The Art of Slow and Steady Growth: Nurturing Mastery and Spiritual Development

In a world that values fast pleasure and speedy development, the idea of taking a slower, more deliberate approach to growth is sometimes missed. However, therein lies the route to true mastery and significant personal growth. From the early stages of education to the search of spiritual enlightenment, the route of growth is gradual, demanding patience, discipline, and a dedication to everyday practice.
In this essay, we will look at the technique of slow and steady growth, and how cultivating expertise across multiple areas and expanding spiritual awareness necessitates a patient yet persistent commitment to incremental improvement. Through contemplation on daily routines and the profound journey of Quranic study, we discover the transformational power of accepting the gradual path to fulfillment and enlightenment.

Embracing Slow and Steady: The Path to Mastery and Growth

We are instructed to move slowly and steadily over the first twenty years to learn, progress, and attain our goals. That is how everything in nature grows and thrives. That is how we go from preschool to primary school, secondary school, and university. This is how we become physicians and engineers. We go to school, college, and ultimately university every day, whether we want to or not. Later in life, we must employ the same approach to expand our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions, including learning the Quran. We need to move slowly and steadily. We require self-discipline.

Every day, spend one hour at the gym. You will achieve your ideal level of fitness.

Every day, cook one new meal. You will be a master chef in a year.

Every day, set aside half an hour to read. You will complete literary and scholarly masterpieces without even realizing it.

Set aside one hour to study a fascinating language. You will begin to speak like a native.

Do more than you think possible by committing to something and executing it regularly. Slow means being easy on yourself. Moreover, being steady means not being too easy on yourself. Some days, you must force yourself to keep going while keeping the end goal in mind.

My email used to be filled with reminders of all the courses I signed up for but never completed. Flitting around like a butterfly does not get you anywhere.

Today, my hifdh is a daily reminder to be consistent in whatever I do. The journey is long over. 

There is a daily revision and review process. Indeed, if proper attention is not paid to the Quran, it will quickly depart one’s heart. The quest to grasp, internalize, and implement the Quran is long. However, my hifdh daily delivers the same message: stay strong. Keep going.

Read the Quran without dispute.

The goal of reading and studying the Quran together is to fill the hearts with Quranic wisdom. That is why the prophet, peace be upon him, warned against debating and wrangling.

The prophet stated, “Read the Quran as long as your hearts are in oneness, and if you disagree, then go away and leave it be.” Sahih Bukhari.

According to the hadith, we can congregate to read and study the Quran as long as we have the same aims: to read, analyze, and reflect on Quranic knowledge. 

If we start going off tangents and having disagreements and conflicts, that is not the purpose of such gatherings, so we should stop and do something else. Then, come back the following time with a united aim of studying rather than fighting.

This protects the Quran’s dignity while demonstrating how such respect can be stripped away if we prioritize disputing and arguing over studying and understanding.