We live in a day and age where information about Islam has never been more easily accessible. We can retrieve an endless stream of Islamic content just through our smartphones, skim through the Qur’an by searching keywords, and read various translations and explanations (tafasīr) thereof online. Yet, many of those whose information about the Qur’an increases still express a set of seemingly paradoxical questions: “Why am I not feeling a rise in my faith through the Qur’an? Why does my learning of the Qur’an not make the religion easier for me to practice? How come I am not experiencing the transformative effect of the Qur’an which I read about in the stories of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ?”

This whitepaper examines characteristics of the Prophet’s ﷺ method of teaching the Qur’an to his companions, compares them to our mainstream approach, and provides actionable steps for correcting the course.