If you asked most Muslims what the Quran is about, few would give the answer Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan offers in the final episode of the Foundations of Faith series: the Quran is about the ayah. 

More Than a Verse 

The word ayah is usually translated as verse, but the meaning runs much deeper. An ayah is a sign, something that points you to something beyond itself. A road sign with a restaurant symbol is not a restaurant; it tells you what you will find if you keep going. The Quran uses this word constantly, for its own passages and for the sky, the earth, the birds and even the love Allah placed between spouses (30:21)¹. Anything that leads you to Allah is an ayah. 

The Queen and the Glass Floor 

Ustadh Nouman illustrates this with the story of Sulayman (AS) in Surah An-Naml (27). When the Queen of Saba entered his palace, the floor was clear glass over water and she prepared to step into what she thought was a pool. The moment she realized her eyes had deceived her, she declared, “My Master, I have wronged myself and I submit with Sulayman to Allah, Master of all the worlds” (27:44)². 

Why would stepping on glass produce faith? Her people worshipped the sun, a theology built on taking the surface at face value. In a single step the floor taught her that reality can be more than what it appears, so the sun she worshipped must also have something greater behind it. For her, a glass floor became an ayah. 

A Religion That Tells You to Stare at Camels 

أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى الْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ 

“Do they not look at the camel and how it was created?” (88:17) ³ 

The Quran presents looking as a religious exercise. Turn your eyes to the sky and see if you can find a crack (67:3)⁴. Watch the birds above you, spreading and folding their wings (67:19)⁵. In this way of seeing, worship is not limited to reciting Quran in the masjid. Staring at a bird, watching the ocean or appreciating the beauty of a cloud becomes worship when it sends you back to the One who made it. 

When We Stop Seeing 

The opposite of a seeing heart is a numbed one. Ustadh Nouman describes people who keep their minds busy with one distraction after another until they no longer notice the world around them or the dangers in front of them. The Quran describes such people: “They are like cattle. Rather, they are even more lost” (7:179)⁶. A cow grazing beside a highway does not even flinch as cars rush past. Numbness, he warns, is a spiritual condition before it is anything else. 

A Generation That Sees Ayat Everywhere 

This is why he closes the series with a charge to students. Pursue your fields at the highest caliber and study the Quran alongside them. His own students with doctorates in geology and neuroscience see things in the Ayat that he cannot, because every discipline opens up new signs. If Muslims become people who reflect deeply on the Quran and excel in their sciences, they will not only revive themselves. They can help the world see creation as a means of coming closer to its Creator. 

Every human experience can become an ayah, a sign pointing you back to Allah. Train your eyes to see them. 

Watch the complete Foundations of Faith series and continue your Quran journey on Bayyinah TV. 

Notes 

[1] Al-Quran, Surah Ar-Rum, 30:21, https://quran.com/ar-rum/21 ↩

[2] Al-Quran, Surah An-Naml, 27:44, https://quran.com/an-naml/44 ↩

[3] Al-Quran, Surah Al-Ghashiyah, 88:17, https://quran.com/al-ghashiyah/17 ↩

[4] Al-Quran, Surah Al-Mulk, 67:3, https://quran.com/al-mulk/3 ↩

[5] Al-Quran, Surah Al-Mulk, 67:19, https://quran.com/al-mulk/19 ↩

[6] Al-Quran, Surah Al-A’raf, 7:179, https://quran.com/al-araf/179 ↩