Tips on memorizing the Qur’an

By Muhammad Alshareef

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 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 Abu Haneefah, rahimahullah, was confronted with a Fiqh Mas’alah that he was
unable to conclude, he 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".

Al-Khateeb reported in al-Jaami’ (2/387) that Yahya ibn Yahya said: “A man asked
Maalik ibn Anas, ‘O Abu ‘Abd-Allaah! Is there anything that will improve my
memory?’ Maalik ibn Anas, rahimahullah, replied, ‘If anything will improve it, it is
giving up sin.” Bishr Alhaafee, rahimahullah, said "A servant commits a sin, and is
deprived [thereby] of performing tahajjud."

One of 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 Madinah 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.

Ibn `Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH)
said, “The heart that has no Qur’an in it is like an abandoned ruined dwelling.” [At-
Tirmidhi]. 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:

1. 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’.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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..

5. 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 soda. 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.

6. 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:

1. Dua, supplication (you must always reflect your desire to Allah).

2. Sabr, patience (it will be a testing path, fill your bags with Sabr powerbars).

3. 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.

`Abdullah bin `Amr bin Al-`As (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Prophet
(sal Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) 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.'' [Abu Dawud and
At-Tirmidhi].

How many ranks will you climb on the Day of Resurrection?

How many ranks would you like to climb?