Shaykh Abu Isḥāq Zuhayr Al-Hilālī
And may peace, mercy and Blessings of Allāh be upon you also.
May Allāh preserve [you] ʿAbdurraḥmān.
You asked – may Allāh grant you success – about the best method to memorizing the Book of Allāh – Majestic and Mighty is He – and likewise the way to retaining and perfecting it.
So I say In the name of Allāh;
And all praises is due to Allāh, and may Allāh extol the mention of the Messenger of Allāh and grant him peace, likewise his household, his companions and those who are guided with his guidance.
That being said,
Verily, Allāh – Mighty and Majestic is He – has indeed blessed his believing servants with great favours and vast blessings. And from the greatest of them is that He sent his great noble Book unto the heart of Muḥammad – may Allāh extol his mention and grant him peace – so that he will be among the sent ones with the plain Arabic language, and Allāh has eased memorizing this Qurʾān, understanding it and reflecting on it.
[Allāh says:] “And we have indeed made the Qurʾān easy to understand and remember; then is there any that will remember (or receive admonition)?
{Al-Qamar}
Meaning, is there any seeker of knowledge that is willing to know what is contained in it and he will be guided to that and he will be aided upon that, just as said by some of the specialists in the field of Tafsīr – may Allāh’s mercy be upon them.
And from how Allāh has made easy for His Book is that he eased memorizing its words and letters, as you see a young kid that is not above five, six or seven years who has memorized the [whole] Book of Allāh or an abundant part of it and this is from how Allāh has made things easy – Mighty and Majestic is He – for (memorizing) His Book. “And we have indeed made the Qurʾān easy to understand and remember…”
And the ways of memorizing the Qurʾān retaining and perfecting it against losing and forgetting it are very numerous. Indeed people have adopted their choices from them and each person threaded a path that suits his abilities, and that fits his age and his devotion. Some, therefore, memorize much. And from the best ways that helps to retain the Book of Allāh [in the memory] that which many of the reciters [of the Qurʾān] have tried and they succeeded with Allāh’s grace – Mighty and Majestic is He – in memorizing the Book of Allāh wholely in their hearts and they did not forget it with Allāh’s grace – Mighty and Majestic is He – even in their old ages is that you go on with the page that you want to memorize, focus on it and you seek refuge in Allāh from Shayṭān, the outcast, and you say the Basmalah (i.e. BismiLlāh Ar-Raḥmān Ar-Raḥīm) if you are at the beginning of a Sūrah. Then you read the first verse that you want to memorize. You read it twenty times. The first verse [you read it] twenty [times]. Then you move on to the second verse and you read it twenty times. Then you return to the first and you read it together with the second twenty times. Then you move to the third and you read it alone twenty times. Then you go back to read the first together with the second and third twenty times then you move to the fourth and you read it alone twenty times. Then you go back after that to the first and you read it together with the second, third and fourth twenty times. And that is how you go on till you memorize the portion that has been designated for you by the teacher depending on your memorization prowess and your devotion.
And with this method, you will never forget the Book of Allāh by Allāh’s will. But, you must consistently revise always as the one who memorizes but does not revise is like a man who carries a pouch and puts jeweleries in it. He puts the pouch on his back and walks on. Whenever he sees a jewelry, he puts it in the pouch, whereas the pouch is breached. So he puts the jewel in but they fall off. This is an instance of the one who memorizes but does not revise. Revision is required always during memorization. You go to lesson for memorization, the ones you have memorized days back are intact and then you revise. You should revise everyday.
And the portion of the revision should be significant so that you will not forget [what you have memorized], and that is how you go on with it until Allāh grants you success to memorize His Book completely.
And you do not start from [Sūrah] Al-Baqarah. Many people start from Al-Baqarah and this order is not right according to many of those who have memorized the Qurʾān and even according to many of the Salaf. You start with the short Sūrahs because that aligns with the strength of your memory then. After which you go on stepwisely gradually until you get to [Sūrah] Al-Baqarah.
Yes. There are people who start with Al-Baqarah, Āl-ʿImrān, An-Nisāʾ and Al-Māʾidah. But we are talking of the setting with which both male and female will not forget what they have memorized by Allāh’s will.
And likewise revision. So, if a person memorizes the Qurʾān completely either from An-Nās to Al-Fātiḥah, or from Al-Fātiḥah to An-Nās, he will then read unto the teacher the whole Qurʾān a number of times, the first, second, third, fourth and fifth times and on and on until he joins together the fragmented memorization process.
And according to what the specialists in this field say, every person have two memories: Short-term memory and long-term memory.
A rapid memorized data is stored in the short-term memory and that is forgotten so quickly. As for the retained memorized data, it moves from the short-term memory to the long-term memory. And this is what is retained longer. You have memorized some Sūrahs since your childhood and you do not require revising them ever again because you have stored them intactly in your memory and you have repeated them countless times. That is what helps to retain.
For instance, look at the large number of people that did not willingly memorize Sūrah Al-Kahf but they have memorized it. Some people never willingly intended memorizing it, but due to its repeated recitation, it stayed upon their hearts.
Abundance of repetition and abundant revision is from what a student retains his memorized texts with. And the greatest of all memorized texts is the Book of Allāh – Powerful and Majestic is He – which contains clear signs in the hearts of those given knowledge.
So, whoever Allāh makes to memorize the Qurʾān intactly, He will open great doors for him from the doors of knowledge that cannot be thought of or imagined.
And revision should be, as I have said earlier, on significant number of parts, so that his memorization is established such that he revises the whole Qurʾān in a number of days. So if he completes memorizing the Qurʾān, he should revise it entirely every three days or every seven days so that he perfects it well.
And our Shaykh, Shaykh bn Bāz use to read the entire Qurʾān weekly, Friday to Friday. May Allāh’s mercy be upon him. And others apart from him read it in lesser number of days. [Shaykh does that] despite the tightness of his schedule and his devotion to the affairs and the conditions of the Muslims globally, and this is from the blessing of the Book of Allāh – Mighty and Majestic is He.
[Allāh says:] “(This is) a Book (the Qurʾān) which we have sent down to you, full of blessings, that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember”
{Ṣād: 29}
So it is a blessed Book. And the one who memorizes it will be a blessed person by Allāh’s will.
And lastly, I call myself to attention and all my brothers and likewise my sisters, to the greatest factor from the factors that make this Book stay in the heart of both male and female. Verily! It is the fear of Allāh. And from the the greatest factors of incessant forgetfulness are contradictions [to the Religion] and sins. So, leaving that is from the greatest factors of being firm upon the truth and true establishment [of the Qurʾān] in his heart.
When Al-Imām Al-Bukhārī may Allāh have mercy on him was asked regarding the medicine he consumes to memorize… He – may Allāh have mercy on him – was alleged of consuming a medicine for memorization because his memorization prowess was unbeatable. He hears something and memorizes it right away without forgetting it forever. Many a Ḥadīth that he heard in Makkah and wrote them down when he was in Baṣrah and vice versa, or Baghdād – may Allāh’s mercy be upon him. So he said: ‘I do not know a medicine that is more effective for the ailment other than the fear of Allāh and abundant reviewing’
So, he pointed to these two factors; the fear of Allāh.
‘I complained to Wakīʿ about the jeopardy of my memorization … He then directed me to leaving off sins;
And he said that knowledge is a light … And the light of Allāh is not given to a sinner’
The fear of Allāh is from the greatest factors that establish knowledge in the heart of a servant. And the greatest knowledge is the Book of Allāh and it is the greatest Book and the most dignified and majestic Book. In it is guidance and light. And it is the guide to the straight path of Allāh together with the Sunnah of the Prophet – may Allāh extol his mention and grant him peace.
Abundant rereading i.e. abundant repetition, together with the fear of Allāh – Powerful and Majestic is He. So the one who memorizes and forgets should check these two affairs, these two factors. And as it is said; if the cause is known, there is nothing to be surprised with anymore..
I ask Allāh to grant me and you success to every goodness and to make us from those who memorizes his Book, reflects upon what it contains therein, implement what they reflected upon and seeking judgement with it, and judging with it in all their affairs . Verily our Lord hears all prayers.
And Allāh knows best.
And may Allāh extol the mention of our Prophet Muḥammad , and his household and his companions and grant [them] abundant peace.
