#FridayReminders 39: The Earthquake (22:1)

#QuranReflections by Talha Ghannam

Video: https://youtu.be/kSfhIAKILEc

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/quranclub

App: www.quranclub.org

Website: www.otpok.com

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يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ ٱلسَّاعَةِ شَىْءٌ عَظِيمٌۭ ١

People, be mindful of your Lord, for the earthquake of the Last Hour will be a mighty thing:

(22:1)

Throughout the Quran, you will find the day of judgement described through the terror of an earthquake. In surah Al-Hajj, Allah ﷻ gives vivid imagery to describe it:

يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّآ أَرْضَعَتْ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى ٱلنَّاسَ سُكَـٰرَىٰ وَمَا هُم بِسُكَـٰرَىٰ وَلَـٰكِنَّ عَذَابَ ٱللَّهِ شَدِيدٌۭ ٢

On the Day you see it, every nursing mother will think no more of her baby, every pregnant female will miscarry, you will think people are drunk when they are not drunk, but rather the torment of God is so severe.

(22:2)

Witnessing the earthquake in Syria and Turkey, we are reminded how majestic our Lord truly is, and how close the day of judgment looms. Few images could be as terrifying as the destruction wrought through this natural disaster, and fewer signs more emblematic of the ever-approaching final days. Indeed, one of the signs of the end of times is the increase in frequency and severity of earthquakes, culminating in 3 major landslides in the east, west and Arabian Peninsula. We are taught earthquakes are a test for a believer, a way of purifying them in this world from any trials in the next. The Prophet ﷺ said:

‏ أُمَّتِي هَذِهِ أُمَّةٌ مَرْحُومَةٌ لَيْسَ عَلَيْهَا عَذَابٌ فِي الآخِرَةِ عَذَابُهَا فِي الدُّنْيَا الْفِتَنُ وَالزَّلاَزِلُ وَالْقَتْلُ

This nation of mine is one to which mercy is shown. It will have no punishment in the next world, but its punishment in this world will be trials, earthquakes and murder.

[Abu Dawud]

It’s strange to think I was in Gaziantep just one month ago, the epicentre of this horrific earthquake. What’s scarier to think is that we had planned to be there the week of the earthquake, but awkward flight routes and coinciding commitments made it easier to visit earlier than initially planned. To see a place you roamed only moments before brought down to the ground is terrifying, knowing the family you have there and the people you met and know could very well be in danger. Those very people – those who help to produce this very podcast – have been left temporarily homeless as their flats are either demolished or are deemed too unsafe to return to. One close friend of ours didn’t respond for several days to our messages, making us fear the worst. Alhamdulillah, it turned out he had left his phone at home when the earthquake struck, and the house collapsed soon after. Thankfully, he and his family escaped safely. 

Earthquakes could not be more characteristic of the nature of this world and our inevitable judgment before Allah ﷻ. For the most part, the danger of an earthquake lies in the fear of the collapse of the buildings erected by us in this world. A Bedouin’s tent faces little danger when the earth begins to shake, but a 10 story building has so much to be feared. The more we accumulate of this world, the greater the danger we face when the punishment of Allah ﷻ strikes; gather too much or build it the wrong way, it will collapse all around you when the earthquake strikes. You must learn how to build your provision in the world to survive a strike when it comes, and be ready to forg

#FridayReminders 38: The Subtlety in Allah's Words (2:7)

#QuranReflections by Imam Tom Facchine & Talha Ghannam

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Before reading this, make sure you watch the video!

A wonderful reflection on the subtlety in meaning between two very similar descriptions given in the Quran. Two words so similar in meaning but carry a noticeable difference when understood fully. This is the perfection within the Quran.

I often get asked how can one begin their own reflection within the Quran. How do they uncover such “aha” moments like the one in this video. It’s true that we should be cautious about our limitations, but the Quran itself calls us to reflect on it ourselves in order to uncover and connect with its meaning. 

One of the most effective ways to do this is to use tools to guide you on what to do. One of the most powerful of these is “Words chosen”; a tool which points you to pause and think why a specific word has been used in a Quranic verse by Allah ﷻ. Much like the analysis in this video, every word has a specific usage for a specific reason. To change it would bring a deficiency to the Quran, and it is with that we approach the words of Allah ﷻ to understand why this word has been chosen.

(1) OBSERVE THE WORD

As a simple starting point, start by analysing the word itself, understanding everything there is to know about it and the context it is used. For example, the word apple is seemingly clear in its meaning with no explanation required, and many will read the word and never pause to reflect on it. Yet, to truly understand the word, we would want to describe it with as much detail as possible, such as its:

• Shape: the roundness of it with its peculiar, thin stem that connects it to the tree, so easily broken when plucked and brittle enough to let go when ripe

• Colour: it comes in 3 variances, yellow, green or red, but each are as sweet as each other

• Structure: the apple is made up of a thin peel which protects it and is also its most healthy part, a sweet and juicy middle which carries the flavour, and its core 

• Interactions: The first bite sounds a crunch that is so distinct, it is instantly recognisable.

As you can see, the above gives much more vivid detail of an apple which can be used to understand the choice of the word. For example, if a metaphor is given to describe a relationship as an apple, an analogy can be drawn to how the thin protective surface hides the sweetness of the middle, how its grown on the tree of its parents only to let go when the time is right etc.

There are countless other ways to describe an object, but the table attached lists some of the more obvious ones to consider (see table attached):

(2) COMPARE THE WORD

Next, after understanding the word itself, we can swap the word used for a different word and see the impact it has on the sentence. By replacing the word for another, we can see more clearly what impact the original word had in the sentence, and what meaning Allah ﷻ wished to convey. As with anything, there are layer to how deep this can be done, but everyone can relate to it at some level. As a start, there are 5 broad ways you can do this, illustrated in the following diagram:

1. Synonym / Similarities

Whilst commonly understood to be the “same”, synonym

#FridayReminders 37: From Rageful Refutation to Courteous Conversation? (29:6)

#QuranReflections by Hisham Abu Yusuf

Video: https://youtu.be/HD84fV5lZCI

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/quranclub

App: www.quranclub.org

Website: www.otpok.com

وَمَن جَـٰهَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يُجَـٰهِدُ لِنَفْسِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَغَنِىٌّ عَنِ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ٦

And whoever strives ˹in Allah’s cause˺, only does so for their own good. Surely Allah is not in need of ˹any of˺ His creation.

(29:6)

The examples of scholars having decorum and etiquette in their disagreements are too many to relate. But one example came up today while I was doing some reading around this verse in Surah Al-Ankabut.

After Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, may Allah have mercy on him, spends a significant number of pages responding to some Mu'tazilite theological arguments - something he spends a lot of time doing in his exegesis - he then says something quite profound about this whole back-and-forth he's engaging in. He said:

"My brother, know that both of us [i.e. me and my opponents] are all attempting to glorify Allah ﷻ and describe Him in a way that is free of imperfections… if you think about that carefully, you'll realise that we all want to describe Allah ﷻ in a manner that rids Him of any imperfection, magnifies Him, and elevates His status. It happens to be that some of us got it right, and others just got it wrong.."

[Tafsir of Surah al-Ankabut, v6]

We can all take a lesson from this statement in how we engage, rectify and correct ideas from other Muslims, while avoiding character assassination and public beef-ing. We can all acknowledge that our opponent or interlocutor has a good intention, even if they got it wrong. And that we're both trying to get to the same place, even if we chose different paths. And then maybe, just maybe, we'll stop treating them like a villain and the cycle of rageful refutations can look a bit more like courteous conversations.

#FridayReminders 36: A few careless words (80:31)

#QuranReflections by Talha Ghannam

Video: https://youtu.be/KTe6ny65bZM

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/quranclub

App: www.quranclub.org

Website: www.otpok.com

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وَفَـٰكِهَةًۭ وَأَبًّۭا ٣١

and fruit and fodder

Ibn Kathir mentions in his Tafsir: "Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (ra) was asked about the meaning of this verse. He replied: 

`What sky would shade me and what earth would carry me if I said about the Book of Allah that which I did not have knowledge of.' ''

Many of us are quick to interpret the words of Allah ﷻ with little study or knowledge, particularly when asked a question. No one was closer to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ or had more understanding of this religion than our Master Abu Bakr, yet he refused to answer without being certain in what he said. Imagine the weight the words our Master Abu Bakr (ra) would carry had he spoken; it would be taken with the utmost authority. He knew this, and he knew the responsibility it carried, so his choice to refrain from speaking came from knowing that a single inaccuracy, however small, would be taken, transmitted and amplified for generations to come. Anas ibn Malik (ra), another of the great companions of the Prophet ﷺ, commented on his hesitation in relating more hadith from the Prophet ﷺ, stating:

إِنَّهُ لَيَمْنَعُنِي أَنْ أُحَدِّثَكُمْ حَدِيثًا كَثِيرًا أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ مَنْ تَعَمَّدَ عَلَىَّ كَذِبًا فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ ‏"‏‏.‏

The fact which stops me from narrating a great number of Hadiths to you is that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Whoever tells a lie against me intentionally, then let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire."

[Bukhari]

In the age of fake news, show restraint before speaking and ensure you verify anything before you say it or share it, particularly when it comes to interpreting the words of Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ. Nowadays, we can witness first hand the impact fake news has across the world. Genocides committed, elections disputed and markets ruined off the back of half truths or lies spread across social media. A single post can be shared and reshared so many times with no factual basis to it, destroying the lives of all those concerned. Once it is out there, there is no taking it back, forever in the ether of the internet. For this reason, the punishment of such people is so severe. One of the companions saw a dream of a man’s punishment in hellfire. The Prophet ﷺ explained:

 وَأَمَّا الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي أَتَيْتَ عَلَيْهِ يُشَرْشَرُ شِدْقُهُ إِلَى قَفَاهُ، وَمَنْخِرُهُ إِلَى قَفَاهُ، وَعَيْنُهُ إِلَى قَفَاهُ، فَإِنَّهُ الرَّجُلُ يَغْدُو مِنْ بَيْتِهِ فَيَكْذِبُ الْكَذْبَةَ تَبْلُغُ الآفَاقَ

As for the man you came upon, whose sides of his mouth, nostrils and eyes were torn off from front to back, he is the man who goes out of his house in the morning and tells lies that are spread all over the world.

[Bukhari]

Our accountability should be like that of our Master Abu Bakr (ra), for our words can carry similar weight. Every word matters, and we must be cognizant of all that we say. A single thoughtless tweet or misspoken sentence can be your destruction, as the Prophet ﷺ teaches:

إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ لَيَتَكَلَّمُ بِالْكَلِمَةِ مَا يَتَبَيَّنُ فِيهَا، يَزِلُّ بِهَا فِي النَّارِ أَبْعَدَ مِمَّا بَيْنَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالمَغْرِبِ‏

A person utters a word thoughtlessly which causes them to fall down into the fire of Hell deeper than the distance between the east and west.

[Na

#FridayReminders 35: Home (89:27-30)

#QuranReflections by Talha Ghannam

Video: https://youtu.be/gkGX-mftaNY

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/quranclub

App: www.quranclub.org

Website: www.otpok.com

يَـٰٓأَيَّتُهَا ٱلنَّفْسُ ٱلْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ٢٧ ٱرْجِعِىٓ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةًۭ مَّرْضِيَّةًۭ ٢٨ فَٱدْخُلِى فِى عِبَـٰدِى ٢٩ وَٱدْخُلِى جَنَّتِى ٣٠

˹Allah will say to the righteous,˺ “O tranquil soul! Return to your Lord, well pleased ˹with Him˺ and well pleasing ˹to Him˺. So join My servants, and enter My Paradise.”

(89:27-30)

My uncle Adnan has finally returned home. As a Syrian refugee, his life was filled with challenges and hardships, forced to move from country to country as none would truly welcome him as their own. But through it all, he remained grateful, patient, and strong, never complaining about his plight, and always seeing the blessings in what he had.

I will never forget the way he would always greet me with a warm smile, even on the toughest of days. He never complained about the difficulties he faced, and he always had a kind word to offer. My brother visited him last summer in Istanbul, his most recent home in the last decade and where he would eventually pass on to His Lord. He shared stories about his past; how my father, his elder brother by 7 years, would bring him to the mosque to listen to his teacher’s talks. It had a profound impact on him, setting him on a path of righteousness which gave him the mettle to see through the many adversities he would face later on in life. He was not only patient but grateful for what he went through, seeing himself as rich with all Allah ﷻ had given him. Through his unwavering faith in God and steadfast devotion, he has finally returned home to paradise. 

The verses strike differently when deaths door knocks. You pick up things you previously overlooked, and nuances you never noticed. As I heard God’s words recited, the word “ٱرْجِعِىٓ  - return” struck me; why would Allah ﷻ describe our departure from this world as a return? We hear it so often in much of our Islamic lexicon around death, commiserating one another by saying “إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون” – We belong to God and to Him we shall return, yet I had never taken notice of it before. We all know we will come before our Lord when we die, but to return suggests it is somewhere we have not only been before, but it is where we come from. To return means it is our home. 

Your home shapes who you are, your characteristics, your preferences. We belong in heaven, and the traits our Lord has commanded us to do are because they are part of our heavenly “culture”. Home is where the heart is. When you are a guest in someone else’s land, you behave differently to when you are at home. You do not take luxuries nor attach yourself to the place, and you ensure you always act proper.

Each of us is a traveller on our journey back home to God. We have stopped simply to take our provisions, stocking up on good deeds to take with us on our return to our Lord. We are here to learn, to grow, and to be tested, but our true home is with Allah ﷻ. We’ve become attached to this world and forget that it is temporary. We get caught up in the pursuit of material wealth, power, and fame, and we forget that our ultimate goal should be to please Allah ﷻ and earn our place back in paradise.

For my uncle and other refugees, it’s easy to see how they left their homes and lived in a state of travel. We see their migration away from their

#FridayReminders 34: Gentle Counsel (20:44)

#QuranReflections by Talha Ghannam

Video: https://youtu.be/GRUd9GKDy68
Podcast: https://anchor.fm/quranclub
App: www.quranclub.org
Website: www.otpok.com
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فَقُولَا لَهُۥ قَوۡلٗا لَّيِّنٗا لَّعَلَّهُۥ يَتَذَكَّرُ أَوۡ يَخۡشَىٰ
Speak to him gently, so perhaps he may be mindful ˹of Me˺ or fearful ˹of My punishment˺.”
(20:44)

When ordered to confront Pharoah, Allah ﷻ commands Prophet Musa and his brother Prophet Harun; "Speak to him gently". Here was one of the biggest despots and murderers of all time, and Allah ﷻ commanded gentleness. 

So much is written about this verse and its importance in how we speak to other folks, particularly our enemies. In the age of Twitter, people write provocative and often insulting tweets about others just to get more followers. We no longer consider the other person and the impact it has on them, but instead we write with only ourselves, our popularity, and our ego in mind. Little do we realise we are drinking a poisoned chalice; if we gain the popularity we seek, we will be victim to the same toxic culture we helped propagate when no one knew who we were. 

When speaking with or advising others, our foremost concern should be their welfare and receptiveness to the message. Anything you say should be measured by how it will be received by them. Speaking harshly or even directly often closes people off from listening to you before you have even said a word. How many uncles “advising” in a masjid really had the impact they had hoped for when they spoke to you? Instead, the principle we should hold onto is; 

1)    How will that person receive your message? 
2)    Can I justify before God what I am saying?

They are the intended person you are seeking to benefit, so consider how they will receive it, not how you will look saying it. Nowadays, people feel the need to speak out on every issue for fear of how others will view them; an egocentric motivation underpinning your counsel could not be more contradictory. Look how gentle Allah ﷻ is with someone who said, "I am God", then enslaved, tortured and killed an entire demographic of people. Nothing anyone could do is worse than this, yet God commanded we treat them gently. We do not ignore their wrongs nor brush them under the carpet, but we figure out the best way in which to advise them in order for it to have the highest potential of change. 

So how do we deal with aggressors? How do we redress wrongs without violating the sacred boundaries? I once heard a preacher proclaim “لا غيبة لفاسق – There is no backbiting to a fasiq – an open sinner”, using it as a licence to speak freely and insult the leaders he deemed oppressors. It never sat well with me; how can insults be religiously sanctioned? As I studied further, I realised this statement was intended when bringing someone to justice, seeking counsel or warning someone who may have dealings with them, permitting you to speak of someone’s ills when you are seeking remediation. If you know someone is about to fall into the same trap as you, you should warn them before they are burnt as you were. It is not a free licence to talk about anyone you deem an open sinner, and certainly is not permission to tweet endless memes about them.

It’s worth mentioning the modern celebrity culture that exists today and the gossip, banter and mockery that surrounds them. Whether it be a footballer or influencer, journalist or politician, their fame does not give people licence to insult or degrade them, regardless of how much they get paid or how successful they are. Many celebrities have spoken of how difficult it is to cope with the barrage of slurs and comments that come their way through social media, having a major impact on their mental health and wellbeing. Imagin

#FridayReminders 33: Have No Fear (20:21)

#QuranReflections by Talha Ghannam

Video: https://youtu.be/hUD-C0iIoH8

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/quranclub

App: www.quranclub.org

Website: www.otpok.com

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قَالَ خُذْهَا وَلَا تَخَفْ ۖ سَنُعِيدُهَا سِيرَتَهَا ٱلْأُولَىٰ ٢١

Allah said, “Take it, and have no fear. We will return it to its former state.

(20:21)

Notice the order which Allah ﷻ gives His commands; you will find a wonderful subtlety which hides an ocean of meaning. As Musa’s (as) heart filled with fear at the sight of his staff turning into a snake, Allah ﷻ commanded him to “take it, and have no fear”. He leads with the action before addressing the emotion. 

We live in an age where people’s faith is determined by their emotion. Hijab is something you feel like wearing; a beard something that’s awkward to keep. This terminology has even crept into scholarly circles. People describe the tranquillity of Madinah. Our hearts are described to be at peace with Islam. I remember one brother describing how he enjoys praying taraweeh in one particular masjid because the mosque is packed and the recitation beautiful, making him feel that brotherhood and peace. I asked him, would you still worship the same if the mosque was empty and recitation less melodic?

Scholars have described this matter as veils of light on the heart; the feeling of righteousness distracting you or is conditional to you being righteous, or the quality of it. Motivation is not to please Allah ﷻ, but rather it is to attain that feeling you know it brings, and when the feeling goes, the motivation disappears. This station is a dangerous one. Unlike the dark veils of sin, veils of light come to you in the cloak of something good. When you sin, you know you are sinning without any pretence of doing something good, but when you pray seeking the feeling, you delude yourself into thinking it’s for the sake of Allah ﷻ, when in fact it is for yourself. Many people lose faith or practice once that feeling is no longer there.

I recall my first Umrah to the blessed city of the Prophet ﷺ. Everyone spoke of the emotion you feel in the presence of the Master of Creation, and I would imagine how I would be as I stood before him in that moment. I re-enacted it over and over in my head; how would I feel? What would I say? When the time finally came, and I stood before the greatest of creation, I felt nothing. Empty. Was I a bad person? Was I a hypocrite? The emptiness was difficult to shake off, staying with me for days as I wrestled with this numbness I felt inside. I remember the moment till this day. I sat in the Rawdah of the Prophet ﷺ and it hit me; why did an emotion matter anyway? I’m here to worship, and that is what I will do, whether or not the feelings comes. I will just do my best as Allah ﷻ deserves. The moment I resolved that in my heart, it hit me like a tonne of bricks. Feelings I had never felt before flooded in as I became completely overwhelmed, but at that point I knew; this was a test of my resolve. These emotions are a distraction, and my worship is not conditional on how I felt! I was here for God, not for me.

Emotions are an essential, inescapable part of our obedience to Allah ﷻ. Be it hope or fear, joy or grief, our emotions come as a signal to remind us to turn to our Creator and to obey Him in all our states, using His commands to help regulate our feelings. Allah ﷻ could have left the command hanging but He didn’t; He asked Musa (as) to regulate his emotions too. How? By explaining exactly how Allah ﷻ is in control, and He will bring

003.014 - Hate the Sin

#FridayReminders 32: Hate the Sin (3:14)

#QuranReflections by Talha Ghannam

Video: https://youtu.be/w-BKDn5d_4E

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/quranclub

App: www.quranclub.org

Website: www.otpok.com

زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ ٱلشَّهَوَٰتِ مِنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ وَٱلْبَنِينَ وَٱلْقَنَـٰطِيرِ ٱلْمُقَنطَرَةِ مِنَ ٱلذَّهَبِ وَٱلْفِضَّةِ وَٱلْخَيْلِ ٱلْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ وَٱلْحَرْثِ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ 

Video: https://youtu.be/Ad7hqR_2Vc4

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/quranclub

App: www.quranclub.org

Website: www.otpok.com

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وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِۦٓ أَتَأْتُونَ ٱلْفَـٰحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُم بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ٨٠

And ˹remember˺ when Lot scolded ˹the men of˺ his people, ˹saying,˺ “Do you commit a shameful deed that no man has ever done before?

إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ ٱلرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةًۭ مِّن دُونِ ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌۭ مُّسْرِفُونَ ٨١

You lust after men instead of women! You are certainly transgressors.”

(7:80-81)

This podcast is a tough one. Some topics are taboo to discuss, and none more so than this. So I’ve decided to take a different approach. Rather than outline my own reflection, I invite you to consider the evidence yourself and ask; how would you interpret them? If you read the verses yourself, what would you conclude they say?

In the last podcast I wrote, I spoke about the scope for difference; the need to set out the parameters for the discussion, then allow for a scope for difference within them. This podcast is here to ask; what do you do if all interpretations and opinions say the same thing? What if you know definitively this is what God said and meant? What do you do if there is no scope for difference, as the parameters given are self evident?

The verse I recited is one of a handful within the Quran discussing the story of Prophet Lut. Other verses are found in surah An-Naml, Ash-shu’araa, Al-Ankabut, Hud and Al-Hijr (I’ve included these in the appendix to this podcast). Like all prophets, Lut was sent by Allah ﷻ to guide his people, addressing the issues within his society that prevented them from returning to God. Whilst every prophet shared common thre

(18:26) Hidden Gems

#QuranReflections by Dr. Shadee Elmasry

قُلِ ٱللَّهُ أَعۡلَمُ بِمَا لَبِثُواْۖ لَهُۥ غَيۡبُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِۖ أَبۡصِرۡ بِهِۦ وَأَسۡمِعۡۚ مَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِۦ مِن وَلِيّٖ وَلَا يُشۡرِكُ فِي حُكۡمِهِۦٓ أَحَدٗا

Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Allah knows best how long they stayed. With Him ˹alone˺ is ˹the knowledge of˺ the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How perfectly He hears and sees! They have no guardian besides Him, and He shares His command with none.” (18:26)

Earlier this week, I shared an amazing story from Syrian intellectual and scholar Abd al-Da'im al-Kaheel. An atheist asked him: Surat al-Kahf tells about youth who fled an oppressive pagan king so that they could worship Allah freely, and when they took shelter in a cave, they fell asleep for 309 years. How could you possibly believe people slept for 309 years??

The first obvious answer is that based on Islam's premise that the Creator is not bound by any laws of physics and is in fact the one who made them, believing that He could make people sleep for any amount of time is totally within the internal logic of this theology. But Al-Kaheel sought another kind of answer...

He knew that there would be a proof within this story that the Quran was God's word. He examined the story of these youth and noticed that one word was repeated half a dozen times. That word was لَبِثُوا (LABITHU), or "they remained." This was very unique in that no other word was repeated in the passage in such a noticeable way except this word...

He then honed in on the first and last mention of لَبِثُوا (LABITHU) and counted the words in between. Lo and behold, they were exactly 309 words. One word for every year that they slept in the cave.

He immediately contacted his atheist associate, and asked him: Do you really think Muhammad ﷺ, who was known to be unlettered, would have done this?

I also asked myself, if an author put really neat hidden messages in his book, wouldn't he have told someone before his death, to ensure people see it?

This ultimately was the reason the atheist returned to iman. Any time a skeptic or doubter points to something in the Quran with disbelief or mockery, they are in reality, directing us to yet another proof that this Book is not the word of a human being, but the word of the Creator. It just requires a lot of effort and examination until we uncover it.