Memorizing
the Quran
From
Abdur-Rahman Abdul Khaaliq's
"Al-Qawaaid adh-Dhahabiyyah lil-Hifdh il-Quran
il-Adheem"
Bismillaahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem
My Brother and
Sister Muslim - there is no doubt that you know of
excellence of memorising the Quran and the
excellence of teaching it. The Messenger of Allaah (sas)
said: "The best amongst you is the one who
learns the Qur'aan and teaches it."
Presented to you
are some rules which will assist in memorising the
Qur'aan, may Allaah benefit us by them.
The First Rule:
Ikhlaas - (Sincerity)
The purification of
ones intention and correcting ones desire is
obligatory. It is likewise for making ones concern
with and memorisation of the Quran for the s ake of
Allaah, the Sublime and Exalted, and for gaining
success with His Paradis e and obtaining His
pleasure.
Also for obtaining
those mighty rewards which are reserved for those
who recited the Quran and memorised it. Allaah the
Exalted said:
So worship Allaah,
making the Deen sincerely for Him. Is it not to
Allaah that s incere worship is due? [Zumar 39:2-3]
He also said:
Say: I have been
commanded that I worship Allaah making the Deen
sincerely for H im. [Zumar 39:11]
And the Messenger
of Allaah (sas) said: "Allaah the Exalted said:
I am so self-s ufficient that I am in no need of
having an associate. Thus, he who does an acti on
for someone elses sake as well as Mine will have
that action renounced by Me to him whom he
associated with Me." [Bukhaaree and Muslim]
Therefore, there is
no reward for the one who recited the Quran and
memorised it to show off and to be heard of. There
is also no doubt that the one who recited the Quran
desiring by it the world and seeking some sort of
worldy reward for i t is sinful.
The Second Rule:
Correction of ones Pronunciation and Recitation
The first step in
memorising the Quran after that of Ikhlaas is the
obligation o f correcting the pronunciation of the
Quran. This does not occur except by liste ning to a
good reciter or a precise memoriser of the Quran.
The Quran is not lea rned except by acquiring it
(from another). Thus, the Messenger (sas) who is the
most eloquent of the arabs in speech, took it from
Jibreel (as) orally. The Mes senger (sas) himself
used to recited the Quran to Jibreel once in every
year and in the year that he died he recited it to
him twice. [Reported by Bukhaaree]
Likewise, the
Messenger taught it to the Companions (ra) orally
and those who ca me after them heard it from the
Companions and so on for each generation after t
hem.
Taking the Quran
from a good reciter is obligatory. Likewise,
correcting ones re citation firstly and not
depending on oneself in its recitation even if one
is k nowledgeable of the Arabic language and of its
principles, is also obligatory. T his is because in
the Quran there are many verses which occur in a way
that is o pposed to what is well known in the rules
of the Arabic language.
The Third Rule:
Specifying a Daily Limit for Memorisation
It is necessary for
the one desiring to memorise the Quran that he sets
himself a daily limit for memorising. a number of
verses for example, perhaps a page or two pages or
even an eighth of a juz (one thirtieth of the Quran).
So he begins, after he has corrected his recitation
and set his daily limit, to learn by freq uent
repetition. It is also necessary that this
repetition is done melodiously a nd this is so that
a person follows the Sunnah firstly and that it the
memorisat ion is made firm and strong secondly.
Melodious recitation is pleasing to ones h earing
and also assists in memorisation. Furthermore, the
tongue will always ret urn to a specific tone (of
voice) and as a result of this it will become
familia r with any mistake whenever the balance in
ones recitation and familiar tone bec omes
disordered or imbalanced. The reciter will know
therefore, that his tongue will not comply with him
when he makes a mistake and that if the tone is
wrong o r out of tune, his memorisation will return
to him.
All of this is
because reciting the Quran and beautifying it with
ones voice is a matter which has been commanded. It
is not permissible to oppose this command due to the
saying of the Messenger (sas): "Whoever does
not beautify the Quran ( recite it melodiously) he
is not of us." [Bukhaaree]
The Fourth Rule:
Not Surpassing One's Daily Limit until You Have
Perfected its Memorisation.
It is not
permissible for the memoriser to move to a new
portion of the Quran un til after he has perfected
the memorisation of his previous limit. This is so
th at whatever he has memorised is firmly
established in his mind. There is no doub t that
amongst those things which aid the memoriser is his
occupation with what he has memorised through the
hours of the day and night. This occurs by reciting
it in the silent prayers, and if he is the imaam
then in the loud prayers. Also in the superogatory
prayers (nawaafil) and in the times when one is
waiting for the obligatory prayers. By this method
the memorisation will become a lot easie r. In this
way it is possible for a person to practise it even
if he is occupied with other matters and this is
because he does not simply sit at a specific tim e
for memorising the Quran. Thus the night will not
arrive except with those ver ses memorised and
firmly established in the mind. And if there is
something whic h has occuppied the memoriser during
this day, he should not move onto his next portion
of the Quran, rather he should continue on the
second day with what he h ad started with the day
before until the memorisation becomes perfected.
The Fifth Rule:
Memorise Using the Same Copy (Mushaf) of the Quran
Among the things
which aid the memorisation is that the memoriser
should keep fo r himself a specific mushaf (copy of
the Quran) which he should never change. Th is is
because a person memorises using the sight just as
he memorises using the hearing. The script and form
of the verses and their places in the mushaf leave
an imprint in the mind when they are recited and
looked at frequently. If the me moriser was to
change his mushaf from which he memorises or if he
was to memoris e from a number of different copies
the places of the verses would be in differe nt
places and also the script may also be different.
This makes the memorisation difficult for him.
Therefore it is obligatory for the one memorisng the
Quran t hat he does so from a single script and
mushaf and he should never replace it.
The Sixth Rule:
Understanding is the Way to Memorising
Among the things
which greatly aid the process of memorisation is
understanding the verses that one has memorised and
knowing their relationship and link, one t o
another. This is why it is necessary for the
memoriser to read the tafseer (ex planation) of
those verses which he desires to memorise and that
he knows their connection, one with another. Also,
that he brings this to mind when he is recit ing.
This makes it easier for him to memorise the verses.
Having said this, it i s also necessary that he does
not depend on knowing the meaning of the verses al
one in memorising them. Rather the repetition of
these verses should be the foun dation. This should
be done until the tongue can recite the verses even
if the m ind is occupied with other than the meaning
of these verses. This is sign that t he verses are
firmly established in the mind. As for the one who
relies upon the meaning alone then he will forget
often and his recitation will be disjointed d ue to
his mind being scattered and occupied with other
things. This occurs frequ ently, especially when the
recitation is long.
The Seventh
Rule: Do not move on from a Complete Surah until you
have connected the first part of it to the last
After one surah
from among the surahs of the Quran has been
completed it is desi rable for the memoriser that he
does not move onto another surah except after ha
ving perfected its memorisation and connecting its
first part to its last so tha t his tongue can flow
in reciting it, from its beginning to its end. He
should b e able to recite it without having to think
or go through trouble in remembering the verses.
Rather it is a must that the memorisation (and
recitation) of these verses is like (flowing) water
and that the memoriser recites these verses with out
hesitation, even if his mind is occupied with more
than one thing, away from m the meaning of these
verses. It should be as a person recites Surah
Faatihah w ithout any difficulty or having to think
about it. This occurs by repeating thes e verses
frequently and reciting them often. However the
memorisation of every s urah of the Quran will not
be like that of Surah Faatihah except rarely but the
intent and desire should be to try to make it as
such. Therefore, it is necessar y that when a surah
is completed it is firmly established in the mind,
with its beginning connected to its end and that the
memoriser does not move onto another surah until he
has memorised it with precision.
The Eighth Rule:
Reciting to Others
It is necessary for
the memoriser not to depend on himself for his
memorisation. Rather he should test his memorisation
by reciting the verses or surah in quest ion to
somebody else, or he should recite them by following
the mushaf. And how excellent this would be if a
person had with him a precise memoriser (who would
test his memorisation). This is so that the
memoriser becomes aware of the possi bility of his
being forgetful or confused in his recitation
(without knowing it) . Many individuals amongst us
who memorise a surah make mistakes and a person ma y
not realise that until he looks into the mushaf.
Furhtermore, the one who des ires to memorise may
not realise by himself at which place he makes an
error in his recitation despite the fact that he may
be reciting from a mushaf. For this reason making
others listen to his recitation of what he has
memorised from the Quran is a means of perceiving
and knowing these errors and being constantly awa re
of them.
