Chapter 2


SINS


Imam Al-Zarnuji (rah) writes in Ta’lim al Mutallim quoting Imam Shaafi (rah) :



شكوت الى وكيع سوء حفظى

فارشدنى الى ترك المعاصى

فان الحفظ فضل من الهى وفضل اللّه لا يهدى لعاصى
I complained to Waki' of my bad memory

So he directed me to cease from evil doing;

For verily memory is a benefit from Allah U

and a benefit of Allah U is not given to one who sins.



So the first principle in committing the Quran to memory, is that before even taking the first lesson, one should make an intention (niyyah) of leaving sins. By Allah's U will the light (noor) of the Quran, coupled with one's niyyah of leaving sin will Insha-Allah protect the hafiz-to-be and increase his capacity to memorize and retain the verses.

ARTIFICIALITY

Hafiz Ibn Qayyim Al Jawzi (rah) writes:

“The Heart, in its journey to Allah U is like that of a bird: Love is its head, and fear and hope are its two wings. When the head and two wings are sound the bird flies gracefully; if the head is severed, the bird dies; if the bird loses one of its wings, it then becomes a target for every hunter or predator.” (Madarij us Saalikeen)

Similarly a person who does hifz is also on a journey. In this journey, he is also like a bird. Sincerity is its head, while commitment and dedication are its two wings. When the head and two wings are sound the hifz will Insha-Allah be completed. If the head is severed, then disaster will ensue because if hifz is not done with a sincere purpose one will never attain the sweetness and the pleasure that Hifz brings. Artificiality, that is memorizing the Quran to impress others, etc. will bring about ruin for one in this life and in the hereafter.

In retrospect artificiality should be avoided at all costs, because while hifz will make a person eligible for Heaven, artificiality and insincerity in this will make a person eligible for Hell.

In 1981, Shaykh ul Hadith (rah) visited the Dar ul Uloom Al Arabiyah Al Islamiyyah in England for the Bukhari Graduation, a graduation ceremony when students become Alims.

In his address he said:

"Imam Bukhari (rah) commenced his book of with the Prophetic statement, ‘Actions are according to intentions’. And completed it with the Hadith, ‘There are two words which are dear to the Most Beneficent and very easy for the tongue to say, are but very heavy in the balance. They are: ‘Subhan Allahi wa bihamdihi’ and 'Subhan Allahil Azim.’"

“[In doing so], he indirectly conveyed a very profound message to the Ummah which amounts to this: - "There are only two things to be done in this world, 1. To be sincere in the heart and 2. To praise Allah U with the tongue."

If the fact that Shaykh ul Hadith (rah) had experience teaching Bukhari Shareef for 45 years is kept in mind, one can well realize with what profound insight he was speaking.

Since the Quran itself is a Dhikr, one can understand the two step process gained from the statement above: Sincerity of Heart and Praising Allah U is the correct approach to the Quran since the Quran is also Dhikr.

Shaykh ul Hadith (rah) writes:

“The Quran altogether is a dhikr of Allah U in the sense that no ayaat of the Quran is devoid of remembrance and attention towards Allah U.” (Fazail-e-Quran)

“It can be concluded that repeated recitation of the Quran will result in the reader being influenced by the qualities of the Originator of the verses and in developing a natural affinity with Him.” (ibid)

As we progress to the third thing which is detrimental to the one doing hifz, keep in mind, the intended message conveyed by Imam Bukhari (rah) that there are only two things worth doing in this world: Sincerity of Heart and Remembrance of Allah U.

ATTACHMENTS

When many instances of social events, visiting friends, or other such activities crowd the calendar then one can well appreciate the message of Imam Bukhari (rah). In this respect, lets look at the advice of a great scholar: Imam Abu Hanifa (rah):

Imam Abu Hanifa (rah) besides being a Hafiz, Alim, Sufi Mufti, Faqih, and Mujtahid was also a very successful businessman. His days were spent in teaching Fiqh and nights spend in Tahajjud. With all the constraints on his time, he would be the perfect guide on time management. Rightly so, here is an incident from his life:

"Somebody having asked the Imam what could aid one in learning fiqh, he answered "Peace of mind." "How to acquire it?" asked the man. "Reduce your attachments," replied the Imam. "How can one reduce one's attachments?" asked the man further. "Take what is essential and leave what is not," counseled the Imam. (Sirat-e-Nauman)

The same can be applied to hifz. It is not attained but by reducing one's attachments, as much as possible. The most important consideration should be that as much as possible social activities, mixing with friends and the like should be restricted as much as possible. This might seem harsh, but hifz is a monumental undertaking.

If the advice of the respected Imam (rah) is not convincing enough then let us look at the life of our Beloved Prophet r about whom Allah U states in the Quran:

لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ

Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have

a good example to follow (33:21)

Let us examine his r blessed example in regards to the preference for the Quran over other obligations:

Maulana Yusuf Kandhalwi (rah) writes:

“Aws bin Huzaifah Thaqafi stated: In the Thaqif’s delegation we came to Rasulullah r. So the Ahlafi gentlemen stayed with Hadrat Mughirah bin Sh’obah t and his holiness r put up the Malikiyin in his own tent. After the Isha prayer his holiness r used to come to us and would talk so long that owing to standing for long, he r would change his steps, and often in these talks with us he r complained against the Quraish. He r used to say: ‘We had been considered weak in Makkah. Then, when we went to Madinah we got revenge on the community; the mode of fighting sometimes turned out to be favorable to us and sometimes to them. The narrator says that ‘one night he was delayed in coming to us the way he used to come to us. Then, when he came to us, we said: ‘O Rasulullah r, Tonight you have come late to us in that part of the night in which you used to come’. So he said ‘As it was time to recite the fixed portion of the Quran I used to recite, I thought it better, not to stir out until I had recited it’ or he said ‘until I completed it…’”(Hayat-us-Sahabah, Volume III)

“Hadrat Mughirah bin Sh’obah t said: a man sought permission to come to Rasulullah r while the latter was between Makkah and Madinah. So Rasulullah r said: ‘Tonight I have missed the reciting of my portion of the Quran and I can’t give preference to anything over it.’” (ibid)

This is the example of our beloved Rasulullah r whose responsibilities included: inviting others to the Deen of Islam, judging cases, training the Sahabah, administrating the Dar-ul-Islam, being a husband, a father, and so much more.

Here it is important to understand that no matter how much one explains to his friends the time required in memorizing Quran and reviewing it (especially if one is doing Hifz part-time) they will rarely understand. This is because the demands of Hifz can only be understood by one who is engaged in it.

Hadrat Abdullah Ibn Masud t observed:

“It is proper for a hafiz of the Quran to recognize (the value of) his nights when the people may be sleeping, and take care of his day when the people may be eating and drinking, and recognize his sorrow when the people may be rejoicing, and keep weeping when the people may be laughing and keep silent when the people may be causing confusion and employ his fearfulness when the people may be showing pride. It is proper for a hafiz of the Quran that he may be a weeper, melancholy, prudent, forbearing, knowledgeable, and quiet. It is not proper for a hafiz of the Quran to be hard-hearted, negligent, clamorous and noisy.” (Hayat-us-Sahabah, Volume III)

Allah U has made Hifz easy but to give social events preference over the work at hand will certainly not help one’s progress, in fact it will ruin whatever progress that has been made.