From Abdur-Rahman Abdul Khaaliq's "Al-Qawaaid adh-Dhahabiyyah lil-Hifdh il-Quran il-Adheem"
English Translation by
Amjad ibn Muhammad Rafiq
University of Essex Islamic Society
My Brother and Sister Muslim - there is no doubt that you know of excellence of memorising the Quran and the excellence of teaching it. The Messenger of Allaah (sas) said: "The best amongst you is the one who learns the Qur'aan and teaches it." [Reported by Bukhaaree]
Presented to you are some rules which will assist in memorising the Qur'aan, may Allaah benefit us by them.
The purification of ones intention and correcting ones desire
is obligatory. It is likewise for making ones concern with and memorisation of
the Quran for the sake of Allaah, the Sublime and Exalted, and for gaining
success with His Paradise and obtaining His pleasure.
Also for obtaining those mighty rewards which are reserved for those who recited the Quran and memorised it. Allaah the Exalted said:
So
worship Allaah, making the Deen sincerely for Him. Is it not to Allaah that
sincere worship is due? [Zumar 39:2-3]
He also
said:
Say:
I have been commanded that I worship Allaah making the Deen sincerely for Him.
[Zumar 39:11]
And the Messenger of Allaah (sas) said: "Allaah the Exalted said: I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus, he who does an action for someone elses sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me." [Bukhaaree and Muslim]
Therefore, there is no reward for the one who recited the Quran and memorised it to show off and to be heard of. There is also no doubt that the one who recited the Quran desiring by it the world and seeking some sort of worldy reward for it is sinful.
The first step in memorising the Quran after that of Ikhlaas
is the obligation of correcting the pronunciation of the Quran. This does not
occur except by listening to a good reciter or a precise memoriser of the Quran.
The Quran is not learned except by acquiring it (from another). Thus, the
Messenger (sas) who is the most eloquent of the arabs in speech, took it from
Jibreel (as) orally. The Messenger (sas) himself used to recited the Quran to
Jibreel once in every year and in the year that he died he recited it to him
twice. [Reported by Bukhaaree]
Likewise, the Messenger taught it to the Companions (ra) orally and those who came after them heard it from the Companions and so on for each generation after them.
Taking the Quran from a good reciter is obligatory. Likewise, correcting ones recitation firstly and not depending on oneself in its recitation even if one is knowledgeable of the Arabic language and of its principles, is also obligatory. This is because in the Quran there are many verses which occur in a way that is opposed to what is well known in the rules of the Arabic language.
It is necessary for the one desiring to memorise the Quran
that he sets himself a daily limit for memorising. a number of verses for
example, perhaps a page or two pages or even an eighth of a juz (one thirtieth
of the Quran). So he begins, after he has corrected his recitation and set his
daily limit, to learn by frequent repetition. It is also necessary that this
repetition is done melodiously and this is so that a person follows the Sunnah
firstly and that it the memorisation is made firm and strong secondly. Melodious
recitation is pleasing to ones hearing and also assists in memorisation.
Furthermore, the tongue will always return to a specific tone (of voice) and as
a result of this it will become familiar with any mistake whenever the balance
in ones recitation and familiar tone becomes disordered or imbalanced. The
reciter will know therefore, that his tongue will not comply with him when he
makes a mistake and that if the tone is wrong or out of tune, his memorisation
will return to him.
All of this is because reciting the Quran and beautifying it with ones voice is a matter which has been commanded. It is not permissible to oppose this command due to the saying of the Messenger (sas): "Whoever does not beautify the Quran (recite it melodiously) he is not of us." [Bukhaaree]
It is not permissible for the memoriser to move to a new
portion of the Quran until after he has perfected the memorisation of his
previous limit. This is so that whatever he has memorised is firmly established
in his mind. There is no doubt that amongst those things which aid the memoriser
is his occupation with what he has memorised through the hours of the day and
night. This occurs by reciting it in the silent prayers, and if he is the imaam
then in the loud prayers. Also in the superogatory prayers (nawaafil) and in the
times when one is waiting for the obligatory prayers. By this method the
memorisation will become a lot easier. In this way it is possible for a person
to practise it even if he is occupied with other matters and this is because he
does not simply sit at a specific time for memorising the Quran. Thus the night
will not arrive except with those verses memorised and firmly established in the
mind. And if there is something which has occuppied the memoriser during this
day, he should not move onto his next portion of the Quran, rather he should
continue on the second day with what he had started with the day before until
the memorisation becomes perfected.
Among the things which aid the memorisation is that the
memoriser should keep for himself a specific mushaf (copy of the Quran) which he
should never change. This is because a person memorises using the sight just as
he memorises using the hearing. The script and form of the verses and their
places in the mushaf leave an imprint in the mind when they are recited and
looked at frequently. If the memoriser was to change his mushaf from which he
memorises or if he was to memorise from a number of different copies the places
of the verses would be in different places and also the script may also be
different. This makes the memorisation difficult for him. Therefore it is
obligatory for the one memorisng the Quran that he does so from a single script
and mushaf and he should never replace it.
Among the things which greatly aid the process of
memorisation is understanding the verses that one has memorised and knowing
their relationship and link, one to another. This is why it is necessary for the
memoriser to read the tafseer (explanation) of those verses which he desires to
memorise and that he knows their connection, one with another. Also, that he
brings this to mind when he is reciting. This makes it easier for him to
memorise the verses. Having said this, it is also necessary that he does not
depend on knowing the meaning of the verses alone in memorising them. Rather the
repetition of these verses should be the foundation. This should be done until
the tongue can recite the verses even if the mind is occupied with other than
the meaning of these verses. This is sign that the verses are firmly established
in the mind. As for the one who relies upon the meaning alone then he will
forget often and his recitation will be disjointed due to his mind being
scattered and occupied with other things. This occurs frequently, especially
when the recitation is long.
After one surah from among the surahs of the Quran has been
completed it is desirable for the memoriser that he does not move onto another
surah except after having perfected its memorisation and connecting its first
part to its last so that his tongue can flow in reciting it, from its beginning
to its end. He should be able to recite it without having to think or go through
trouble in remembering the verses. Rather it is a must that the memorisation
(and recitation) of these verses is like (flowing) water and that the memoriser
recites these verses with out hesitation, even if his mind is occupied with more
than one thing, away from the meaning of these verses. It should be as a person
recites Surah Faatihah without any difficulty or having to think about it. This
occurs by repeating thes e verses frequently and reciting them often. However
the memorisation of every surah of the Quran will not be like that of Surah
Faatihah except rarely but the intent and desire should be to try to make it as
such. Therefore, it is necessary that when a surah is completed it is firmly
established in the mind, with its beginning connected to its end and that the
memoriser does not move onto another surah until he has memorised it with
precision.
It is necessary for the memoriser not to depend on himself
for his memorisation. Rather he should test his memorisation by reciting the
verses or surah in question to somebody else, or he should recite them by
following the mushaf. And how excellent this would be if a person had with him a
precise memoriser (who would test his memorisation). This is so that the
memoriser becomes aware of the possibility of his being forgetful or confused in
his recitation (without knowing it). Many individuals amongst us who memorise a
surah make mistakes and a person may not realise that until he looks into the
mushaf. Furhtermore, the one who desires to memorise may not realise by himself
at which place he makes an error in his recitation despite the fact that he may
be reciting from a mushaf. For this reason making others listen to his
recitation of what he has memorised from the Quran is a means of perceiving and
knowing these errors and being constantly aware of them.
The Quran is different from any other material that is
memorised such as poetry and prose. And this is because the Quran is quickly
lost from ones mind. In fact the Messenger of Allaah (sas) said: "By
Him in whose Hand is my soul, it is faster in escaping than a tied camel."
Reported by Bukhaaree and Muslim.
No sooner does the memoriser of the Quran leave it for a while until the Quran slips away from him and so he forgets it quickly. This is why it is necessary to constantly follow up what one has memorised and to be vigilant over it. Regarding this we have the saying of the Messenger (sas):
"Verily,
the example of the owner of the Quran is like the example of the owner of the
tied camel. If he keeps it tied (commits himself to it) he will hold it back and
if he lets it loose it will escape from him."
And he also
said:
"Commit
yourselves to the Quran, for by Him in Whose Hand is my soul, it is faster in
slipping away than a tied camel." [Reported by Bukhaaree and Muslim]
This means that it is obligatory upon the memoriser of the Quran to continuously recite what he has memorised from the Quran. With this constant attention and returning to what has been memorised will the Quran remain in his mind and without it, it will escape.
The various
parts of the Quran resemble each other with respect to the meaning, wording and
(repetition of) verses. The Exalted said:
Allaah
has sent down the most beautiful of speech, a Book, (parts of it) resembling
(others) oft-repeated. The skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from it.
Then their skins and their hearts soften to the remembrance of Allaah [Zumar
39:23].
The Quran has approximately six and a half-thousand verses. And there are approximately a thousand verses in which there is a resemblance of some sort. Sometimes there is agreement or difference due to a single letter or a word or two or more. For this reason it is necessary for the good reciter of the Quran that he has special concern for the parts of the Quran that resemble each other in terms of their wording. The excellence of ones memorisation will be according to the extent that one has concern for these resembling parts. One of the ways to aid oneself in this matter is to study those books which deal with this topic of resembling verses in the Quran. Among the most famous of them are:
1.
Durratul-Tanzeel wa Ghurratut-Ta'weel fee Bayaan il Aayaat al-Mutashaabihaat fee
Kitaab il-Laahi il-Azeez by al-Khateeb al-Iskaafee
2. Asraar ut-Tukraar fil-Quran by Mahmood bin Hamzah ibn Nasr al-Kirmaanee.
The succesful one, inevitably, is the one who takes advantage
of the best years of memorisation and these are from the age of five to
twenty-three approximately. A person's ability to memorise during these years is
very good. In fact these are the golden years of memorising. Therefore, it is
necessary for a person to keep himself occupied during the these years of his
life, memorising the Book of Allaah as much as he can.
Commiting things to memory at this age can be done very quickly and forgetting is not so easy. This is in opposition to what happens after this time when a person memorises with difficulty and forgets with great speed. He spoke the truth who said:
Memorising
in youth is like engraving on stone And memorising when old is like engraving on
water
Thus, it is necessary for all of us to take advantage of the golden years of memorising. If we cannot then we should encourage our sons and daughters to do so.
And with Allaah is success and prayers and peace be upon our Messenger Muhammad, upon his family and all his Companions.
Translation
finished before Fajr Prayer,
28th Ramadan, 1416
and all praise and thanks are due to Allaah
Amjad Ibn Muhammad Rafiq