Starting with Intention

The first thing one must do before starting to memorise the

Qur'an is to make the intention to please Allah known. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, has warned us in a hadith that of the people that will be thrown into the hellfire are those who memorized the Qur'an to be called a hafiz (memorizer).

One should then pray salat al-hajah (the prayer of need). Imam Bukhari (Allah have mercy on him) performed salat al-istikharah (the prayer of guidance) for each one of the 5000 hadith he recorded in his Sahih. One should then select a specific style of print of the Qur'an and memorize only with that style print style. This will allow one to picture the words in the particular mushaff (copy of the Qur'an), when reciting from memory.

One should then find a teacher that has isnad to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. This way your recitation will attain the greatest degree of accuracy and you will gain a link to the Blessed Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, has advised us, "Take the Qur'an from four people: Ali, Zayd, Mu'adh and Salim." If there is no teacher available then listen to tapes, because they are better than the people of no knowledge. Avoid tapes from tarawih prayers, because they contain more recitation errors. When playing the tape one should follow along in the mushaff. If intending to memorize the whole Qur'an, start either from the end (al-Nas) or from the beginning (al-Fatihah).

The 'ulama (scholars) say that the best times to memorize are between Maghrib and 'Isha, after Fajr, and from 'Asr to Maghrib.

Then one should determine a certain time, date, and place where he or she will be memorizing the Qur'an. In your first session of memorization, sit for a half hour and start to memorize in a relaxed, non-intense mode. Whatever you can memorize in this time will be your minimum for each session. Don't worry if you can't memorize much in this half hour; as your memorizsation will progress, you will be able to memorize more each session in the future.

The Benefit of Having a Partner

Know that you should find a companion that will memorize with you. This way it will help motivate you to keep to your schedule and to compete in acts of goodness. A companion is more likely to find your errors in memorization than you are if you were to check by yourself. When going out, avoid gatherings where your partner will not be in attendance. If someone needs a favour from you, exchange it in return for them checking your Qur'an memorization.

Keeping a Daily Schedule

You should keep an irreplaceable daily amount of time dedicated to memorization. This maintains momentum and consistency. After a session of memorization, stand up and pray two cycles (raka'ah) of supererogatory (nafil) prayer with the portions of the Qur'an that you have just memorized. According to the school of Shafi'i, you may keep a mushaff with you in the prayer in case you may forget the memorized material. On return from the place of memorization, keep reciting what you have just memorized as much as possible. Doing this will result in barakah (blessings). On the days following the memorization sessions, recite what you have memorized starting from the beginning.

On Fridays (Jumu'ah), rest and spend time reciting surah al-Kahf (The Cave) and surah al-Dukhan (Smoke), and ask Allah Most High to bless the Prophet, Allah Bless him and give him peace. Attempt as much as possible to recite your memorized material in your obligatory and supererogatory prayers. In your daily memorization sessions, do your utmost to start and stop at appropriate places in the Qur'an - if there is a story being narrated in the Qur'an, one should

not cut it short out of adab and respect to the Book of Allah.

When completing the recitation of the entire Qur'an (khatmah), connect al-Nas with al-Fatihah and the first 5 ayahs of surah al-Baqara, and then make supplication (du'a) to Allah.

Once you have more than six sections (juz) memorized split them in terms of recitation, over two days and if you have more than ten juz memorized, split them over three days. Once you have memorized the Qur'an, you should recite five sections (juz) daily, which should take three hours to complete. This way, you will be able to complete the Qur'an every six days.

In the event that you recite a prostration verse (sajdah tilawa), or even if you need to make the prayer of greeting the masjid (tahiyyatul masjid) and you are not able to do so, say subhana Llah wal-hamduli Llah wa la ilaha illa Llahu Allahu akbar four times in substitution.

The most famous book written on memorizing is by Imam an-Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) entitled al-Tibyan, "The Courtesy of Those Memorizing the Qur'an."

Wa ma tawfiqi illa bi Llah!

And there is no success except through Allah!



The Crown of Dignity
Shaykh Abdullah al-Kadi

Shaykh Abdullah al-Kadi was born and raised in the city of al-Ahsa' (near Dammam) in Saudi Arabia.

Shaykh Abdullah began to memorize the Qu'ran at the relatively late age of twenty, and completed its memorization within two years. He shares what he has learned from his experiences in this booklet.

Shaykh Abdullah has also studied many sciences of the Qu'ran, such as proper recitation (tajwid), commentaries (tafsir), and principles of commentaries (usul al-tafsir). He has also gained permission (ijazah) in teaching books of Sacred Law (fiqh), like Imam Shafi'i's al-Umm.

Published for free distribution. Not for sale.

Ihya Productions 1419/1998

This compilation is based upon a lecture given by Shaykh Abdullah al-Kadi in Nottingham, England, August 1996.

The present work was compiled by Hassan Khan from notes that were made by Abdul-Reman Malik.
Editing and layout (of the original booklet) was done by Ahson Ahmad.