WORDS ARE NOT JUST INK ON PAPER.

ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ١

Read, ˹O Prophet,˺ in the Name of your Lord Who created. خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ ٢

-created humans from a clinging clot.

   [Chapter 96, verse 1 to 2]

And the command of the Lord, we shall listen and obey.

But how many of us actually actively seek knowledge?

To those who do not read, you may think “Oh, reading must be so boring, it's for the nerds”.

To those who do read, but mostly only fiction, you may think “But oh, I'm not gaining any knowledge, so it is not really all that productive”.

Actually, science proves these two comments wrong!

Do you know what happens to your brain when you read great literature? The neuroscience reveals something remarkable!

Research shows that reading activates the same neutral networks as real life experiences, with your motor cortex lighting up when characters perform actions and your sensory regions responding to described textures and scents. The left temporal cortex lights up when you read fiction. This is the same region that activates when you think about yourself. Your brain cannot fully distinguish between:

•Reading about a character's experience

And

•Having that experience yourself

You are not just reading a story…… You are living it!

Brain scans reveal heightened connectivity in language regions that persists for days after finishing a novel, while a comprehensive meta-analysis of 114 studies found that fiction readers show significantly better empathy, verbal abilities, and general cognitive function compared to non readers.

In the world, where not everyone can experience all the good (or bad) things, maybe books are the way to go about it. They can unexpectedly help you in a tough situation.

Reading is power.

Now, you might go and say, “Well, that's a bit of an overstatement, don't you think?”, I mean every word of it. You've heard of the expression ‘Knowledge is Power’, yes?. Then, the way you acquire knowledge could be a way to acquire power. If reading is a way to acquire knowledge, then undeniably, it is a way to acquire power. To shorten it, reading is power.

In the current world, where history is slowly being erased and books are getting banned simply because they go against the narrative that those in power feed the public, reading is a must; to understand the world better, to open our minds to new ideas and to question the system that slowly poisons us.

Like how the way a charismatic person, say a leader of an organisation, attracts you to join their cause (as in the goal of the organisation), books enamour you and pull you in. In the metaphoric sense, you could say, books are magnetic. But, it is also the reason why it is dangerous, to both the authorities and us readers. Books open our eyes to the injustice around us and provoke us to think but it also exposes us to dangerous ideas and concepts which are sinful to follow.

It is not that we should not explore reading certain books just because they go against our beliefs. How else would you refute the ideologies of the book if you do not read the book itself? How else do scholars refute the claim of other religious books if they did not read that book?

Be firm with your faith. If you come across an idea that goes against your beliefs or islam’s, search for the answer as to why we do or refuse to do certain things and practices. Perhaps, the practice was cultural and not islamic. Maybe, you learnt about something you did not know existed.

Whatever it is,

Allah has a purpose and answer for everything, and you will find that the answer will have made your imaan stronger.

Author: L H F Fathima Fawza, Jamalia Unit, GIO Chennai.

Date: 1 May 2026.

#IQRA