Anyone have any tips on how to improve memorization skills?

Assalamualaikum

I got a thread with the same topic. It's mostly about what we should eat etc.
http://www.islamicboard.com/health-s...or-memory.html

, here's an interesting lecture by a funny sheikh
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_u...?v=aQRZocj0CL8

Memorization, like any skill, comes from practice. If for instance you are trying to memorize the Qur'an, it may be hard at first, but it isn't just about repeating the verse over and over until you get it. I mean that as you continue to do this, in time it will take less review of a verse before the memorization of it becomes easier.

You can practice on other things as well, like memorizing poems, will increase your ability to memorize across the board. I know that Islam frowns on music, but creating your own non-instrumental melody can be a good mnemonic device to aid memorization.

Another thing that I found helpful when I was first starting to memorize something was to write it on a blackboard and then repeat what it was that I was wanting to memorize. After each recitation I would erase one word and repeat the passage. Don't erase all the words in order, jump around a bit in the passage (beginning, middle, end) with the words you erase and pretty soon you will surprise yourself with how quickly you learn the passage. Then keep repeating it to yourself throughout the day. To really secure it, don't rely on having memorized it today, review it regularly -- people forget how to do math problems they learned in school because they don't keep using the skills. After you learn a verse, you might write it out on a slip of paper you drop into a bowl, and then just in your daily routine as you go in and out of your house or your office or wherever, pull a random slip out and see if you can still recall it. Doing this will help you secure it more permamently in your mind.

format_quote Originally Posted by halalmeat4free

Question says it all; anything goes. Any brain exercises or maybe something i could eat to make it easier for me to memorize things, whether it be a grocery list or a surah from the quran? Jazakallah Khair in advance.

Asalaamu ALaikum, All of the tips you need are here:

Tips on Memorizing the Qur'an

http://www.islamicboard.com/quran/13...ing-quran.html

Let me know if you need more help. May Allah give us all the ability to memorize his beautiful words. Ameen

Just wondering how many times would you have to review something before it stuck in your head for life?

format_quote Originally Posted by Salahudeen

Just wondering how many times would you have to review something before it stuck in your head for life?

The answer is ALL OF THE TIME. The Qur'an will seap out of a negligent persons heart if they do not keep going over what they learnt. So a hafidh would have to keep going over the Qur'an constantly throughout their lives. They usually do this by reading to someone who will correct them where they went wrong or remind them if they are stuck on a verse. In this way the Qur'an will remain in the heart of a Muslim until death.

But it is a major sin to neglect the Qur'an until one has forgotten it. Unfortunately this is the case with many people and they will find they are at great loss on the day of judgement.

Read a book on how memory works (perferably one that provides tips on how to improve it as well).
Watch a documentary (BBC had one about 10 tips... it was excellent).
Learn a new language, like Arabic, in a foreign country (applies to most of us).

format_quote Originally Posted by Hamza Asadullah

The answer is ALL OF THE TIME. The Qur'an will seap out of a negligent persons heart if they do not keep going over what they learnt. So a hafidh would have to keep going over the Qur'an constantly throughout their lives. They usually do this by reading to someone who will correct them where they went wrong or remind them if they are stuck on a verse. In this way the Qur'an will remain in the heart of a Muslim until death.

But it is a major sin to neglect the Qur'an until one has forgotten it. Unfortunately this is the case with many people and they will find they are at great loss on the day of judgement.

The best way is to do it by learning tafseer. My Tawjeed teacher's (Sheikh Sibghatollah Rasool, who has a masters from Madinah university) was class-mates with Sheikh Hudaifi, the grand Imam of Masjid Nabwawi (they both have the same Sheikh in Madinah who taught them Quran). My teacher is now close to 65 (around the age of Sheikh Hudaifi; I forgot his exact age), yet he rarley makes mistakes, and only reviews in his sunnah prayer. He studied tafseer, and knows why the mutashabhia occur. Hence, he is able to lead taraweeh without reviewing at all! Now that is a hafidh -- someoen truly guarding the quran. Unfortunatley, most of us are pseduo hufadh -- as we will always be in a cycle of review memorize review memorize. Hence, the importance of learning Arabic langauge, and tafseer. Also, with this, you will enjoy your recitation and instead of the Mutashabihaat becoming difficult, they will be a source of joy.

Alhumdullilah for the juzs (ajza), which I learnt the tafaseer, I rarley need to review. And when I recite them, I feel so much better, since I know the deep meanings of each ayats, and why the changes are occuring, and how each ayah is related... its an endless ocean of knowledge... and its like one is simply taking a tiny sip and that is suffient to quench the persons thirst for knowledge and humble their intellect. Though, it quenches ones thirst, the desire to want more and more of it increases.

Insh'Allah I hope to finish the tafseer of the entire Qur'an at a basic level in the next 2 years (hopefully earlier). I have made it a life-time goal to study tafseer at an advance level. So Insh'Allah when im 60, I would have covered majority of the tafseer.

My 0.02 and rant...

format_quote Originally Posted by birkah

The best way is to do it by learning tafseer. My Tawjeed teacher's (Sheikh Sibghatollah Rasool, who has a masters from Madinah university) was class-mates with Sheikh Hudaifi, the grand Imam of Masjid Nabwawi (they both have the same Sheikh in Madinah who taught them Quran). My teacher is now close to 65 (around the age of Sheikh Hudaifi; I forgot his exact age), yet he rarley makes mistakes, and only reviews in his sunnah prayer. He studied tafseer, and knows why the mutashabhia occur. Hence, he is able to lead taraweeh without reviewing at all! Now that is a hafidh -- someoen truly guarding the quran. Unfortunatley, most of us are pseduo hufadh -- as we will always be in a cycle of review memorize review memorize. Hence, the importance of learning Arabic langauge, and tafseer. Also, with this, you will enjoy your recitation and instead of the Mutashabihaat becoming difficult, they will be a source of joy.

Alhumdullilah for the juzs (ajza), which I learnt the tafaseer, I rarley need to review. And when I recite them, I feel so much better, since I know the deep meanings of each ayats, and why the changes are occuring, and how each ayah is related... its an endless ocean of knowledge... and its like one is simply taking a tiny sip and that is suffient to quench the persons thirst for knowledge and humble their intellect. Though, it quenches ones thirst, the desire to want more and more of it increases.

Insh'Allah I hope to finish the tafseer of the entire Qur'an at a basic level in the next 2 years (hopefully earlier). I have made it a life-time goal to study tafseer at an advance level. So Insh'Allah when im 60, I would have covered majority of the tafseer.

My 0.02 and rant...

Asalaamu Alaikum, very true brother. I have also noticed that learned scholars hardly ever make mistakes in Tarawee whereas those who are not as learned tend to make many. I would encourage all to learn fus'a arabic and to learn the deeper meanings of the best book of the universe the Qur'an.

May Allah make it easy for you and make you of those who will benefit others. Ameen

Birka has a good point there. I used to memorise by rote, not much different from a parrot. Then I found the Syaamil Quran which is a word-by-word translation of the Quran. Now when I recite the Quran I have a better idea about what I am saying. It definitely helps me to remember the Quran. Instead of just being beautiful sounds, the Quran is now alive with meaning for me.

format_quote Originally Posted by halalmeat4free

Question says it all; anything goes. Any brain exercises or maybe something i could eat to make it easier for me to memorize things, whether it be a grocery list or a surah from the quran? Jazakallah Khair in advance.

Let me tell a story.

When I was 17 I was accepted to attend the Naval Academy -- a school for training officers in the US Navy. The first thing they asked us to do was to memorize. We memorized all sorts of things. At any time of the day we had to be able to answer to anyone who asked us the names of every movie showing at all the theaters in town. The menu for the day's meals. The duty officers serving that day. And the length of time to a number of important days on the calendar. Then they also required that we learn from memory all sorts of nonsenical things that were part of a book called "Reef Points". It was about 200 pages of silly sayings, lymerics, proverbs, facts and figures relevant to both the school and to the Navy. Plus we also had to be prepared to be tested over anything that was on the front page of the paper or the front page of the sports section. And we quickly learned that this meant even before we went to breakfast. All of this on top of our military training and rather advanced school work.

At first this seemed impossible. We all failed. But it wasn't long before it became second nature. For instance, by the time a couple of months had gone by I found that I could learn all the movies in town and the days menu in one reading. I had gotten so accustomed to the process that my brain seemed to form little slots where that sort of information just naturally went.

In time we also figured out why they made such a big deal about this. It is because every order given needs to be repeated verbatim down the line -- not like a game of telephone where the ending message often doesn't even resemble the original. And so we learned to do it quickly and exactly on the first take.

Not everything is like that. When I was involved in theater, I found that it took more than one reading to get my lines down. But again, the more I practiced, the quicker I was at learning new scripts. Soon, instead of learning "lines" one at a time, I found that I was memorizing entire scenes.

The point here is to recognize that it is possible. At first it may be hard, but in terms of developing the skills necessary for memorization, practice really does make perfect. And it can work on everything from your grocery list to a surah. Another key -- beyond practice -- that I found helpful was working with someone. Don't just repeat to yourself. But for a team with someone who can actually periodically quiz you. If you have a desire to memorize a surah, share that with someone who might likewise be doing the same. And then when you see each other, test each other as well.

And have perseverance. Just because it doesn't go well at first, don't give up. Eventually, what was hard will become easier and the whole process will become second nature to you -- though I confess I still have trouble remembering names and associating them with faces.