The Message of The Quran #1

Every year for the last ten years, I've had a dedicated series that I've done during the month of Ramaḍān (previous years have included Tafsir Surah al-Kahf; the Names of Allah; Analysis of Surah al-Fātiḥa; Quranic Du'as, and others). This year I've decided to do something I've never done before - it's a very ambitious project and I ask for Allah's help. I plan to summarize the entire message of the Quran, in 30 lessons. As those of you who listen to my lectures are aware, my style is typically to go into quite a lot of detail. Most of my lectures would be classified as intermediate or advanced. However, this series will be very different. I want to present the message of the Quran to those who have never really read the Quran before. The goal would be that after listening to this 45-minute lecture, they should then read the entire juz (para) themselves. I want people to follow along with me, day by day, and recite that juz, and then read a translation of it, so that we complete the whole Quran this month. The goal of my lecture is to help them appreciate and contextualize what they are going to read. This is NOT a detailed, word by word, verse by verse, tafsīr. I've done that for quite a few Surahs, and if we ever did that for the entire Quran it would be over a thousand lectures at least! Rather, this is an analytical summary - it is 'basic' in that I'm not going to go into academic details, but to prepare this 'basic' summary will require quite a lot of work (as those who know, know!). I have also asked Hafiz Sajjād to join me, to recite a section of that juz (around ten minutes) so that we do get a taste of the beauty of the original as well. I hope that this series will be of benefit, and that it will increase our love for this Divine Book! I ask Allah to bless me with sincerity and to guide me to what is best!