fear of God

“Fasting is prescribed for you…that you may taqwa.” (Qur’an 2.183) Taqwa. It’s a hard word to pronounce correctly unless you’ve mastered Arabic pronunciation. The q-sound (qaf) is made far back in the throat, not like the more superficial k-sound (kaf). And because of the q-sound, the pronunciation of the preceding ta- is changed. Taqwa is…