The Virtues and Etiquettes of Memorising Qur’an

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Allah says:

“Indeed those who recite the Book of Allah and establish prayer, and
spend (in His cause] out of what We have provided them, secretly and
publicly, [can] expect a Transaction [i.e., profit] that will never perish”1

The Virtues of Memorising Qur’an:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The best amongst you is
the one who learns the Qur'an and teaches it.”2

The Prophet (peace be upon him) say: “The one who was devoted
to the Qur'an will be told on the Day of Resurrection: `Recite and rise (in
ranks) as you used to recite when you were in the world. Your rank
(position) will be at the last Ayah you recite.’”3

This Hadith mentions the merit of those who memorize part or all
of the Qur'an.

Some scholars, in explaining this Hadith, have mentioned that the

number of ranks (levels) in Paradise is equal to the number of
ayahs (verses) in the Qur’an, and that a believer will rise one rank
for each ayah (verse) that he or she memorizes.

1
Surah 35. Fatir, Verse 29
2
Sahih Al-Bukhari
3
Sunan Abu Dawood and At-Tirmidhi

1

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever recites one
Word from the Book of Allah will be rewarded for a good deed and ten
more like it; and I don't say that Alif Lam Mim is a letter but Alif is a
letter and Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter"4

Because of the importance of memorising the Qur’an, the

following will be some general guidelines and golden rules for
memorising the Qur’an

Golden Rules and Etiquettes for Memorising the Qur’an

1. Taw’ bah (Repentance to Allah):

First, make sure to correct your Taw ‘bah (repentance to Allah), as
sins do not leave any room for the Words of Allah. Allah says:

“O you who believe! Turn to Allaah with sincere repentance…”5

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with) said: I heard Allah's

Messenger (peace be upon him) say: "By Allah, I ask Allah for
forgiveness and return to Him in a single day more than seventy times."

Imam Al-Shafie (may Allah have mercy upon him) has a famous
verse of poetry in which he complained to his scholar about
having difficulty in memorizing.

His scholar advised him to ‘abandon sins’.

2. Sincerity:
The intention is very important. The one who wants to memorise
the Qur’an must have the intention that he/she is doing it for the
sake of Allah only; to please Allah, to come closer to Him and to
enter His Paradise, Allah says:

…So worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in Religion.6

4 Tirmidhi & Al-Dareemi and Sheikh Al-Albaanee (may Allah have mercy upon him) said it
is Sahih.
5 Surah 66. al-Tahreem 66, Verse 8

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Therefore, there is no reward whatever for those who read and
memorize it to be seen and over-praised by others.

Also, the one who recites it intending to win worldly gains only is
sinful.

3. Correcting Your Tajweed (reading and pronunciation):

The first step to take after purifying one’s intention is to correct
one’s recitation of the Qur’an. This can be done only through
reading to a scholar who is specialised in this area or also by
listening and learning from a skilled reciter.

Reading Qur’an properly can be achieved only by having face-to-

face training.

The Prophet (‫)ملسو يلع للا ىلص‬, who was the most eloquent man,
received the Qur’an from the Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) and He used
to revise it with Jibreel once a year and in his last year before he
died he revised it twice.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) taught the companions the

Qur’an verbally as He received it from Jibreel. The generations that
followed took it the same way from the earlier ones.

Correcting one’s reading and pronunciation must be gradual and

it requires patience and perseverance. One should always correct
his recitation and should not depend on himself, even if he is
knowledgeable of Arabic and its rules, as there are in the Qur’an
many verses that are in variance with the well-known rules of
Arabic.

4. Select a Suitable Time & Place to Memorize:

The first thing you should do in the morning is memorize. The
best time to memorize is right after the Fajr Prayer. In regards to a
suitable place, select a secluded place to go to and memorize and
make sure that it is a quiet place. It is difficult to memorize
properly when there are distractions. Obliviously the most suitable
place will be the Masjid.

6 Surah 39. Az-Zumar, Verse 2

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5. Consistency:
The more frequently you memorize, the easier it becomes. It is
very essential to be consistent, and not to skip even one day. There
is no Week-end in worship. If you are consistent, inshallah (god
willing), you will be able to be memorize a large portion of the
Qur’an even the whole Qur’an.

6. Limiting the number of verses to be memorised daily:

One who intends to memorise the Qur’an should specify the
amount he can bear daily, be it a given number of verses, one or
two pages etc. Then, he should start to repeat and repeat till he
perfects his memorization.

He should recite aloud, first to follow the Prophet’s Sunnah and

second to perfect his memorisation.

Reciting the Qur’an in a nice voice is attached and linked to the

hearing and helps with memorising, as it gets the tongue familiar
with a given tune and an error is easily identified when the usual
tune varies in one way or another. When this happens, the tongue
feels the variation and stops to correct the recitation.

Reciting aloud was recommended by the Prophet (peace be upon

him) who said:

«‫ن‬-ْ0ُ ْ ِ 
2 4َ 5َ ‫ َﻡْ َ
ْ َی‬2‫ ِﻡ‬7
َ ْ َ»
He is not of us who does not chant (recite) nicely with the recitation of the
Qur'an.7

The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said:

«
ُ9‫ﺹ(َا ِﺕ‬
ْ <َِ ‫ن‬
َ -ْ0ُ ْ ‫» َز =یُ(ا ا‬
Adorn your voices with the Qur’an.8

7
Sahih al-Bukhari
8
Sunan Abu Dawood, Authenticated by Sheikh Al-Albaanee (may Allah have mercy upon
him).

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7. Strengthen memorised verses before moving to other verses:
The Qur’an memoriser should not move on to other verses until he
has strengthened the first verses he is working on. There are many
things, which strengthen memorisation such as reading the verses
repeatedly all day, reading in all Salats (prayers) and while waiting
for prayer. If someone is too busy, he should read the first reading
with a good reciter and then practice his reading by himself.
However, regardless to the individuals’ circumstances, the
memoriser should not start new verses if he has not finished his
daily verses.

8. Read from one Qur’an:

It is very important for the Qur’an memoriser to read always from
one specific Qur’an (the Madani Mushaf is highly recommended).

This makes memorisation easier and faster. Although we

memorise by listening, however, visualising this memorisation is
very helpful and effective.

When the picture of the verses is drawn in our memory, it will be

stronger and more everlasting. Reading from many copies of the
Qur’an, which are written and organised differently, will confuse
the memoriser and make memorisation difficult.

9. Comprehension is the way for memorisation:

Understanding and knowing how the verses are related to each
other is a very helpful tool to memorise the Book of Allah. You
should read the interpretation of the verses you are memorising,
and know how the verses are connected with each other.

Memorisers should always recall these meanings and

interpretations while reciting the verses. However, understanding
is not enough to guarantee memorisation. Repetition is essential
and crucial for memorisation. Sometimes we keep reading in long
Salats (prayer) although we are not aware of the meaning of the
verses.

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10.The continual face-to-face recitation:
The Qur’an memoriser should find someone whom he can recite to
the memorised verses. It will be better to have someone who
knows professionally how to recite Qur’an in order to correct for
him reading and pronunciation.

Some people who recite to themselves make mistakes without

realising that they are doing such mistakes, because they are used
to such mistakes, even if they read from the Qur’an it will be hard
for them to notice these mistakes.

11.Continuous follow-up (Revision):

It is very easy to forget Qur’an after you have already memorised.

The Prophet (peace be upon him): “Indeed, it (the Qur’an) escapes

more quickly than a camel does from its fetter (tied rope).”9

Therefore, it is very important that we repeat time after time the

recitation of what we have memorised.

We should spend nights and days for this memorisation.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The example of a Qur’an

memoriser is like the example of a camel owner; if he takes care of him and
ties him up, it stays, and if he neglects him, it runs away”10

12.Paying special attention to similar verses:

There are many verses in the Qur’an which are similar in meaning
and wording, Allah says:

Allah has sent down the best statement, a Book (this Qur’an), its parts
resembling each other in goodness and truth, oft-repeated.11

2000 verses out of more than 6000 verses in the Qur’an are similar
either in meaning or in reading.

9 Sahih al-Bukhari & Muslim

10 Sahih al-Bukhari & Muslim
11 Surah 39. Al-Zumar, Verse 23

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The more the Qur’an memorisers are aware of these similar verses
the easier it will be for them to move on with memorisation.

13.Memorise at the golden age of memorisation:

The years between 5 to 23 are the golden years for memorisation;
at these years, it is easy to memorise and it is difficult to forget.

Before five the ability to memorise the Qur’an will not be

developed completely and after 23 or so the ability to memorise
starts to decrease and the ability understand and comprehend
starts to increase.

Therefore, we should maximise our efforts during these years to

memorise as much as possible. Those who have already missed
this chance, they should catch up with their sons and daughters.

As the saying goes: "Knowledge in childhood is like engraving on rocks,

and learning in adulthood is like engraving on water".

In Summary

• Make sure to abandon sins as sinning does not leave any room
for the Words of Allah.

• Have your intention ready, and bear in mind the reward and
virtues of this great deed as mentioned in the above Hadith
above. Ask Allah sincerely to assist you in accomplishing this.

• Dedicate a specific time each day (or every couple of days) for
memorizing. This should be a time when you are not busy with
other things.

• Use the same copy of the Qur’an each time. This is because your
mind takes a ‘snapshot’ of the pages.

• Start with the Surahs that are easiest to you. Many people
recommend beginning with the last five juz’s (parts) (the 30th,
then the 29th, and so on).

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• Other Surahs to begin with are those that you enjoy reciting
most of all, and those that you frequently listen to and thus
probably already know part of by heart.

• The younger you are, the easier it will be. As you grow older,
you get busier and your capacity for memorizing decreases.
However, it’s never too late inshallah.

• After completing a couple of ayahs, recite them in the next nafl

(voluntary prayer) that you pray. Alternatively, practice them
with a friend or your spouse.

• Finally, it might be a good idea to work in groups, encouraging

one another. If you are trying to get your children to memorize,
you might want to create a sense of competition among them
and then provide some reward to whoever memorizes best.

May Allah enable us all to memorise the Words for Allah

sincerely, understand them and teach them to others.

And Allah Knows Best!