One of the most frequent questions that make its way into my inbox – here and on Facebook – is: “I’m memorising Qurʾān, do you have any advice for me?”
There’s a lot that can be said, but as I’ve shared a great deal of thoughts and insights on this topic in the past, I want to keep the following short and simple.
Besides the tips and tricks I’ve shared on this blog and on Facebook; from working with a Qurʾān teacher, to keeping a ḥifḏh log where you record the amount you memorise and revise each day, to having a “game plan”, to having a timeframe to work within…), the one advice I will convey is the advice of our beloved Prophet ﷺ:
“تعاهدوا القرآن”
A literal translation: “strike a covenant with the Qurʾān” — recite it often and regularly. When you strike a covenant with something you are bond to it.
Don’t forgo your daily portion of recitation of the Qurʾān . Hold tight to it.
In completion of the Ḥadīth, Rasūl Allāh ﷺ said, “For by Him in Whose Hand my life is, the Qurʾān escapes from memory faster than camels that are untied.” {Bukhāri 5033}
No matter what happens, revise a set portion each day, and set a memorisation goal for each day as well. Even if you reach only half of that goal it’s still better than nothing, so don’t give up hope.
Another advice I want to share is one by my teacher who said: The Qurʾān is Mighty. It is ʿAzīz. Its knowledge will not come easy to you unless and until YOU give it your all and dedicate your time and effort to it. Ḥifḏh is something that can hardly be done half heartedly. You truly need to exert every ounce of yourself into it. And this is not meant as a discouragement or to scare anyone off but rather as a reminder of how dear the Qurʾān should be to us. Of how close we need to be to it in order to succeed in memorising it and retaining it to memory.
The difference between those who want to memorise Qurʾān and the Ḥuffāḏh is that the latter group actually dedicated their time and effort and put in energy and came through, whereas the former group fell short and gave up.
We *all* fall short from time to time, but pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep moving with a goal in mind. Do not give up. A ‘bad’ ḥifḏh day doesn’t mean that you’ve reached your maximum capacity and that you cannot memorise any more. Whether you miss a day, a week or even a month, don’t let it bring you down. This is what differentiates ḥuffāḏh from those who’ve attempted ḥifḏh; the ḥuffāḏh did not give up, they did not let any ‘down time’ effect their overall motivation.
A final note to everyone, including those who are not memorising Qurʾān: Recitation of the Qurʾān is not exclusive to the month of Ramaḍān. The Qurʾān is not a guide, a healing, a light, an admonition… only during the month of Ramaḍān. It is your lifelong companion. It is meant to be recited, understood, reflected on and implemented throughout your life.
May Allāh make the Qurʾān dear to our hearts. May Allāh make us from amongst the People of the Qurʾān, those whom He calls His people, specially His people.
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