Saturday, October 19, 2024

Note: On Striving To Memorize From The Noble Qur'an

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

🌼 Alhamdulillah. Just recently the two sons of one of the mothers here at Wisdom Islamic School in Davao city (Mindanao, Philippines) graduated from a Ma'had / Zaid Ibn Thabit institute that encourages its students to memorize the whole of the Noble Qur'an for Allah's sake. The following are some helpful tips and valuable advice from one of her teenage sons on how to memorize a Surah/chapter from the Noble Qur'an more easily or faster and he politely requested that his real name is not mentioned (regularly include him and his loving Tausug family in your Du'a supplications):

Dear Muslim, if you are serious about wanting to memorize any Surah from the Noble Qur'an for Allah's sake, please make sure you do the following:

1💎 Ensure that your decision to memorize a Surah from the Noble Qur'an is intended purely to please Only Allah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala. Without Ikhlaas/sincere niyyyah/intention, one's deeds and efforts may be pointless and not accepted at all nor rewarded for.

2💎 Trust Allah the Almighty at all times and increase your Du'a supplications. Supplicate to Allah the Most Merciful and pray that He Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala blesses your abilities and makes your memorization manageable and successful (with Allah's Will).

3💎 Be determined to abandon time-wasters, avoid distractions, and as much as possible quit doing all the sins which Allah the Almighty and His beloved Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam prohibited us from and warned us against, including zina/fornication, gossiping, deliberately telling lies, deceiving and listening to music as a despicable hobby/pastime.

The eloquent Imam Ash-Shaafi'ee (Allah yarhamhu. Ameen) narrated in one of his well-written poetry - approximate translation:
"I complained to my mentor, teacher or instructor (?) about how bad my memorization currently is and he admonished me or advised me to the abandonment of all evil deeds and acts of disobedience. And he informed me that knowledge  (beneficial authentic Islamic knowledge) is light, and Allah's Light is not bestowed upon the disobedient/defiant."

4💎 Frequent repetition. Read first the entire Surah before actually attempting to memorize the Ayaat verses at least five times to become very familiar 
Inn-sha-Allah with the overall Surah and Ayaat verses. 

5💎 Start memorizing one Ayah verse at a time. Instead of trying to memorize a full page of numerous Ayaat verses, really focus on perfecting your memorization of one Ayah verse at a time. If some Ayaat verses are lengthy, you may divide the Ayah verse into segments or portions, memorizing each portion or part of the Ayah verse prior to trying to memorize the whole long Ayah verse.

6💎 Striving to sincerely concentrate well and focus on memorizing the Ayaat verses from the Noble Qur'an instead of putting effort to memorize while multitasking and still being rather unproductive. It is usually more effective for many students to strive to concentrate on one task of memorizing from the Noble Qur'an rather than attempting to memorize while doing the dishes or browsing through social media.

7💎 The Muslim must have a habit of reading from the Noble Qur'an not just during the noble month Ramadan but every other day in other months of the year. Try to read at least one page from the Noble Qur'an and properly review your memorization more regularly and consistently after saying the morning and evening Adhkaar and Dua/supplications.

8💎 The most ideal or convenient timing for students to memorize from the Noble Qur'an is typically after Salat Al-Fajr, even for around 15 or so minutes, or preferably before Salat Al-Fajr like when it is recommended to pray Sunnah Salat At-Tahajjud Qiyaam Al-Layl.

9💎 Being consistent in memorizing the words and message in the Ayaat verses from the Noble Qur'an and having authentic knowledge of what those Ayaat verses mean. Check the Tafseer and translations of the Surah / chapter and Ayaat verses whenever you can. If possible, try to understand and learn the meanings of say 10 words daily by checking the Arabic to English (or preferred language) dictionary and studying reliable Tafseer books or searching for their meanings through trustworthy websites (avoiding groups which promote or advocate bid'ah and misguided khawaarij idiosyncrasies). Now and then cleverly construct some meaningful sentences with those new Arabic words which you have learned while memorizing. The more you practice speaking in Arabic with others for Allah's sake 
Inn-sha-Allah the more you become fluent and competent at comprehending and communicating in Arabic language (reminding myself as well).

10💎 Very wisely and carefully choose your close friends. Try to spend more quality time with those few who show genuine enthusiasm for learning more about Islam and the Arabic language instead of wasting your energy befriending those whose negative or uninspiring presence may distract you from your notable goals.

11💎 On a regular basis, attentively listen for Allah's sake to some Islamic lectures and motivational speeches delivered in the Arabic language while learning the meanings of those Arabic words that you wish to understand better.

Furthermore, the more you surround yourself with and listen to Muslims expressing their thoughts and talking to you in Arabic language, the more you can improve
Inn-sha-Allah at understanding Arabic language better.

May Allah the All-Knowing increase us in wisdom, intuition and authentic knowledge, and take us only when we have done sufficient righteous deeds which lead us to Jannatul Ferdaus with Allah's Mercy. Ameen.
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