The Student of Knowledge and the Memorization of the Qur'aan
Book: Signposts Upon the Path of Seeking Knowledge (مَعَالِمٌ فِي طَرِيقِ طَلَبِ العِلْمِ)
Author: Ash-Shaykh 'Abdil-'Azeez bin Muhammad bin 'Abdillaah As-Sadhaan - Hafidhahullaah
(الشَّيْخ عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الله السَّدْحَان – حفظه الله)
Translator: Abu Rayhaanah Aqil bin Kenneth Ingram – may Allaah preserve him
طالب العلم و حفظ القرآن
Taalib-ul-'Ilm wa Hifdh-ul-Qur'aan
The Student of Knowledge and the Memorization of the Qur'aan
The memorization of the Qur'aan with the people of knowledge is from the foundations that the student of knowledge begins with. And for this reason you will find that they would place much emphasis on memorizing it and being very precise in their memorization of it. To the point that, the level of this person's memorization becomes distinct in the community of the people of knowledge and its students. And whoever looks into the biographies of the A'immah of the religion and the Salaf, they will find a confirmation of this. And that which is amazing is that some of the people of knowledge would find fault with a person of knowledge if he had not memorized the entire Qur'aan. And from those stories that can bear witness to this is what Al-Haafidh Ibnu Hajar – Rahimahullaah Ta'aalaa – mentions in his book “Taqreeb At-Tahdheeb” in the biography of 'Uthmaan bin Muhammad bin Abee Shaybah. And he states the following:
(ثقة حافظ شهير، و له أوهام، وقيل: كان لا يحفظ القرآن).
“He is reliable, a Haafidh and famous. And he may make some errors. And it is stated concerning him that: He did not memorize the entire Qur'aan.”
And we must say here that memorizing the Qur'aan is not obligatory upon the student of knowledge. But memorizing it is a key that opens up the doors to memorization and understanding. And this is something that has been born witness to by the students of knowledge who have memorized the Qur'aan. So for this reason it is incumbent upon you, O student of knowledge (and also for the Muslims in general), to place importance upon this affair of memorizing the Qur'aan, and multiply your efforts in order to reach this goal.
And the student of knowledge (and the Muslim in general) should know that memorizing the Qur'aan and acting in accordance with it is something that will raise the level and status of the individual. As has come in the Hadeeth:
(إنَّ الله يرفع بهذا الكتاب أقواماً و يضع به آخرين).
“Allaah will raise people by way of this Book (i.e. the Qur'aan). And he will also lower others by way of it.”
(Saheeh Muslim)
And the carrier of the Qur'aan, the one who memorizes the Qur'aan, he has precedence in this life, in the grave and in the Hereafter.
And the student of knowledge should know that memorizing the Qur'aan and acting in accordance with it are from those things that will increase him and raise his level, stature and position. As has come in the Hadeeth:
(إنَّ الله يرفع بهذا الكتاب أقواماً و يضع به آخرين).
“Certainly Allaah will raise a people by way of this Book (i.e. the Qur'aan). And He will also lower others by way of it.”
(Saheeh Muslim)
[Translator's Note: And just for side benefit, in another wording of this Hadeeth, in the place of “Kitaab” it says “'Ilm.” In that wording of this Hadeeth it states:
(إنَّ الله يرفع بهذا العلم أقواماً و يضع به آخرين).
“Certainly Allaah will raise a people by way of this knowledge. And He will lower others by way of it.”
But our focus now is on the Book of Allaah – Subhaanahu wa Ta'aalaa. So the Book of Allaah, through it Allaah raises people, and through it He lowers others.]
And the carrier of the Qur'aan, the one who possesses the Qur'aan, he has precedence in this life, in the grave and in the Hereafter.
And as for this individual's precedence in the life of this world, then the statement of the Messenger of Allaah – Sallalllaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – bears witness to that. And he states:
(يؤمُّ القوم أقرؤهم لكتاب الله ...)
“The one who leads the people is the one who knows the most of the Book of Allaah.”
And him having precedence in this position of honor is an evidence of the nobility and the honor of his station (i.e. is an evidence of the nobility of his stature).
And as for the individual who memorizes the Qur'aan, as for the precedence that he has in the grave, then that which bears witness to this is the following: The affair that occurred amongst the Sahaabah (i.e. the Companions) – Radiyallaahu 'Anhum – when there were many people who had died on the Day of Uhud and it was difficult for them to bury all of the deceased in their own individual graves. So they sought the permission of the Prophet – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – to bury two or three men in one grave. And he permitted this for them. And he – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – was administrating their burials. And when they would bring the deceased, the Prophet – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – would ask:
(أيهم أكثر أخذاً للقرآن؟)
“Which one of them has memorized the most Qur'aan?”
And whenever they would point to the one who possessed the most Qur'aan, then this individual would be given precedence in burial.
As for his precedence (i.e. the one who has memorized the Qur'aan) in how he will be raised in the Hereafter, then his statement – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – bears witness to it:
(يقال لصاحب القرآن: اقرأ وارتق ورتل فإنّ منزلتك عند آخر آية تقرؤها).
“It will be said to the possessor of the Qur'aan: Recite with that melodious voice, for surely your level will be at the last verse that you recite.” (Ahmad)
And just what we have already mentioned, this is a sufficient amount of glory and raising and nobility for the one who memorizes the Qur'aan. And this is the virtue of Allaah. He bestows upon whoever He wills. And Allaah possesses immense, expansive virtue.
And that which is also appropriate here to point out is that some of the people, they give up hope. They fall into despair. And they state: “My memory is weak and I am not able to memorize the Qur'aan due to what I find from it of difficulty.”
And it is possible that we may find the people saying this. But what we do know is that, concerning the soul, whatever we make the soul get used to, it will get used to it. And the person who is ignorant, when he first enters into school on the elementary level, after once being ignorant, he learns how to read and how to write. And when all of us were born, none of us possessed any knowledge. Just as our Lord has stated:
وَاللَّهُ أَخْرَجَكُم مِّن بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ شَيْئًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ ۙ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
“And all of you exited out of the wombs of your mothers not knowing anything at all. And then He made you so that you could hear, so that you could see, and so that you could understand.” (An-Nahl: 78)
So these limbs that we have on our body, or the parts of our body that we perform actions with, they are the means for us to be able to acquire knowledge and memorize. So if the servant purifies his intentions for the Sake of Allaah, then Allaah will aid him in the memorization of His Book.
And there are some steps and some affairs that will assist you in your memorization of the Noble Qur'aan. And they are:
ﱭ ﭑ ﭒﱬ
So if it was said to us, what does the word “Eelaaf” mean, many of us would find that we halt, unable to answer. And if it was said to us:
ﱭﮞ ﮟ ﮠ ﮡ ﮢ ﮣ ﮤ ﮥ ﮦ ﮧ ﮨ ﮩﱬ
“What do these words mean?” We will find that ignorance is the answer that comes from some of us. And this is something that is inappropriate for the student of knowledge. And there is no doubt that this is a shortcoming or a void in the personality of the student of knowledge.
And a person may say: “Is it obligatory upon me to do this (i.e. Is it obligatory upon me to know what each and every one of these words in the Qur'aan mean from what I have memorized)?” And the answer to that is: “No it is not obligatory upon you. But it is a shortcoming on your behalf to strive to simply memorize these words from the Qur'aan while you are ignorant of what they mean.” And the Salaf, as mentioned by Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah – Rahimahullaah – in his introduction to “The Principles of Tafseer,” he mentions that the Salaf would place more importance upon the correct meaning than they would place upon the memorization of its words.
[Translator's Note: And we say this knowing the importance of memorizing those words. Yet they placed more importance upon knowing the correct meanings of those words.]
And they would act in accordance with that which they had memorized. Aboo 'Abdir- Rahmaan As-Sulamiyy stated:
(حدثنا الذي كانوا يُقرئوننا القرآن أنهم كانوا إذا تعلموا من النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم عشر آيات لم يجاوزوها ، حتى يتعلموا ما فيها من العلم والعمل ، فتعلمنا القرآن والعلم والعمل جميعاً).
“It has been conveyed to us by those who read the Qur'aan to us, that when they would learn from the Prohet – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – ten verses, they would not surpass those ten verses until they had learned that which was in them of knowledge and action. So we learned the Qur'aan, knowledge and action all together as one.”
And it is also stated concerning this topic that we are discussing: And that which will aid an individual in placing importance upon what they have memorized and tying what they have memorized to correct understanding is for this person to read a summarized and abridged Tafseer of the verses that he has memorized. And from there, the person moves on to a Tafseer that is more detailed than the one he has just read. And perhaps an example of the first is the Tafseer of Ash-Shaykh Ibn Sa'dee – Rahimahullaahu Ta'aalaa. And an example of the second, Mukhtasiru Tafseer Ibni Katheer by Ash- Shaykh Muhammad Naseeb Ar-Rifaa'iyy – Rahimahullaah Ta'aalaa.
And that which is also good to connect to what we have just stated is the book, “As- Saheeh Al-Musnad Min Asbaab An-Nuzool (The Book of Authentic Narrations Concerning the Reasons Why Certain Verses Were Revealed),” authored by Ash- Shaykh Muqbil bin Haadee Al-Waadi'iyy – Rahimahullaah.
[Translator's Note: And books such as these are very important books, learning the reasons why verses were revealed, since learning the reasons why the verses were revealed aids the person in understanding the verse and its correct Tafseer and not understanding the verse out of context. And some of the people of the past have stated that learning the reason why a verse has been revealed is half of its correct understanding.]
And the book, “Daf'u Eehaam Al-Idtiraab” of Ash-Shaykh Ash-Shanqeetee – Rahimahullaah. And the book “Al-Israa-eeliyyat wal-Mawdoo'aat” by Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Aboo Shuhbah.
“If the one who memorizes the Qur'aan stands reciting it night and day, he will remember it. And if he does not stand with it, reciting it in his prayers, he will forget it.”
And that which has been tried, as more than one person has mentioned, the one who memorizes some verses, then he stands praying with those verses in the night prayer, and he repeats that time and time again, his memorization of that will be fortified in his mind. In contrast to the one who simply repeats it outside of the prayer.
(أكثر من قراءة القرآن ولا تتركه؛ فإنه يتيسر لك الذي تطلبه على قدر ما تقرأ. قال: فرأيت ذلك وجربته كثيراً، فكنت إذا قرأت كثيراً تيسر لي من سماع الحديث وكتابته الكثير، وإذا لم أقرأ لم يتيسر لي).
“Recite the Qur'aan in abundance and do not abandon it. For certainly you will find that it will become easy for you to acquire the knoweldge you are seeking in accordance with the extent that you and read and recite the Qur'aan.” 'Abbaas bin 'Abdid-Daayim al-Misriyy al-Kinaaniyy stated, “So I saw what he was saying and I tried it out for myself in abundance. And I found that if I was reciting the Qur'aan in abundance, it became easier for me to hear the Hadeeth and to record them in abundance. And if I was not reciting the Qur'aan in abundance like this, then it was not easy for me to hear the Hadeeth and to record them like that.”
And here there is an important point that we have to bring out, and it is:
A person should beware of despair, lack of hope entering into his heart because of the long period of time it will take him to memorize. Certainly the Salaf, they would sit for long periods of time, just to memorize one chapter of the Qur'aan. And this long period of time that they would take to memorize different chapters of the Qur'aan, it did not increase them except in diligence, and in perseverance in acquiring this memorization of the Qur'aan.
For certainly it has been reported concerning Ibnu 'Amroo – Radiyallaahu Ta'aalaa 'Anhumaa: He sat for a number of years memorizing Soorat al-Baqarah.
[Translator's Note: And the word used (بضع), it explains to us a general number. And the word (بضع) in the Arabic language, it means a number from three to nine. So understanding this, 'Abdullaah bin 'Amr bin al-Aas – Radiyallaahu 'Anhumaa – sat somewhere between three to nine years that entire time memorizing Soorat al-Baqarah. And this is something that is not rare from the Companions, where they would take their time memorizing like this. If it took this much time to memorize it, they would dedicate that whole time to doing it. And there are similar narrations like this on 'Umar bin al-Khattaab – Radiyallaahu 'Anhu – and other than him.]
And Aboo Bakr bin 'Iyaash – Rahimahullaah – stated:
(قرأتُ القرآن على عاصم بن أبي النجود. فكان يأمرني أن أقرأ عليه في كل يوم آية لا أزيد عليها. ويقول: إن هذا أثبت لك. فلم آمن أن يموت الشيخ قبل أن أفرغ من القرآن فما زلت أطلب إليه. حتى أذن في خمس آيات كل يوم!).
I read the Qur'aan to 'Aasim bin Abee an-Nujood. And he ordered me to recite to him every day only one verse and for me to not exceed that. And he would say, “This will cause it to be more established for you.” And I thought that perhaps the Shaykh would die before I was able to read the entire Qur'aan to him. And I continued to seek this knowledge from him until he permitted me to recite five verses in the day.”
So, O student of knowledge, beware of going into despair and losing hope. Put forth the effort, being truthful with yourself. And you will not see – with the permission of Allaah – except that which will cause you to become joyous and that which will cool your heart. And remember the statement of the Prophet – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam:
(إنما العلم بالتعلم......)
“Knowledge only comes through learning.”
(As has come in the Hadeeth that has been stated by Ad-Daaraqutnee and other than him).
And his statement – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam:
(...... ومن يتصبر يصبره الله …..)
“And whoever strives to have patience, then Allaah will make him patient.”
And know, that training your soul upon knowledge and striving to be upon this way with the knowledge, through this the student acquires an abundance of knowledge. And whoever examines the history and the biographies of the Salafus-Saalih, he will only see a confirmation of that. As it is stated: Through patience and certainty one acquires leadership in the religion.
And I would like you to take some examples of the strength in memorization and also the zeal of the Salaf – Rahimahumullaahu Ta'aalaa. And he is going to state all of this to us hoping that these narrations of the Salaf will be an encouragement for us and it will be an aid for us to increase our ambition, increase our zeal to encourage us to seek knowledge generally and to memorize.
So from these examples of the Salaf:
The statement of Mujaahid:
(صليت خلف مسلمة بن مخلد. فقرأ سورة البقرة فما ترك واواً ولا ألفاً).
“I prayed behind Musallamah bin Mukhlid. So, he recited Soorat al-Baqarah and he did not leave off one Waaw or Alif.”
And Hafs bin Ghayaath, he states:
(من جلالة ابن أبي ليلى أنه قرأ القرآن على عشرة شيوخ).
“From the nobility and the virtue of Ibn Abee Laylaa is that he recited the Qur'aan in it's entirety to ten different Shuyookh.”
(وكان الأعمش يعرض القرآن فيمسكون عليه المصاحف. فلا يخطئ في حرف واحد).
“And al-A'mash – Rahimahullaah – would recite the Qur'aan while the people would take the Mushaf away from him. And thereafter he would not even miss one letter.”
And from their memorization outside of the Qur'aan:
Aboo Daawood has stated:
(أملى إسحاق أحد عشر ألف حديث من حفظه. ثم قرأها علينا فما زاد حرفاً ولا نقص حرفاً).
“Ishaaq had memorized 11,000 Ahaadeeth. And he was able to convey them from his memory. So then he recited these Ahaadeeth to us. And he did not increase one letter from any Hadeeth nor did he decrease one letter from any Hadeeth.”
And 'Umar bin Shubbah, he stated:
(أحفظ ستة عشر ألف أرجوزة).
“I have memorized 16,000 verses of poetry.”
[Translator's Note: And these examples from our Salaf, looking at what they were able to memorize and what they were able to accomplish, in these narrations are an example for us. Since: 1) We know that the Salaf, we should be striving to emulate them. They are an example for us. 2) The fact that they were able to achieve these measures means that it is possible to achieve these things. It is possible to memorize the Qur'aan and be able to recite it in your prayer without erring even if it is by one letter. It is possible to memorize 11,000 Ahaadeeth as we have in the narration of Ishaaq. And then be able to repeat what we have memorized from those Ahaadeeth without erring. It is possible to memorize 16,000 lines of poetry. So all of these things should be an encouragement for us and we should realize that achieving these feats are realistic and can be done. Since we have from the examples of our Salaf those who did it. So this further fortifies what ash-Shaykh 'Abdul-'Azeez as-Sadhaan is mentioning to us, that we should not give up hope, thinking that we will not be able to memorize the Qur'aan, or we won't be able to memorize other than that. No. Rather our Eemaan in Allaah should be stronger than that. We should realize that Allaah is capable of doing all things. So, we should place our Tawakkul, we should place our reliance on Allaah and just strive with all of our level best to memorize and to learn this blessed religion of al-Islaam.]
And in any regard, that which one is able to benefit from everything that we have mentioned in this section of the book that will aid an individual in his memorization of the Noble Qur'aan is as follows:
(ما تعلم أحد القرآن فنسيه إلا بذنب" ثم قرأ: ﱭﯽ ﯾ ﯿ ﰀ ﰁ ﰂ ﰃ ﰄ ﰅ ﰆ ﱬ (الشورى: 30) ثم قال:وأي مصيبة أعظم من نسيان القرآن؟)
“There is no one who has memorized the Qur'aan and then forgets it except that it is due to a sin.” Then he recited, “That which afflicts you of calamity, then it is because of what your own hands have put forth. And He pardons much.” Then he goes on and he states: “And what calamity is more grave than forgetting the Qur'aan.”
And Bishr bin al-Haarith has stated:
(إن أردت أن تلقن العلم فلا تعصي).
“If you desire to seek knowledge then do not sin.”
And before we close this particular topic it should be said: Hold on strongly, O you whom Allaah has blessed to memorize the Qur'aan in entirety, hold on firmly to reviewing what you have memorized. Since it is as the Prophet – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – has stated:
(تَعَاهَدُوا هذا الْقُرْآنَ؛ فَإِنَّهُ أَشَدُّ تَفَلُّتًا مِنْ قُلُوبِ الرِّجَالِ مِنَ الإِبِلِ مِنْ عُقُلِها).
“Review this Qur'aan since it will flee from you faster than an untied camel.”
(al-Bukhaariyy and Muslim and Ahmad)
And beware of making excuses for yourself, saying to yourself that you are preoccupied with other things. Or beware of procrastinating in your review of what you have memorized. Rather, you should make your review your foundation and everything else should be secondary. So by way of this, by the permission of Allaah, what you have memorized will remain with you and will be fortified in your mind.
“I read the Qur'aan to 'Aasim bin Abee an-Nujood. And he ordered me to recite to him one verse every day and to not increase on that. And he would say: This is firmer for you. I felt that maybe the Shaykh would die before I was able to finish reciting the Qur'aan to him. But I did not stop seeking knowledge from him, until he permitted me to memorize five verses a day.”
(End of Translation)
وَ الله أَعْلَم وَ صَلَّى الله عَلَى مُحَمَّد
Author: Ash-Shaykh 'Abdil-'Azeez bin Muhammad bin 'Abdillaah As-Sadhaan - Hafidhahullaah
(الشَّيْخ عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الله السَّدْحَان – حفظه الله)
Translator: Abu Rayhaanah Aqil bin Kenneth Ingram – may Allaah preserve him
طالب العلم و حفظ القرآن
Taalib-ul-'Ilm wa Hifdh-ul-Qur'aan
The Student of Knowledge and the Memorization of the Qur'aan
The memorization of the Qur'aan with the people of knowledge is from the foundations that the student of knowledge begins with. And for this reason you will find that they would place much emphasis on memorizing it and being very precise in their memorization of it. To the point that, the level of this person's memorization becomes distinct in the community of the people of knowledge and its students. And whoever looks into the biographies of the A'immah of the religion and the Salaf, they will find a confirmation of this. And that which is amazing is that some of the people of knowledge would find fault with a person of knowledge if he had not memorized the entire Qur'aan. And from those stories that can bear witness to this is what Al-Haafidh Ibnu Hajar – Rahimahullaah Ta'aalaa – mentions in his book “Taqreeb At-Tahdheeb” in the biography of 'Uthmaan bin Muhammad bin Abee Shaybah. And he states the following:
(ثقة حافظ شهير، و له أوهام، وقيل: كان لا يحفظ القرآن).
“He is reliable, a Haafidh and famous. And he may make some errors. And it is stated concerning him that: He did not memorize the entire Qur'aan.”
And we must say here that memorizing the Qur'aan is not obligatory upon the student of knowledge. But memorizing it is a key that opens up the doors to memorization and understanding. And this is something that has been born witness to by the students of knowledge who have memorized the Qur'aan. So for this reason it is incumbent upon you, O student of knowledge (and also for the Muslims in general), to place importance upon this affair of memorizing the Qur'aan, and multiply your efforts in order to reach this goal.
And the student of knowledge (and the Muslim in general) should know that memorizing the Qur'aan and acting in accordance with it is something that will raise the level and status of the individual. As has come in the Hadeeth:
(إنَّ الله يرفع بهذا الكتاب أقواماً و يضع به آخرين).
“Allaah will raise people by way of this Book (i.e. the Qur'aan). And he will also lower others by way of it.”
(Saheeh Muslim)
And the carrier of the Qur'aan, the one who memorizes the Qur'aan, he has precedence in this life, in the grave and in the Hereafter.
And the student of knowledge should know that memorizing the Qur'aan and acting in accordance with it are from those things that will increase him and raise his level, stature and position. As has come in the Hadeeth:
(إنَّ الله يرفع بهذا الكتاب أقواماً و يضع به آخرين).
“Certainly Allaah will raise a people by way of this Book (i.e. the Qur'aan). And He will also lower others by way of it.”
(Saheeh Muslim)
[Translator's Note: And just for side benefit, in another wording of this Hadeeth, in the place of “Kitaab” it says “'Ilm.” In that wording of this Hadeeth it states:
(إنَّ الله يرفع بهذا العلم أقواماً و يضع به آخرين).
“Certainly Allaah will raise a people by way of this knowledge. And He will lower others by way of it.”
But our focus now is on the Book of Allaah – Subhaanahu wa Ta'aalaa. So the Book of Allaah, through it Allaah raises people, and through it He lowers others.]
And the carrier of the Qur'aan, the one who possesses the Qur'aan, he has precedence in this life, in the grave and in the Hereafter.
And as for this individual's precedence in the life of this world, then the statement of the Messenger of Allaah – Sallalllaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – bears witness to that. And he states:
(يؤمُّ القوم أقرؤهم لكتاب الله ...)
“The one who leads the people is the one who knows the most of the Book of Allaah.”
And him having precedence in this position of honor is an evidence of the nobility and the honor of his station (i.e. is an evidence of the nobility of his stature).
And as for the individual who memorizes the Qur'aan, as for the precedence that he has in the grave, then that which bears witness to this is the following: The affair that occurred amongst the Sahaabah (i.e. the Companions) – Radiyallaahu 'Anhum – when there were many people who had died on the Day of Uhud and it was difficult for them to bury all of the deceased in their own individual graves. So they sought the permission of the Prophet – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – to bury two or three men in one grave. And he permitted this for them. And he – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – was administrating their burials. And when they would bring the deceased, the Prophet – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – would ask:
(أيهم أكثر أخذاً للقرآن؟)
“Which one of them has memorized the most Qur'aan?”
And whenever they would point to the one who possessed the most Qur'aan, then this individual would be given precedence in burial.
As for his precedence (i.e. the one who has memorized the Qur'aan) in how he will be raised in the Hereafter, then his statement – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – bears witness to it:
(يقال لصاحب القرآن: اقرأ وارتق ورتل فإنّ منزلتك عند آخر آية تقرؤها).
“It will be said to the possessor of the Qur'aan: Recite with that melodious voice, for surely your level will be at the last verse that you recite.” (Ahmad)
And just what we have already mentioned, this is a sufficient amount of glory and raising and nobility for the one who memorizes the Qur'aan. And this is the virtue of Allaah. He bestows upon whoever He wills. And Allaah possesses immense, expansive virtue.
And that which is also appropriate here to point out is that some of the people, they give up hope. They fall into despair. And they state: “My memory is weak and I am not able to memorize the Qur'aan due to what I find from it of difficulty.”
And it is possible that we may find the people saying this. But what we do know is that, concerning the soul, whatever we make the soul get used to, it will get used to it. And the person who is ignorant, when he first enters into school on the elementary level, after once being ignorant, he learns how to read and how to write. And when all of us were born, none of us possessed any knowledge. Just as our Lord has stated:
وَاللَّهُ أَخْرَجَكُم مِّن بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ شَيْئًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ ۙ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
“And all of you exited out of the wombs of your mothers not knowing anything at all. And then He made you so that you could hear, so that you could see, and so that you could understand.” (An-Nahl: 78)
So these limbs that we have on our body, or the parts of our body that we perform actions with, they are the means for us to be able to acquire knowledge and memorize. So if the servant purifies his intentions for the Sake of Allaah, then Allaah will aid him in the memorization of His Book.
And there are some steps and some affairs that will assist you in your memorization of the Noble Qur'aan. And they are:
- That you have sincerity for the Sake of Allaah – 'Azza wa Jalla. And that you make your memorization seeking His Pleasure. And that you also make your intentions in memorizing the Book of Allaah to assist you upon obedience to Allaah and upon your acquisition of knowledge. So if a person strives against himself in order to make his intention upright, and he strives against himself in order to act in accordance with those means that will aid him in his memorization of the Qur'aan such as reading the Qur'aan, repeating it in abundance throughout the night and the day, then these actions – In Shaa Allaah – will make it easy for him to memorize the Qur'aan.
- That a person reads the Tafseer of the verses he wants to memorize. Is it not a shortcoming on our part that many of us memorize chapters of the Qur'aan and have been reciting them since we hit puberty. And until this very moment we still find that we are ignorant of what many of the words are and what they mean. Is this not a shortcoming on our part? For example, the statement of Allaah – Ta'aalaa:
ﱭ ﭑ ﭒﱬ
So if it was said to us, what does the word “Eelaaf” mean, many of us would find that we halt, unable to answer. And if it was said to us:
ﱭﮞ ﮟ ﮠ ﮡ ﮢ ﮣ ﮤ ﮥ ﮦ ﮧ ﮨ ﮩﱬ
“What do these words mean?” We will find that ignorance is the answer that comes from some of us. And this is something that is inappropriate for the student of knowledge. And there is no doubt that this is a shortcoming or a void in the personality of the student of knowledge.
And a person may say: “Is it obligatory upon me to do this (i.e. Is it obligatory upon me to know what each and every one of these words in the Qur'aan mean from what I have memorized)?” And the answer to that is: “No it is not obligatory upon you. But it is a shortcoming on your behalf to strive to simply memorize these words from the Qur'aan while you are ignorant of what they mean.” And the Salaf, as mentioned by Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah – Rahimahullaah – in his introduction to “The Principles of Tafseer,” he mentions that the Salaf would place more importance upon the correct meaning than they would place upon the memorization of its words.
[Translator's Note: And we say this knowing the importance of memorizing those words. Yet they placed more importance upon knowing the correct meanings of those words.]
And they would act in accordance with that which they had memorized. Aboo 'Abdir- Rahmaan As-Sulamiyy stated:
(حدثنا الذي كانوا يُقرئوننا القرآن أنهم كانوا إذا تعلموا من النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم عشر آيات لم يجاوزوها ، حتى يتعلموا ما فيها من العلم والعمل ، فتعلمنا القرآن والعلم والعمل جميعاً).
“It has been conveyed to us by those who read the Qur'aan to us, that when they would learn from the Prohet – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – ten verses, they would not surpass those ten verses until they had learned that which was in them of knowledge and action. So we learned the Qur'aan, knowledge and action all together as one.”
And it is also stated concerning this topic that we are discussing: And that which will aid an individual in placing importance upon what they have memorized and tying what they have memorized to correct understanding is for this person to read a summarized and abridged Tafseer of the verses that he has memorized. And from there, the person moves on to a Tafseer that is more detailed than the one he has just read. And perhaps an example of the first is the Tafseer of Ash-Shaykh Ibn Sa'dee – Rahimahullaahu Ta'aalaa. And an example of the second, Mukhtasiru Tafseer Ibni Katheer by Ash- Shaykh Muhammad Naseeb Ar-Rifaa'iyy – Rahimahullaah Ta'aalaa.
And that which is also good to connect to what we have just stated is the book, “As- Saheeh Al-Musnad Min Asbaab An-Nuzool (The Book of Authentic Narrations Concerning the Reasons Why Certain Verses Were Revealed),” authored by Ash- Shaykh Muqbil bin Haadee Al-Waadi'iyy – Rahimahullaah.
[Translator's Note: And books such as these are very important books, learning the reasons why verses were revealed, since learning the reasons why the verses were revealed aids the person in understanding the verse and its correct Tafseer and not understanding the verse out of context. And some of the people of the past have stated that learning the reason why a verse has been revealed is half of its correct understanding.]
And the book, “Daf'u Eehaam Al-Idtiraab” of Ash-Shaykh Ash-Shanqeetee – Rahimahullaah. And the book “Al-Israa-eeliyyat wal-Mawdoo'aat” by Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Aboo Shuhbah.
- Standing with what we have memorized in the night prayer and doing this repeatedly, due to his statement – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam:
“If the one who memorizes the Qur'aan stands reciting it night and day, he will remember it. And if he does not stand with it, reciting it in his prayers, he will forget it.”
And that which has been tried, as more than one person has mentioned, the one who memorizes some verses, then he stands praying with those verses in the night prayer, and he repeats that time and time again, his memorization of that will be fortified in his mind. In contrast to the one who simply repeats it outside of the prayer.
- Repeating our recitation outside of the prayer. And this is connected to that which came before it.
- That we memorize in stages, because you may err in your reading of some of the verses and then you may memorize those errors. And I know some of the reciters who have memorized the Qur'aan and they have stated to me, “I used to read some words incorrectly until someone brought it ot my attention. And these errors in our recitation are not brought to our attention except by learning the Qur'aan in stages and reviewing it over and over again. And this individual mentioned some examples of these verses. And whoever memorizes the Qur'aan in stages and he memorizes this with a particular teacher, or if he does not have that, he holds firm to a particular recording of the Qur'aan that he uses to correct his recitation, then this, by the permission of Allaah, will reduce the amount of errors he has in his recitation.
- Your recitation of the Qur'aan or your memorization of the Qur'aan is from one print (i.e. whatever Mushaf you use, make sure you utilize the same print of the Mushaf to memorize the Qur'aan), because a person when he is reciting the Book, he is able to imagine and see the places where those verses are on the page.
[Translator's Note: We remember approximately ten years ago when we first started learning the Arabic language and our teacher at that time was a brother who is very beloved to us who goes by the Kunyah Aboo Kutub 'Abdur-Raheem Gregory, may Allaah preserve him. We were in high school at that time and at the high school we would go and sit with him right after school from Dhuhr sometimes all the way to 'Eeshaa' and he would teach us Arabic and Qur'aan and things of this nature. It was just me and him sitting there at that time. And he used to mention to me at that time and I did not understand what he was saying, he used to say, “'Aqeel, in the future InShaaAllaah, you are going to learn to see with your ears. So all of these words in Arabic, you will be able to hear them with your ears and then be able to visualize them.” And Alhamdulillaah, he was correct, may Allaah bless him and preserve him. So when you are reciting the Qur'aan, eventually you may find yourself get to a point where even though the book is not in front of you, you will be able to visualize the page that those verses are on and see exactly where that verse is on that page, be it on top of the page, the middle of the page, the bottom of the page, and so on and so forth. On the right page or the left page and so on and so forth.]
But if you vary in your prints that you are memorizing from, then this will confuse your mind and cause you to memorize poorly.
(أكثر من قراءة القرآن ولا تتركه؛ فإنه يتيسر لك الذي تطلبه على قدر ما تقرأ. قال: فرأيت ذلك وجربته كثيراً، فكنت إذا قرأت كثيراً تيسر لي من سماع الحديث وكتابته الكثير، وإذا لم أقرأ لم يتيسر لي).
“Recite the Qur'aan in abundance and do not abandon it. For certainly you will find that it will become easy for you to acquire the knoweldge you are seeking in accordance with the extent that you and read and recite the Qur'aan.” 'Abbaas bin 'Abdid-Daayim al-Misriyy al-Kinaaniyy stated, “So I saw what he was saying and I tried it out for myself in abundance. And I found that if I was reciting the Qur'aan in abundance, it became easier for me to hear the Hadeeth and to record them in abundance. And if I was not reciting the Qur'aan in abundance like this, then it was not easy for me to hear the Hadeeth and to record them like that.”
And here there is an important point that we have to bring out, and it is:
A person should beware of despair, lack of hope entering into his heart because of the long period of time it will take him to memorize. Certainly the Salaf, they would sit for long periods of time, just to memorize one chapter of the Qur'aan. And this long period of time that they would take to memorize different chapters of the Qur'aan, it did not increase them except in diligence, and in perseverance in acquiring this memorization of the Qur'aan.
For certainly it has been reported concerning Ibnu 'Amroo – Radiyallaahu Ta'aalaa 'Anhumaa: He sat for a number of years memorizing Soorat al-Baqarah.
[Translator's Note: And the word used (بضع), it explains to us a general number. And the word (بضع) in the Arabic language, it means a number from three to nine. So understanding this, 'Abdullaah bin 'Amr bin al-Aas – Radiyallaahu 'Anhumaa – sat somewhere between three to nine years that entire time memorizing Soorat al-Baqarah. And this is something that is not rare from the Companions, where they would take their time memorizing like this. If it took this much time to memorize it, they would dedicate that whole time to doing it. And there are similar narrations like this on 'Umar bin al-Khattaab – Radiyallaahu 'Anhu – and other than him.]
And Aboo Bakr bin 'Iyaash – Rahimahullaah – stated:
(قرأتُ القرآن على عاصم بن أبي النجود. فكان يأمرني أن أقرأ عليه في كل يوم آية لا أزيد عليها. ويقول: إن هذا أثبت لك. فلم آمن أن يموت الشيخ قبل أن أفرغ من القرآن فما زلت أطلب إليه. حتى أذن في خمس آيات كل يوم!).
I read the Qur'aan to 'Aasim bin Abee an-Nujood. And he ordered me to recite to him every day only one verse and for me to not exceed that. And he would say, “This will cause it to be more established for you.” And I thought that perhaps the Shaykh would die before I was able to read the entire Qur'aan to him. And I continued to seek this knowledge from him until he permitted me to recite five verses in the day.”
So, O student of knowledge, beware of going into despair and losing hope. Put forth the effort, being truthful with yourself. And you will not see – with the permission of Allaah – except that which will cause you to become joyous and that which will cool your heart. And remember the statement of the Prophet – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam:
(إنما العلم بالتعلم......)
“Knowledge only comes through learning.”
(As has come in the Hadeeth that has been stated by Ad-Daaraqutnee and other than him).
And his statement – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam:
(...... ومن يتصبر يصبره الله …..)
“And whoever strives to have patience, then Allaah will make him patient.”
And know, that training your soul upon knowledge and striving to be upon this way with the knowledge, through this the student acquires an abundance of knowledge. And whoever examines the history and the biographies of the Salafus-Saalih, he will only see a confirmation of that. As it is stated: Through patience and certainty one acquires leadership in the religion.
And I would like you to take some examples of the strength in memorization and also the zeal of the Salaf – Rahimahumullaahu Ta'aalaa. And he is going to state all of this to us hoping that these narrations of the Salaf will be an encouragement for us and it will be an aid for us to increase our ambition, increase our zeal to encourage us to seek knowledge generally and to memorize.
So from these examples of the Salaf:
The statement of Mujaahid:
(صليت خلف مسلمة بن مخلد. فقرأ سورة البقرة فما ترك واواً ولا ألفاً).
“I prayed behind Musallamah bin Mukhlid. So, he recited Soorat al-Baqarah and he did not leave off one Waaw or Alif.”
And Hafs bin Ghayaath, he states:
(من جلالة ابن أبي ليلى أنه قرأ القرآن على عشرة شيوخ).
“From the nobility and the virtue of Ibn Abee Laylaa is that he recited the Qur'aan in it's entirety to ten different Shuyookh.”
(وكان الأعمش يعرض القرآن فيمسكون عليه المصاحف. فلا يخطئ في حرف واحد).
“And al-A'mash – Rahimahullaah – would recite the Qur'aan while the people would take the Mushaf away from him. And thereafter he would not even miss one letter.”
And from their memorization outside of the Qur'aan:
Aboo Daawood has stated:
(أملى إسحاق أحد عشر ألف حديث من حفظه. ثم قرأها علينا فما زاد حرفاً ولا نقص حرفاً).
“Ishaaq had memorized 11,000 Ahaadeeth. And he was able to convey them from his memory. So then he recited these Ahaadeeth to us. And he did not increase one letter from any Hadeeth nor did he decrease one letter from any Hadeeth.”
And 'Umar bin Shubbah, he stated:
(أحفظ ستة عشر ألف أرجوزة).
“I have memorized 16,000 verses of poetry.”
[Translator's Note: And these examples from our Salaf, looking at what they were able to memorize and what they were able to accomplish, in these narrations are an example for us. Since: 1) We know that the Salaf, we should be striving to emulate them. They are an example for us. 2) The fact that they were able to achieve these measures means that it is possible to achieve these things. It is possible to memorize the Qur'aan and be able to recite it in your prayer without erring even if it is by one letter. It is possible to memorize 11,000 Ahaadeeth as we have in the narration of Ishaaq. And then be able to repeat what we have memorized from those Ahaadeeth without erring. It is possible to memorize 16,000 lines of poetry. So all of these things should be an encouragement for us and we should realize that achieving these feats are realistic and can be done. Since we have from the examples of our Salaf those who did it. So this further fortifies what ash-Shaykh 'Abdul-'Azeez as-Sadhaan is mentioning to us, that we should not give up hope, thinking that we will not be able to memorize the Qur'aan, or we won't be able to memorize other than that. No. Rather our Eemaan in Allaah should be stronger than that. We should realize that Allaah is capable of doing all things. So, we should place our Tawakkul, we should place our reliance on Allaah and just strive with all of our level best to memorize and to learn this blessed religion of al-Islaam.]
And in any regard, that which one is able to benefit from everything that we have mentioned in this section of the book that will aid an individual in his memorization of the Noble Qur'aan is as follows:
- Supplicating to Allaah with truthfulness and sincerity, asking Him to aid you in your memorization. And one should also make their intention in memorizing the Qur'aan (or memorizing knowledge in general) to obtain the pleasure of Allaah, the Exalted, through this knowledge that you are acquiring and through your acting upon the knowledge.
- Appropriating a part of his day daily, if he is able to do so. And in this portion of his day that he has appropriated for himself, he should utilize this part of his day to recite everything from his memory, according to his ability.
- The portion that one desires to memorize from the Qur'aan, he should read this portion to a reciter of the Qur'aan who is precise in his memorization of the Qur'aan.
[Translator's Note: And adding onto this third point here, we will mention something that he mentioned earlier in this section. If one does not have one who has memorized the Qur'aan to whom he can recite the Qur'aan, who is precise in his memorization and can check his recitation and memorization of the Qur'aan, then one should utilize those recordings of the Qur'aan to check his memorization and Tajweed. And, in the forefront of those scholars of at-Tajweed with recitation of the Qur'aan are al-Husary and al-Minshaawiyy and other than them that are on this type of level. And we encourage the people, if you are going to listen to reciters of the Qur'aan for the purpose of memorizing it and correcting your Tajweed, correcting your recitation of the Qur'aan, then you should strive to stick to those scholars who are scholars of this science of at-Tajweed and they stick to the rules of at-Tajweed in their recitation. Baarak Allaahu Feekum.]
- The time that you review what you have memorized, you should try to set up a schedule for yourself for review. And you should strive with all of your level best to stick to the schedule that you have set for yourself to review what you have memorized.
- The print from which you memorize should be one print (i.e. whatever print from which you start memorizing of the Mushaf or whatever book you are memorizing, you should memorize from the same book all of the time. And when you review, you should review from the same book, according to your ability). Since this will increase one's memorization and it will fortify it in his mind.
- A person should constantly repeat what he has memorized tens upon tens of times. When he is standing, and when he is sitting, and when he is walking, according to the extent of his ability.
- That which you recite in your prayers, you should try to recite from that which you have recently memorized. Since this is something that will cause the new things that you have memorized to become firmly rooted in your mind. And it will strengthen your memory.
- A person should read the Tafseer of those verses that he has memorized. Since there are two benefits in that: It fortifies what you have memorized of the Qur'aan and you will understand the meanings of what you have memorized.
- One should beware and strive to abstain from sins. Because from the evil effects of sinning is forgetting knowledge and forgetting what one has memorized. Ad-Dahhaak stated:
(ما تعلم أحد القرآن فنسيه إلا بذنب" ثم قرأ: ﱭﯽ ﯾ ﯿ ﰀ ﰁ ﰂ ﰃ ﰄ ﰅ ﰆ ﱬ (الشورى: 30) ثم قال:وأي مصيبة أعظم من نسيان القرآن؟)
“There is no one who has memorized the Qur'aan and then forgets it except that it is due to a sin.” Then he recited, “That which afflicts you of calamity, then it is because of what your own hands have put forth. And He pardons much.” Then he goes on and he states: “And what calamity is more grave than forgetting the Qur'aan.”
And Bishr bin al-Haarith has stated:
(إن أردت أن تلقن العلم فلا تعصي).
“If you desire to seek knowledge then do not sin.”
And before we close this particular topic it should be said: Hold on strongly, O you whom Allaah has blessed to memorize the Qur'aan in entirety, hold on firmly to reviewing what you have memorized. Since it is as the Prophet – Sallallaahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam – has stated:
(تَعَاهَدُوا هذا الْقُرْآنَ؛ فَإِنَّهُ أَشَدُّ تَفَلُّتًا مِنْ قُلُوبِ الرِّجَالِ مِنَ الإِبِلِ مِنْ عُقُلِها).
“Review this Qur'aan since it will flee from you faster than an untied camel.”
(al-Bukhaariyy and Muslim and Ahmad)
And beware of making excuses for yourself, saying to yourself that you are preoccupied with other things. Or beware of procrastinating in your review of what you have memorized. Rather, you should make your review your foundation and everything else should be secondary. So by way of this, by the permission of Allaah, what you have memorized will remain with you and will be fortified in your mind.
- The portion that you memorize should be small since this is something that will cause one's memorization to be stronger, more firm. Aboo Bakr bin 'Iyaash, he has stated:
“I read the Qur'aan to 'Aasim bin Abee an-Nujood. And he ordered me to recite to him one verse every day and to not increase on that. And he would say: This is firmer for you. I felt that maybe the Shaykh would die before I was able to finish reciting the Qur'aan to him. But I did not stop seeking knowledge from him, until he permitted me to memorize five verses a day.”
(End of Translation)
وَ الله أَعْلَم وَ صَلَّى الله عَلَى مُحَمَّد