Abu Bakr sent four armies to fight the nemesis of Musaylimah Al-Kadhdhab, the liar who had claimed he was a Prophet and God's Messenger. The armies contained the most senior of Sahabah and their slogan for the battle was, "Oh companions of Surat Al-Baqarah!"
The battle raged on and the forces of Musaylimah AlKadhdhab were winning. The Sahabah could not lose; they would not lose. 'Ammar ibn Yasser (RA) mounted a rock and called to all the Muslim fighters, "YAA HAMALAT AL-QURAN!!" Oh carriers of the Qur'an!
He gathered a battalion of Sahabah that only consisted of the Huffadh. Every fighter at the side of 'Ammar ibn Yasser had memorized the Qur'an in his heart. The battle was won!
Back to today. Have you ever been in a Masjid with elder respected members of a community, but when Salah time comes, a young pious man unassuming brother steps forward from amongst everyone and leads the congregation? Why was this young boy honoured such? Someone whispers into your ear, "Oh, don't you know? He memorized the Qu'ran by heart."
The Prophet (SAWW) said, "Verily, Allah elevates some people with this Qur'an and abases others.''
This article is meant [for] those who have taken their first steps, not those who are still waiting for motivation. It is dedicated to all our young brothers and sisters in Qu'ran Hifdh schools (and all the wannabes). Insha Allah, I will discuss how you can become more effective in your memorization of the Qur'an.
Let me ask this question, "Who wants to memorize the Qur'an?" No doubt, the hands initially will rise slowly, but then almost everyone should have their hand raised. But, most truthfully, is that desire a sincere, heartfelt desire? If it was, then action would follow. If I said, "Who wants to lose weight?" Most people would raise their hands and upon being asked would mention the steps they are taking to achieve their goal. What steps are we taking to memorize the Qur'an if indeed our intentions are passionate?
I would like to tell you a story of my own. A few months ago, I was sitting in a Halal chicken restaurant in Canada. All of a sudden, one of my classmates from the Qur'an school I went to when I was young entered. We hugged each other and sat together reminiscing about our days in Qur'an school. I told him about Allah's blessings upon me and my family. He said to me, "Muhammad, I swear by Allah, I still remember the day when you came to the school and you couldn't read alif-baa-taa correctly!" How best do we make use of our time?
We attend school for about 13 years. Then another 4 or 6 or 10 years at a University. More then 15 years of our life in such a slow process. Why? Because, we see the benefit of education for prosperity on earth. Why then do we not see such a rush to memorize the book of Allah? Perhaps the benefits are not readily apparent. Consider the following:
While other children are playing games and eating bubble gum, your child could be memorizing thousands of pages from the book of Allah. How does this benefit them? Quite obviously, the child's mind is trained at such a young age to absorb information and facts. When the child who memorized the Qur'an is put in a class with bubblegum chewing / Play station absorbed children, there is little doubt who will be the head of the class.
Isn't this what every parent wants?
Umar's Dawee an-Nahl observed: What is our 'Goldness'? On the highway, it's music and tv. Our golden generations were not golden because they watched tv and listened to music. They were golden because of their buzzing with the Qur'an.
When a young brother or sister is blessed with the gift of memorizing the entire Qur'an, it is a sign that Allah Ta'ala loves them! Many humans chase after material wealth. They may achieve it, but that is not a sign that Allah loves them. Look at Fir'own, he had everything of the material world, but he was one of the most hated humans because of his actions.
Moses prayed: "Our Lord! Thou hast indeed bestowed on Pharaoh and his chiefs splendor and wealth in the life of the present, and so, Our Lord, they mislead (men) from Thy Path. Deface our Lord, the features of their wealth, and send hardness to their hearts, so they will not believe until they see the grievous penalty." [Qur'an 10:88]
And more than material wealth, what humans really want in life is significance and contribution. No one wants to live their life without having done something for their Deen and the betterment of life on earth.
We want to leave a legacy.
With that in mind, notice the life of a Haafidh. From a very young age, he or she is pushed into a position of leadership. Consider it a mere 10% shift in their path. In the beginning it seems like a little, but after 20 or 50 years, it becomes a different destiny.
Notice the young brothers that memorized the Qur'an in your community, they are already pushed to the front of the congregation by virtue of their accomplishment. They, at this early start, are forced to contribute to the community and live a life of significance, Bi-idhnillah. That's what we all want. The Qur'an can do it for you.
But these gifts have a condition: the Taqwa of Allah. There is one absolute naseeha (advice) that will make or break the persons drive to memorize the Qur'an: One must desist from sin! Ibn Mas'ood said, "I feel that indeed someone will forget knowledge they had a acquired because of sins they commit."
When some Ulemas are confronted with Fiqh Mas'alah that they are unable to conclude, they would get up and pray two raka'at in tawbah to Allah. These are people who truly knew the prize to be won. Allah Ta'ala teaches us in the Qur'an: [Be conscious of Allah and Allah will teach you.] This knowledge is from Allah ta'ala, a gift. It makes no sense that someone spends their nights disobeying the gift-giver while awaiting His gifts in the morning.
In this country, the wealthy are followed and studied. What are the secrets of massive accumulation of wealth? I wish someone would do a study on Huffadh. I've done my own surveying (albeit unscientific) of those who accomplished the memorization of the Qur'an. Every Hafidh I know has strong encouraging parents. I do not have any examples of anyone who memorized the Qur'an who has an irreligious family.
One parent I know has two and soon to be three, Insha Allah, of his children who memorized the Qur'an. I know you're thinking, three! Hey share some of those kids with ours, that's not fair. Well, I contemplated his situation. The father takes his children to class and at the same time, he tries his utmost to memorize the Qur'an himself. His children, day after day, see their father practicing his words. They don't hear him say things like, 'Hey kids, don't be like me.' Absolutely not.
The key: if you want your children to be effective in their Deen and their memorization of Qur'an, YOU have to be the one that you want your children to become. Do not let them see a contradiction.
When I was young, I did not want to go to a Qur'an school. Subhan Allah. I went to that Qur'an school, I went to Islamic University and here I am today. I recently received a beautiful email after giving a lecture to the Canadian Hujjaj, my father's group. While I spoke, my father had his head up high, smiling and crying during the speech. The brother wrote in his email that he was watching my father during the lecture. It dawned on him that Muhammad is here today giving this speech because of the dua of this man! I hadn't contemplated it much until I read that email, for indeed it is correct. After the tawfeeq of Allah, it was the dua of my parents for me that helped me become who I am.
The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, "The heart that has no Qur'an in it is like an abandoned ruined dwelling." What kind of home would you like your heart to dwell in?
Excusitis, is a most powerful sickness that keeps people back from accomplishing in life. Excuse-itis. If you interview effective people, you will rarely find them making excuses. If you want to succeed in your memorization, never make excuses. Do what you have to do. I forbid those around me from making excuses. I advise the same for you. Do what you have to do to accomplish. If you cannot, then do not make excuses.
One of the interesting excuses is: "I have to completely understand the Qur'an before I memorize it. I have to know Arabic, and Fiqh and Hadith before I start from the source." Do not look at what a scholar is currently reading or studying. Look at what he did in the beginning. Every single scholar I have ever met started with Qur'an, nothing else. If you want to accumulate massive knowledge of this Deen, you must begin with memorization of the Qur'an. The children in the Hifdh school are well on their way to accomplishing massive accumulation of knowledge of this deen by virtue of their Hifdh. Bi idhnillah.
Let me give you two views by two very different people and how they look at the challenges of life:
Person 1: "Oh man, that's a killer. I can't do that. This time I just give up. Looks like I'm finally whipped. I'll never amount to anything. I'm tired."
Person 2: "Awesome, that was the kind of challenge I've been waiting for. Yaa Rabb, I am going to make you proud of me. I'm going to give it my best. I'm going to pump 110% of my energy into every part of this challenge!"
Guess which one will succeed in their memorization of the Qur'an. That's right, the second one. Why? Because the second one has the right attitude.
When I hear someone talking about their attempts to memorize Qur'an, I can usually tell which category they have locked themselves into. It is not the Qur'an. The Qur'an is easy to remember. Allah ta'ala testifies to that in the Qur'an: [And verily we made the Qur'an easy to remember, so is there anyone who will take heed?]
If you think it's easy for you, it is. If you think it is hard for you, it is. It is your attitude that determines it.
Below are some quick tips that will help you in memorizing the Qur'an:
You absolutely must have a teacher. Do NOT memorize on your own. You must have a teacher who you respect and whom you fear. Don't ask 'how' to memorize the Qur'an. Ask where you can find the best teacher. The teacher will then guide you on the 'how'.
Distractions. In memorizing the Qur'an, you must free your mind and environment of distractions. Imagine trying to memorize at a football game? Tough, huh? How about a theme park, could you sit down and control yourself to memorize? Probably not. Getting into a Qur'an Hifdh program with a teacher and discipline will assist you in creating the perfect atmosphere for memorization.
Memorize through Audio. A lot of people think they are memorizing the 'look' of the Mushaf, but actually you are memorizing the 'sound' of Ayat. When I review, I record my recitation on CD and listen to it again and again. The students that read the loudest in class are all the strongest students. Why? Because they can hear themselves the most?
When I was in Qur'an school, the boy beside me read so loud. I asked the teacher to ask him to read more quietly. He said a most powerful statement that became my motto: "No, you read louder!" I did and it benefited me unbelievably.
Location of the Mushaf. Your eyes follow a specific direction depending on what you are thinking or doing. If you are lying, your eyes go left. If you are remembering something visual, like where you left your keys, your eyes will look upwards.
When you memorize, the direction of memorization is right and left, not downwards. The mistake I see people make is that they put their mushaf low on the ground and then try to memorize. In order to fully harness the power of your mind, you must keep the mushaf at eye level, and not dip your head..
Eat brain food. We've all heard the advice of uncles that you have to eat Badams (almonds) to improve memory. Well, I'm here to tell you that the uncles were right! The food you eat, the drinks you drink, directly affect your ability to excel in memorization of the Qur'an.
Do not eat fatty, unhealthy food. Do not drink fizzy drinks. Eat a nutritious light breakfast, a nutritious light lunch, with almonds for snacks during the day. Subhan Allah, you will find you accomplish much more in your day.
Make everyday a victory. You can move a mountain rock by rock. Enjoy every page you memorize, every Ayah.
I am often asked about my secret to memorizing the Qur'an. They are expecting me to teach them a special 'south-beach-hifdh-diet' or something. (I call it tip shopping, they are expecting a specific tip). I say again and again, there is no doubt that there are three ingredients. If you have these three ingredients, you will accomplish what you set out for:
Dua, supplication (you must always reflect your desire to Allah).
Sabr, patience.
Taqwa, protecting yourself from sin.
If you do not remember anything from this article except these three ingredients (DST - Dua, Sabr, Taqwa - DST) then, bi idhnillah, it will suffice.
The Prophet (SAWW) said, "The one who was devoted to the Qur'an will be told on the Day of Resurrection: `Recite and ascend (in ranks) as you used to recite when you were in the world. Your rank will be at the last Ayah you recite.''
How many ranks will you climb on the Day of Resurrection? How many ranks would you like to climb?
i want to memorize the holy Qur'an i was amazed how quickly i learn't arabic i think my heart would be 100percent in it inshaAllah so what teacher do i have to approach? no women do it where i live so imam will teach me if i ask him?
^depends on the imam really. some have experience with hifz and others simply dont have the time to teach. - its pretty rough living being an imam as they often dont have time for full time work.
you can do hifz on your own if you have the commitment. if you can read arabic set yourself goals each day and keep working on meeting them. and dont think youll fit hifz into your routine because your life will start to revolve around your hifdh, if you do it properly.
^depends on the imam really. some have experience with hifz and others simply dont have the time to teach. - its pretty rough living being an imam as they often dont have time for full time work.
you can do hifz on your own if you have the commitment. if you can read arabic set yourself goals each day and keep working on meeting them. and dont think youll fit hifz into your routine because your life will start to revolve around your hifdh, if you do it properly.
yeah i know maybe if i just grab 20minutes of his time each week i am so desperate and i yearn for knowledge. the sisters at my mosque are not interested maybe thats y they dont hold any classes
im trying to memorise the 1st 30 verses of baqarah
the 1st 12 were relatively easy Alhamdulilah
Mashallah may Allah give all of us the ability to learn the Qur'an. We should all make intention to learn and if we die in the state of having the intention then Allah may reward us as we actually learnt the whole Qur'an. Subhanallah!
I have a question, i have a Quran teacher which my parents got for me about two and a half years ago, she is a really good teacher, may Allah bless her, but it is me who is the problem. You see, I never put any effort in memerorizing the quran, I took it for granted, and now I see my mistake, and want to do good. But the problem is that I want start over again,but I am now in surat al sadja but the surats before that I just simply forgot. How do I approach this problem, Jaza'allahughair.
May Allah bless you in the quran memorization.
Bro Hamza, what is the view on memorizing Quran without correcting one's tajweed first?
Myself, I don't agree with it as it means you're reciting the Quran wrong. But people do it. An imaam even told my mum go ahead with memorizing al Quran, even though her tajweed is so bad.
As a urdu-punjabi speaker, I've also noticed it's harder to correct tajweed if you've memorized the Quran/part of it without the correct tajweed. Sometimes even now my tajweed is good (not perfect) I accidently still say some letters in the urdu way because that's how I was taught. So shouldn't we correct our tajweed first before memorizing al Quran?
format_quote Originally Posted by Scents of Jannah
Bro Hamza, what is the view on memorizing Quran without correcting one's tajweed first?
Myself, I don't agree with it as it means you're reciting the Quran wrong. But people do it. An imaam even told my mum go ahead with memorizing al Quran, even though her tajweed is so bad.
As a urdu-punjabi speaker, I've also noticed it's harder to correct tajweed if you've memorized the Quran/part of it without the correct tajweed. Sometimes even now my tajweed is good (not perfect) I accidently still say some letters in the urdu way because that's how I was taught. So shouldn't we correct our tajweed first before memorizing al Quran?
Asalaamu Alaikum Wr Wb, i apologise for the late reply sister. It is always harder to break out of habit which one has learned over long perioud of time time. But it can be broken. I myself was taught tajweed incorrectly as a child and in my teens i learnt from a reliable local scholar because i knew i was;nt reading correctly and it did depress me at first but i took the steps to rectify the situation.
My mother is also learning correct tajweed now after a whole life time of reading without correct pronounciation but it can be done with determination inshallah.
It is a sin to continue reading the Qur'an without correct pronounciation. It maybe that one may read a letter or word incorrectly and the whole meaning of the verse may change.
So when one has realised that ones tajweed is not correct then steps should be taken to rectify ones tajweed and one should not be embarressed no matter what age one is. People learn tajweed of all ages.
Ones goal should be to rectify ones tajweed so as to gain the pleasure of Allah by reading the most sacred words in this universe correctly with proper pronounciation. It is a big sin to know that one cannot read properly and continue to do so without taking the relevant steps to rectify ones tajweed.
May Allah give us all the ability to read with correct pronounciation. Ameen
Jabir narrates from Rasool-Allah , "Whoever does duaa to Allah, Allah fulfills his seeking or in exchange averts misfortune until the duaa is not related to sin or breaking some relation." (Tirmizi)
I have a great sincerity to memorize the whole Quran. Unfortunately, I am already 20 years old, do not have a teacher and live in a part of New York where i cannot find one (small muslim community, we do have weekly recitations with the Imam, but its a large group and they focus on reading correctly not memorization).
Al-hamdella my parents are great! But they did not push me to memorize a large portion of the Quran at a young age.
I know its not too late to memorize the Quran, and I am not asking for a "secret trick" that will all a sudden implant the Quran and all its teaching in my brain over night, but i was wondering what would be the correct next step.
I have looked at a lot of transliterations which help me make sure that my pronunciation is not completely incorrect (but the Quran deserves perfection!), i downloaded a slow recitation that i can repeat after or along with, but even with these two resources the chances of having correct Tajweed is impossible.
I wish i could take a year or two off school to attend a Islamic University, but i do not know if thats possible now. Does anyone have any advice or resources that could help along the way?
I just feel that as a Ummah we are so lucky to have the ability to hold between our hands the words of Allah (saw), to be holding infinite wisdom between my hands, but not being able to correctly read and memorize it, disappoints me greatly.
Inshallah, Allah (saw) will give me the sabr and strength to get through this initial hardship. Thanks in advance for any tips.
i remember asking one brother who memrized the quran in 30-35 days he said read and repeat it over and over subhan Allah
but for me depending on the person read the first 5 ayahs 20-25 times then the next 5 20-25 times then both 20-25 times then the next 5 ayahs 20-25 times then all 3 20-25 times and so on so on as much as you can do
"The Human being is an enemy to what he is ignorant of"
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TiPs oN MeMoRiSiNg ThE QuRaN
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i want to memorize the holy Qur'an i was amazed how quickly i learn't arabic i think my heart would be 100percent in it inshaAllah so what teacher do i have to approach? no women do it where i live so imam will teach me if i ask him?
i am so desperate
and i yearn for knowledge. the sisters at my mosque are not interested maybe thats y they dont hold any classes
sis my pms are open now if u want to pm me..
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