How to Memorize the Qur’an and Not Forget it!
Ramadan Mubarak to everyone! I hope your fasts and prayers are
accepted by The Almighty. I feel there can't be a better time for this
post than in Ramadan. This is the method I used to memorize in Qur'an
back in hifdh school. I used this technique to memorize the Qur'an, alḥamdulillāh. And until now, I feel it's the reason I've been leading tarāwīḥ for close to five years now, alḥamdulillāh.
Memorizing Qur'an
It's important to understand that this process is broken into 3 categories:
1) new lesson,
2) new memorization,
3) old memorization.
I'll give a brief intro to each category and then show you how to properly memorize within each fold. It's important to understand that memorizing Qur'an for the long-term is a process which takes close to a month. Once you memorize an āyah, it won't be solid until you repeat it a number of times until it enters the deeper part of your brain.
New Lesson
This is where you will be memorizing from scratch. If you are serious about memorizing, you'll need to follow these tips exactly as they are written below.
1) Read the page 10 times while looking in from the top.
2) Read the first āyah on the page 10 times while looking in.
3) Now read the same verse 10 times without looking at it, until you can recite it without any mistakes.
4) Begin connecting the ayahs. Recite the first and second āyah together without looking in and without mistakes.
5) Keep connecting the ayaat on the page. Each time you connect a new āyah, go back to the top of the page and read till the āyah you've memorized.
6) When you reach the last āyah, you should recite the whole page from the top without looking and without any mistakes.
7) Recite the page from memory to someone. You should have zero mistakes.
8) You can repeat the above steps as needed to have a perfect page memorized.
New Memorization
This is the amount of Qur'an which you've memorized in the last 30 days. Take this part seriously, it'll determine if the ayaat you memorized will be solid for your life or not. (Retaining/reviewing Qurʾān is a 25 day process. After those 25 days, reviewing once a month will suffice. This will lead to the 'old memorization' which we'll speak about).
1) Whatever you review in this section, you MUST recite it to someone who has either memorized the ayaat or is well-versed in reading the Qur'an.
2) If you've memorized five pages in the last five days, you must recite them to yourself until you don't make any errors. Then go recite it to a teacher.
3) From this point on, whatever you memorize, it MUST be read daily. When I say read, it means reviewed to yourself without mistakes AND recited to someone else.
4) If for some reason you didn't review your 'new memorization' for the day, then don't memorize new ayaat. You're pouring water into a cup w/ a hole. Each day you don't review the 'new memorization,' you're making the hole in your cup bigger and bigger until you won't remember anything! (If you did not review a page for seven days consecutively, go back to the 'new lesson' and re-memorize the page).
5) I sound somewhat redundant here, because I can't lay anymore importance on how much you need to review the 'new memorization.' It'll make/break your hifdh.
6) If you memorize a page a day, you'll finish a juz in 20 days. After these twenty days, take five extra days to review the whole juz with someone proficient.
7) The juz you've memorized will now be considered part of your 'old memorization.'
Old Memorization
This is anything you've reviewed for at least twenty-five days consecutively. The amount you review depends on how much Qur'an you've memorized. Once you've memorized the Qur'an (which I pray is soon for all of you seeking to memorize it), new lessons and new memorizations will come to a halt, and you'll be left with the old memorization. This will continue for the left of our lives till death does us part.
This process will continue for the rest of your life.
Concluding remarks
This is the optimal method which I found easy for myself to memorize. It was formulated in my fourteen-year-old mind as a Qur'an student who found it hard to memorize Allāh's book. I asked Allāh's help, and I feel this method was his answer.
I hope Allāh facilitates the memorization of His book for you all, and blesses you with a positively unforgettable Ramadan where you achieve all the goals of your lives.
It's important to understand that this process is broken into 3 categories:
1) new lesson,
2) new memorization,
3) old memorization.
I'll give a brief intro to each category and then show you how to properly memorize within each fold. It's important to understand that memorizing Qur'an for the long-term is a process which takes close to a month. Once you memorize an āyah, it won't be solid until you repeat it a number of times until it enters the deeper part of your brain.
New Lesson
This is where you will be memorizing from scratch. If you are serious about memorizing, you'll need to follow these tips exactly as they are written below.
1) Read the page 10 times while looking in from the top.
2) Read the first āyah on the page 10 times while looking in.
3) Now read the same verse 10 times without looking at it, until you can recite it without any mistakes.
4) Begin connecting the ayahs. Recite the first and second āyah together without looking in and without mistakes.
5) Keep connecting the ayaat on the page. Each time you connect a new āyah, go back to the top of the page and read till the āyah you've memorized.
6) When you reach the last āyah, you should recite the whole page from the top without looking and without any mistakes.
7) Recite the page from memory to someone. You should have zero mistakes.
8) You can repeat the above steps as needed to have a perfect page memorized.
New Memorization
This is the amount of Qur'an which you've memorized in the last 30 days. Take this part seriously, it'll determine if the ayaat you memorized will be solid for your life or not. (Retaining/reviewing Qurʾān is a 25 day process. After those 25 days, reviewing once a month will suffice. This will lead to the 'old memorization' which we'll speak about).
1) Whatever you review in this section, you MUST recite it to someone who has either memorized the ayaat or is well-versed in reading the Qur'an.
2) If you've memorized five pages in the last five days, you must recite them to yourself until you don't make any errors. Then go recite it to a teacher.
3) From this point on, whatever you memorize, it MUST be read daily. When I say read, it means reviewed to yourself without mistakes AND recited to someone else.
4) If for some reason you didn't review your 'new memorization' for the day, then don't memorize new ayaat. You're pouring water into a cup w/ a hole. Each day you don't review the 'new memorization,' you're making the hole in your cup bigger and bigger until you won't remember anything! (If you did not review a page for seven days consecutively, go back to the 'new lesson' and re-memorize the page).
5) I sound somewhat redundant here, because I can't lay anymore importance on how much you need to review the 'new memorization.' It'll make/break your hifdh.
6) If you memorize a page a day, you'll finish a juz in 20 days. After these twenty days, take five extra days to review the whole juz with someone proficient.
7) The juz you've memorized will now be considered part of your 'old memorization.'
Old Memorization
This is anything you've reviewed for at least twenty-five days consecutively. The amount you review depends on how much Qur'an you've memorized. Once you've memorized the Qur'an (which I pray is soon for all of you seeking to memorize it), new lessons and new memorizations will come to a halt, and you'll be left with the old memorization. This will continue for the left of our lives till death does us part.
1) Daily review
- Between 1-3 juz, you should review five pages daily.
- Between 4-7 juz you should review 10 pages (which equals half the juz) daily.
- Between 7-15 juz, you should review 20 pages (which equals one juz) daily.
- Between 15-20 juz, you should review 30 pages(which equals 1.5 juz) daily.
- Between 20-30 juz, you should review 60 pages (which equals 2 juz) daily.
This process will continue for the rest of your life.
3) In the 'old memorization,' you should not get more than four mistakes, or four stutters in a juz.
A mistake classifies as reading something incorrectly and not being able to correct it. A stutter classifies reading something incorrectly, being sent back a few ayahs to correct it, and finally reading it correctly. At the same time, you should be make more than one mistake or one stutter for every five pages you read.
- When I found a verse to be hard, I would look into the mushaf and write it somewhere. At times I would also listen to recitations to ease the memorization for me (I recommend Sh. Husary). Sometimes looking in and repeating it won't make the verse stick, so do whatever it takes to memorize it!
- If you falter somewhat in the old memorization, it's ok. Just don't miss two to three days at once. Reading Qur'an is a lifetime endeavor.
- Reviewing is more important than memorizing.
- Focus on perfecting your 'new lesson' and 'new memorization.'
- If you feel some part isn't strong, give preference to reviewing that part rather than memorizing something new.
- Read something EVERYDAY. Not only should we do this as students of hifdh, but it should be our habit as Muslims. I'm saying, don't say “I've memorized an x amount of Qur'an today, so no need to read and reflect.” Take out some time to read and reflect on a few verses daily.
This is the optimal method which I found easy for myself to memorize. It was formulated in my fourteen-year-old mind as a Qur'an student who found it hard to memorize Allāh's book. I asked Allāh's help, and I feel this method was his answer.
I hope Allāh facilitates the memorization of His book for you all, and blesses you with a positively unforgettable Ramadan where you achieve all the goals of your lives.
Masha Allah good information
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