how good is your memory

**Ummu Sufyaan** · 01-21-2009

im trying to figure out if its my memory that needs "refining," or whether or not im just being hard on myself...

i am genuinely interested to find out how well you remember things after learning/listening/reading to them. i mean Islamic material...I specifically need to know about Islamic material.

how long does it take you to absorb and preserve something in your memory...is it after the first read and/or after plenty of revision (also state what your revision methods are).

what are the extents you need to go through to keep some kind of Islamic knowledge preserved?

i hope that makes sense...your input in very much needed!

**'Abd al-Baari** · 01-21-2009

Assalamu 'Alaykum Warahmatullah ukht,

What do you mean by Islamic Knowledge? Ahaadeeth etc..or..?

**Ummu Sufyaan** · 01-21-2009

wa alaykum us-Salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu

What do you mean by Islamic Knowledge? Ahaadeeth etc..or..?

yes, just anything that you may learn...it could be a hadith, reading a book, memorizing quran, just anything that increases your knowledge of Islam, etc

**'Abd al-Baari** · 01-21-2009

Wa'Alaykumus Salaam Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuh,

I think it always helps if you are being taught something, rather than learning yourself, sounds weird, but I hope you understand what I mean.

Making notes and writing down what you are trying to learn/memorise helps a lot, as does reciting to others. In anything, whether it is the Ahaadeeth, or Qura'an, never proceed until you've perfected what you've learnt, and for those that don't speak arabic, I think that it really helps if you read a translation..this way you can put into practice what you are learning, which also helps in memorising.

**Al-Hanbali** · 01-21-2009

Repetition, Repetition and some more REPETITION!

The more you memorize, the stronger your memory gets.

Also, knowing the meaning of whatever you're memorizing helps.

**Re.TiReD** · 01-21-2009

Well if u wanna be all academic about things then I guess I could help by saying we all learn in different ways and memorise in different ways as a result too. There's several categories I think, like you could be a visual learner, audio visual etc etc I cant remem em all.

But for me, if we're talking revising for exams etc then I write things out and make it real colourful etc, and then when I'm in an exam I can somehow see the page and what colour I wrote it in and it helps

make sense? Like if I wrote the definition for....erm say 'Ijtihaad' in pink pen...I can visualise the pink and then the definition, this makes me sound sooo weird

Soo...you just have to identify what type or learner you are and then...erm go for it?

And....I really like the sig I used to have, the poem of Imaam Ash-Shafi'ee and knowledge being a light not bestowed upon a sinner etc....thats why I maybe have a fish memory, may Allah (swt) forgive me and us all. Ameen.

WassalamuAlaykum

**Banu_Hashim** · 01-21-2009

For Islamic Knowledge, I just have a genuine interest so that helps to retain it in your brain.

For academic subjects (which is a lot less interesting!) I just write out what I need to know in my hand writing in bullet points. And basically memorise those bullet points.

But these bullet points will over time condense, like sometimes just a keyword that will remind me of a whole tpoic and what I need to know for that topic.

**Abu AbdulRahman** · 01-21-2009

about the Quran, if you want to save it in your mind, so you have to repeat it every time, and you have to read it every day
especially the Quarn, it is like birds, and it flies quickly from our minds

about another information, if you do what you learn, so you won't forget it.. the one who pry will not forget how to pry.. who fast from a time to time won't forget the rules.. and so on...

about the information that we not use them a lot, we must read more, so we will read them a lot from many books and won't forget them after a while..

there is some one who always forget what he learned, then he went to some one who called "Wake'e".. he told him his problems, and "Wake'e" replied: LEAVE SINS, AND TRY TO NOT TO FORGET THAT THESE INFORMATION IS THE RELIGION, AND THE RELIGION OF ALLAH WON'T BE IN A HEART OF A SINNER"

**Ummu Sufyaan** · 01-22-2009

Originally Posted by Amatul Wadud

But for me, if we're talking revising for exams etc then I write things out and make it real colourful etc, and then when I'm in an exam I can somehow see the page and what colour I wrote it in and it helps

make sense? Like if I wrote the definition for....erm say 'Ijtihaad' in pink pen...I can visualise the pink and then the definition, this makes me sound sooo weird

nopes, i get i used to do the same thing

And....I really like the sig I used to have, the poem of Imaam Ash-Shafi'ee and knowledge being a light not bestowed upon a sinner etc....thats why I maybe have a fish memory, may Allah (swt) forgive me and us all. Ameen.

yh, i think thats my prob is, trying to memorize something after the first time after reading it *whacks forehead*

jazakallahu khair for all your replies...

**Silver** · 01-22-2009

Your brain needs practice, otherwise you'll keep forgetting things. Personally, I am able to memorize things very quickly BUT I also forget them quickly if i don't repeat them from time to time.
I also find, that when I learn the Quran with tajwid, I tend to remember it better.

**_PakistaN_** · 01-22-2009

I have been reading a book about Islam and read about 200 pages so far. I'd say I can remember 80% of it. But i cannot go in detail of every topic. It goes like this, the main things get my attention faster so I remember them. The other things like doing Tayumam which is not that important in this community I intend to forget and just read by it quickly. But other than that I think my memory is alright.