Apr 26, 2022

You don’t need to memorise Qur'an every single day!

By Qari Mubashir • Issue #3 • View online

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Bismillāh al-Rahmān al-Rahīm

Assalāmu ‘Alaykum!

It’s Tuesday, and you know what that means, I’m back with the weekly updates. This week we look at solidification review methods, what Hāfiz means, and create ways of beating inconsistency.

This Week’s Lineup:

Make Your Hifdh Solid With These Schedules: I share three methods for strengthening what you’ve memorised.
You Don’t Need To Memorise Quran Every Single Day: This post is about how you can navigate a world where you can’t do ḥifẓ every single day.
What Does It Mean To Be A Hafiz?: The many lessons we can learn from the word “ḥāfiẓ”.
A Journey With Qur'ān: A roundup reporting the progress of three brothers in their pursuit of memorising the Qur'ān.
Tips and Tools: A roundup of don’t-miss convos, resources, tips, and tools shared in the How To Memorise The Quran Facebook Community and more.

Let’s get to it!

- Qāri’ Mubashir

🔗 LATEST ARTICLES

Make Your Hifdh Solid With These Schedules (7 min read)

How can a Ḥāfiẓ make his Qur’ān stronger once memorised? Today I share with you three methods for strengthening what you’ve memorised.

These are for those that have memorised a large portion of the Qur’ān or memorised the entire Qur’ān (the Ḥāfiẓ).

You Don’t Need To Memorise Quran Every Single Day (6 min read)

For many of us, it’s not possible to memorize every day and so we struggle when we try to. Do you struggle to be consistent with your Qur’ān memorization? Do you struggle on a daily basis? So is it possible to memorise without doing it every day? Yes, it’s possible. This post is about how you can navigate a world where you can’t do ḥifẓ every single day. Everyone has a different situation.

What Does It Mean To Be A Hafiz? (5 min read)

If you ask Google, it will tell you that a Hafiz is a “Muslim who knows the Koran by heart”. And that the origin of the word is Persian, from Arabic ḥāfiẓ ‘guardian’, from ḥāfiẓa ‘guard, know by heart’.

The reality is that it means so much more. We can learn many lessons from the “ḥāfiẓ” which comes from the root word: ḥa fi ẓa. From a linguistic approach, the meaning is not limited to memorising something or knowing it by heart, and therefore preserving or guarding it.

📖 A JOURNEY WITH QUR'ĀN

Where we learn by watching others memorise. Here’s a roundup reporting the progress of three brothers in their pursuit of memorising the Qur'ān. You can read the introductions in Issue #1.

‘Abdullāh, university student

A quick reminder: He started reviewing again after a long period without it and hasn’t been memorising for many months. He restarted at the start of Ramadān and has reviewed everything (30th, 29th, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd).
What he accomplished last week: Last week and this week, he’s in Palestine. Here’s his message: “The situation here has been completely calm for 99% of the time. The Ummah needs to visit the Palestinians and not be put off by what they see in the media. It’s a place like no other, with people like no other. By not going to Palestine, we’re doing ourselves a disservice. There’s so much to gain that can’t be gained anywhere else in the world.”

Hasnaat, a recent uni graduate

Quick reminder: He also began to review his Qur'ān after so many months of not doing so. He restarted at the start of Ramadān and has made good progress.
What he accomplished last week: He continued the good progress with consistency. But he slowed down as things got harder on the 4th Juz’. So he didn’t achieve his review goal, so this week he will focus on getting the 5th Juz’ done.
Challenges he spoke to me about: One of the things he struggles with at times is recalling from random places. The reason for this is that he relies on visual memory. If he can’t picture where an āyah is, he will struggle to recall it. He wanted to know how he could improve because audio doesn’t work for him. We discussed that he needs to strengthen his visual memory by incorporating more intentional looking at the mus'haf but also doing regular self-testing to get better at recall. Let’s see how he gets on.

Muhammad, restarting a journey

Quick reminder: Has forgotten what he memorised (half Qur'ān) and continues to struggle to get started again.
What he accomplished last week: After putting him to account, he finally started with the 30th Juz’, a little at a time.
One of his challenges: Perfectionist anxiety. He worries a lot about the quality of his memorisation. Making mistakes feels like a sense of shame so much so that the opinion of others will affect him. This means that he avoids reciting in front of others in case he makes a mistake. This in return makes it difficult for him to approach teachers. He needs everything to be perfect. Just like his delay tactic to tell himself that he will start after Ramadān, this also feeds delay. This perfectionist anxiety pulls him away from the task. The solution is to embrace and own mistakes. I told him what I have told every student: I love mistakes, they motivate me. Without them, I can’t improve. Without them, I can’t seek higher standards. Without them, I can’t experience a type of satisfaction that I can’t otherwise get. Didn’t the Messenger of Allāh, peace, and blessings of Allāh be upon him, say, “By the One in whose hand is my soul, if you did not sin, Allāh would replace you with people who would sin, and they would seek forgiveness from Allāh and He would forgive them.” Embrace your forgetfulness and mistakes in this sense - that you see it as an opportunity to become better, and to struggle. Change the mindset. Don’t be afraid.

⚒️ TIPS AND TOOLS

A share by Abeer Sadary:

“I’ve been praying next to a lady for the past few days in Masjid an-Nabawī and she hasn’t touched the Muṣḥaf once but she’s been reciting non-stop in the times between prayers.

The first day, Friday, I heard her reciting under breath (couldn’t hear her but could tell that she was reciting).

I thought, ah sūrat al-Kahf. But that’s very easy. 😊

Then she did sajda of tilāwah. And I thought, perhaps she’s started sūrat Maryam. Also easy. 😊

Then, she went on and on and on. Never looking at the Muṣḥaf—not even once. More than anything, I was confused. Because to be able to do something like this is a feat and a half.

It was when another lady next to me, randomly mentioned that these sisters (referring to the lady reciting and her companions) are Mauritanians that everything made sense. 😥

The Mauritanians are knowns for the strength of their ḥifḏh because of the way that they memorise, often repeating a single page up to 300 times and more.

You often have people ask about the secret to having a strong ḥifḏh, and it’s right here: repetition! A lot of it. Far more than you think possible!

I ask Allāh to increase us in His Favours and to strengthen ḥifḏh in the hearts of the ḥuffāḏh.”

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By Qari Mubashir

Follow memorisation journeys and explore the best advice, methods, strategies, stories, and tools to help us study, memorise, review, and teach the Qur’ān with true connection, love, and excellence.

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How To Memorise The Quran by Qari Mubashir