La ilaha illa Allah” — There is no god but Allah. أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمدًا رسول الله This declaration begins with a powerful negation. It states: There is no god , except for Allah. And that in itself should make one pause. Who is Allah? In today's world, churches are emptying. Many are leaving religion behind — often because of contradictions and inconsistencies in their scriptures. Doubt grows where there is no coherence. Meanwhile, the Qur'an not only alig

Some people take to the streets to rebel, but there are also ways of rebelling in silence — through words, through patience, through...

Salamanders are vanishing. Not because nature has failed them, but because humanity has. Their habitats are torn apart — forests flattened, wetlands drained, ecosystems shattered in the name of “progress,” “security,” “development.”But underneath those words lies the same old violence: the erasure of what is different, wild, uncontrollable. They say some lands must be cleared, occupied, reshaped. That certain lives are expendable — inconvenient. But nature does not forget. Wh

Colonization doesn’t always come with flags and guns. Sometimes, it comes for your flowers. Your fields. Your seeds. The systematic destruction of agriculture is one of the oldest—and most effective—tools of domination. Because to erase a people, you start by starving them. You take what feeds them. What roots them. What grows. Syria. Palestine. Afghanistan. Ukraine. Sudan. Nora`s Garden? Wherever war arrives, the soil is the first to suffer . Seed banks are looted. Indigenou

Preserving the environment is not a trend. It is justice. It is responsibility before the Creator. Being Muslim is not only about...

When most people hear the word Halal , they think of meat, slaughter methods, and whether Muslims can eat certain foods. But the concept...

Bismillah. Most people give the Qur’an a single chance. They open it once, close it, and never return. Some manage a second attempt, only to get lost in the verses. And then there are the few—the very few—who, on the third encounter, never let it go again. We’ve all heard the cliché: “The Qur’an is for those who fear death.”  Let’s be brutally honest: that’s a lie. The Qur’an is not a pillow to soften your fall into the grave. It is the opposite. It is a divine revelation for

By now, every plant has found its place, each one drawn to the space it was meant to fill. Isn’t that a reflection of divine wisdom? The...

In my garden lies a universe waiting to be discovered. The roundness of a melon reminds me of distant planets; the sweetness of a fig...