بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
1). Firstly Purifying Intention - ‘Niyyah’:
Firstly, one should purify his intention, that he should intend only Allah’s Pleasure for this course and he should not have any intention of showing off and worldly gain from anyone other than Allah. One should intend to teach others what he learns. Because these two intentions will have more blessings from Allah.
Thus, Allah bestows a special memorization ability upon those who intend to memorize the Qur’an for Allah’s Pleasure only, without any showing-off. Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said:
قَالَ ﷺ: مَنْ غَدَا إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ لَا يُرِيدُ إِلَّا أَنْ يَتَعَلَّمَ خَيْرًا أَوْ يَعْلَمَهُ، كَانَ لَهُ كَأَجْرِ حَاجٍّ تَامًّا حِجَّتُهُ. (رواه الطبراني: 7473 وفي صحيح الترغيب والترهيب للألباني: 86.)
"Whoever goes to a Masjid in the morning, having no intention (of showing-off, worldly gain, etc.) except to learn something good (the Quran, Hadith, etc.) or to teach something good – then he will have the reward of a perfect Hajj.” (Tabarani: 7473 Saheeh At-Targeeb Albany: 86).
Allah bestows a special memorization ability upon those who intend to memorize the Quran for teaching it to others, regarding it Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said:
أنَّ النَّبِيّ ﷺ قَالَ: «نَضَّرَ اللَّهُ امْرَأً سَمِعَ مِنَّا حَدِيثًا فَبَلَّغَهُ» (صححه الألباني في سنن ابن ماجه: 232)
"May Allah strengthen a person who hears a matter from me and conveys it." (Hasan by Albany in Sunan Ibn Majah: 232).
2). Secondly, one must believe that Allah facilitates all easiness to memorize the Quran and Allah preserves the Quran in one’s heart:
Allah says:
{وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ} (القمر17:)
“We (Allah) have made the Quran easy to remember, so who is there ready to learn it?!” (Qur’an 54: 17).
{بَلْ هُوَ آيَاتٌ بَيِّنَاتٌ فِي صُدُورِ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ } (العنكبوت: 49)
“But, this Quran Verses are the clear proof that is preserved in the hearts of those educated ones.” (Qur’an 29: 49).
So, the Quran, a huge scripture of 600 pages people memorize easily! This is Allah’s fulfillment of the Promise of the above mentioned Verses! Because none memorizes any huge book such as the Quran in the world!
3). Thirdly, the Qur’an is the Word of Allah, and loving the Quran is compulsory, and one must sincerely honor it:
And, honoring the Holy Quran includes the fact that the Quran is the only available uncorrupted Holy Scripture on the earth, the Quran will be incorruptible, unalterable and infallible till the Day of Judgment by Allah’s Protection. Allah says:
{إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ} (الحجر: 9)
“Indeed, It is We (Allah) Who have revealed the ‘Dhikr’ (Quran) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption).” (Qur’an 15: 9).
Likewise, believe in the truth that other than the Qur’an – all Scriptures are corrupted and distorted by human hands, and all those scriptures now include many unscientific, fallible and immoral commands that cannot be opened in public! Allah says:
{مِّنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُواْ يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ} (النساء: 46)
“Among those people of ‘Haad’, some of them displace the Words of Allah from rightful places.” (Qur’an 4: 46).
So, believing in the above mentioned facts will help you to honor the Quran deeply in your heart, and then you will gain Allah’s Help more to learn and memorize it, ‘in sha Allah’.
4). Fourthly, one should know that the way of Qur’an Memorization is that it gets Enrooted in the mind easily, as well as it gets Forgotten easily:
(a). How does the Memorized Verse get Enrooted in the mind?
Firstly, if a person’s mind absorbs the memorized Verse as a ‘dot script’ (i.e. as an unclear memory, e g:
, with some mistakes), then he should not think that ‘he cannot memorize’, nor should he discontinue, nor waste time in the same page, rather he should move to next page, continue recitation and keep memorizing more pages.
Later his repeated recitation and revision would correct the mistakes gradually, and the firstly formed ‘dot script’ (unclear slight memory, e g: ) would gradually become an ‘engraved script’ (clear deep memory, e g:
) and it will be enrooted in the mind, ‘in sha Allah’.
(b). How does the Memorized Verse fades from the mind?!
Later, if one does not revise the memorized Verses regularly, the ‘engraved script’ (clear deep memory) would fade from his mind, and it becomes the ‘dot script’ (unclear slight memory) again, and if he does not revise it a long time – gradually the memorized Verses would start fading again and again, till that disappear from his mind completely as other memorized knowledge disappears. so, Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said:
قَالَ النبي ﷺ: «تَعَاهَدُوا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ، فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ لَهُوَ أَشَدُّ تَــفَـلُّــتًا مِنَ الْإِبِلِ فِي عُقُلِهَا» (مسلم: 791).
“I swear by Allah Who controls my soul, you should keep the contact with this Quran repeatedly (reading, implementing, teaching), because it is more likely to disappear (from memory) than a temporally tied up camel disappears (in desert forever)!” (Muslim: 791).
Therefore, whoever wants to protect the memorized Verses in his mind continuously – he should revise it continuously (minimum once in a month), otherwise, it will disappear from his mind definitely.
So, when a person memorizes the Qur’an initially – he may make some mistakes in a page, but his repeated revision corrects all mistakes, a revision will correct minimum two to five mistakes, and then his repeated revision will correct all of his mistakes one by one gradually – and then later he will recite the memorized Quran accurately without any mistake, ‘in sha Allah’. So, do not forget this fact always.
Thus, the teacher should not compel any student, nor should the student compel any teacher to first correct all the mistakes in a page before moving to the next pages – if he makes any mistake – rather the teacher should let him move to the next pages and start memorizing them too. And let him revise the previously memorized pages too again, then his repeated revision will correct all mistakes of previously completed pages itself, ‘in sha Allah’, (it’s what we experienced from majority).
5). Fifthly, one should know the Proper Time of Memorization:
One’s body and brain hold foremost strength after one wakes up from a sufficient sleep always, and research has proved that one’s brain absorbs plenty of things quickly soon after he wakes up.
Therefore, two times: (1) after he wakes up for Fajr Prayer (after a long sleep soon after Isha Prayer and dinner), and (2) after he wakes up for Asr Prayer (after a short sleep soon after Dhuhr Prayer and lunch) are more suitable for learning and memorizing the Quran than other times. This way is taught by the Messenger ﷺ, and this also gives good health and immunization against sickness too. So, we should not forget this fact always.
6). Sixthly, one should never eat too much food during Study Time:
One should consume only light food (biscuit, snack, tea, etc.) during study time, and he should never fill his stomach fully except in the two times as mentioned above which are (1.) before going to noon-sleep (i.e. as in the ‘Sunnah’ soon after ‘Dhuhr’ and lunch) and (2.) before night-sleep (as in the ‘Sunnah’ soon after ‘Isha’ and dinner). Because the research has proved that when one fills up his stomach – the majority of his brain’s power will be engaged in its digestion process, so, a person who has full stomach always feels doziness which will reduce his memorizing capacity. Thus, he should always remember this fact too.
Likewise he should always follow the way of the Messenger ﷺ in consuming food (i.e. fill his stomach with 33.3 % food stuff, 33.3 % water, 33.3 % breath – i.e. empty, as mentioned in the Hadith), the way that ancient and modern science has proved to maintain healthy-body and healthy-brain till the end of life. And this way helps to gather knowledge and to concentrate his mind in religious acts as well as worldly gain, (as mentioned by Imam Ibnul Qayyim, Imam Ad-Dahany, etc. in their book of ‘the Prophetic Medical Science’ – ‘At-Tibbu an-Nabawi’).
وصلاة الله وسلامه على محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين إلى يوم الدين، والحمد لله الذي بنعمته تتم الصالحات.