Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ…
The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur’an . . . [2:185]
The first description that Allah gives of Ramadan is that it is the month of the Quran. Therefore, in this blessed month the thing we are to do the most is to engage with the Quran: recite it, learn its meaning, memorize it. If the month of Ramadan passes without our hearts bearing slightly more Quran than before, we are unfortunate indeed. Therefore this Ramadan let us make a plan for daily memorization of the Quran in sha Allah.
Rewards for Memorizing the Quran
- Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, ‘It is out of reverence to Allah in respecting an aged Muslim, and the one who commits the Qur’an to memory and does not exaggerate pronouncing its letters nor forgets it after memorizing, and to respect the just ruler’. [Abu Dawud]
On the other hand he said, He who does not memorize any part from the Qur’an he is like the ruined house. [At-Tirmidhi]
- Honour on the Day of Judgment:
The one who memorized the Qur’an shall come on the Day of Judgement and (the reward for reciting the Qur’an) says: ‘O Lord! Decorate him.” So he is donned with a crown of nobility. Then it says: “O Lord! Give him more!’ So he is donned with a suit of nobility. Then it says: “O Lord! Be pleased with him.’ So He is pleased with him and says: “Recite and rise up, and be increased in reward with every Ayah.‘ [Tirmidhi]
- There is to be no envy except for two: A man to whom Allah grants wealth and he spends from it during the hours of the night and the hours of the day. And a man to whom Allah grants (memorization of) the Quran so he stands with it (in prayer) during the hours of the night and the hours of the day. [Tirmidhi]
- Every time you repeat the same ayah, you’re getting rewarded for each letter, as the Prophet said, [Whoever recites a letter] from Allah’s Book, then he receives the reward from it, and the reward of ten the like of it. I do not say that Alif Lam Mim is a letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter. [Tirmidhi]
He also said, The person who reads the Qur’aan fluently is with the honourable and obedient scribes (i.e. angels), and he who reads it with difficulty, (even) he shall get (at least) a double reward. [Aboo Dawood]
Easy Methods of Memorization
The most common method of Quran memorization is the Mauritanian method. It is basically based on repetition of the section you want to memorize, something from 100 to 500 times depending on your memorization capacity.
An easy variation is to repeat one ayah while reading it from the mus’haf until you have memorized it (about 10-30 times), then reciting it without looking. If you have got it right, then move on to the next ayah, repeat it another 10-30 times, then recite the first ayah and second ayah together for another 10 or so times, until you can recite the whole section without looking.
For busy people who are struggling to memorize anything at all from the Quran, the best way is to listen to the recorded recitation repeatedly for the short surahs of Juz Amma. You can do it while travelling or while waiting for your lunch.
What to Memorize?
What you want to memorize depends on your level of memorization. For beginners, it’s best to memorize the last ten surahs first, and of course surah Fatiha. These are short surahs with short ayaat, easy to memorize but profound in meaning. Depending on how busy your schedule is, fix a certain number of ayaat to be memorized daily. Even if you memorize two ayahs per day, you will have memorized sixty ayahs by the end of Ramadan, which is equivalent to the length from surat al Asr to surat an Nas (12 surahs).
Using Technology to Your Advantage
Some people prefer to fix a time for Quran memorization. I personally feel that we can memorize Quran any time of the day when we feel like. To facilitate this, you can use your smart phones or tablets to your advantage. Download a Quran app (one which looks like the paper mus-haf and can be browsed page-wise), and you can memorize any time anywhere you are, even without wudu, although of course it is preferable to have wudu during memorization. But don’t let that deter you from memorizing.
Lastly, read or listen to ax explanation of the surahs that you’re memorizing, in order to make them meaningful when you recite them in your prayers.
In Understand Quran, you can learn Quranic Arabic on the go using your IPad or tablet apps, and you can access the materials no matter where you are; and no matter how busy your schedule is, you can always squeeze something in, even if it is a few drops of knowledge. And with patience, those drops soon add up to become pools of enlightenment in sha Allah.
Tabassum Mosleh
