A Roundup Of Hifz Advice From The Hifz Community

I have always stressed the importance of community and for us, a Hifz community is of utmost importance. As someone deeply immersed in the Hifz community, I often come across invaluable Hifz tips, advice, and methods shared in our groups. Realising that not everyone has access to these conversations, I decided to create a comprehensive roundup.

Whether you're a seasoned Hāfiz or just curious about the process of memorising, these tips contain a trove of insights from the heart of the Hifz community.

Here goes.

How To Balance University and Hifdh: Practical Strategies for Success

Embarking on the journey of Hifdh while navigating the challenges of university life is a commendable endeavour, requiring dedication and strategic planning. Many students find themselves at this crossroads, striving to balance their academic responsibilities with their Qur'ān goals. Here's what one sister had to say about this in one of the Hifz Buddy groups:

Combining University with Hifdh is truly a big deal and requires so much sacrifice. I understand your plight perfectly sister. I've been there and I'm still there.

1. Prioritise Du'a for Ease and Guidance - Have you been making lots of Dua for ease in your affairs? Allah only makes His words easy for those He wants. Make Duaaaaa! Lots of it. We often don't pay enough attention to this but it's really important. Make Dua', lots of it!
2. Set Dedicated Time for Hifdh and Muraaja'ah - Do you have a dedicated time for your Hifdh/Muraaja'a? Preferably in the Morning- before or after Fajr? When it's this time, you know you're doing nothing except your Hifdh/Muraaja'a. It really works when you have a specified time for Hifdh and not just randomly saying, "I'll memorise today" or "I'll revise in the morning". You'll realise that the whole day will pass and you won't do it because there's no specified time.
3. Align Hifdh with Your Academic Schedule - Do you factor in your schedule in school to your Hifdh? For example, once when I was doing my Hifdh and school got really hectic, I modified my schedule to only memorise on weekends, so weekdays are fully for revision. That made me stay consistent with my revision and solidified it. It made it easy for me to show up too because I didn't overload myself.
4. Set Realistic and Personalised Goals - Aren't you setting unrealistic goals for yourself regarding yourself? Know that this is your journey and no one else's. Our realities are different and so, you have to personalise your goals. Realistic and consistent goals will take you there, no matter how small they seem.
5. Utilise the Right Method for You - Are you using the right method for YOU, and hope you aren't comparing yourself to other people who do full time Hifdh?
   Do you pay attention to all those small pockets of free time you have while in school? While waiting for the teacher? While commuting to and from school? etc. Make use of these periods judiciously, they are really useful and add up to a lot!
6. Prioritize Your Hifdh Time - Do you actually 'prioritize' your Hifdh? I initially talked about having a dedicated time, but you have to be disciplined enough to drop everything you're doing when it's time for your Hifdh.
7. Seek Guidance from a Teacher - Do you have a teacher? This will keep you on track and keep you accountable. You'll be amazed at how this will change things for you, Bi idhni Llah.
8. Write Down and Track Your Goals - Do you write down your goals and track them? Do you have your personalised reason(s) for doing Hifdh? Reasons that'll motivate you and keep you going in tough times whenever you go through them?
9. Identify and Address Distractions - You need to identify your distractions and nip them in the bud! You don't really have much time, so the little you have must be spent judiciously. You might not have any 'leisure time' if you want to combine Hifdh with university but trust me once the Qur'an fills up your heart, you'll be ever contented and at peace❤️.

On some days, it'll seem really hard. Yes. You'll struggle with showing up, but on most of the days, try to SHOW UP and you'll see the blessings of Qur'an in your academic life too!

Allah has made the Qur'an easy for us, we just have to put in the required effort. It's not going to be rosy but if we can sacrifice, the fruit is sweettt. Ma Shaa Allah.

The Journey of Hifdh: Challenges, Strategies, and Inspirational Stories

The journey of memorising the Qur'ān is not easy says the following sister (edited):

Undertaking Hifdh is not a easy task, and you have to earn it. This implies that one must be among those chosen by Allah. How do we recognize if we're among the chosen ones? It becomes evident when we nurture a deep love for the Quran and prioritize it above all else, memorizing it in various settings - be it outdoors or indoors, while sitting or walking.

At the outset, the profound love for the Quran may not be immediately apparent, but it manifests itself when the memorization becomes challenging. When tears fall, and the memorization feels weak, yet you persist, it's a sign of your dedication. Your continuous striving is rewarded by Allah. Key elements for successful Hifdh include:

• Consistency.
• Steadfastness.
• Revision.
• Not giving up!

Challenges in Hifdh can arise due to various reasons. For instance:

1. Disconnecting from the Quran, often unknowingly, by excessive engagement with worldly distractions like phones, can make memorization more challenging.
2. It gets hard when you have memorized a part and you forgot it. The solution to this is to revise as much as possible. There are among the memorizers of the Quran who have revised a page more than 300 times while they were doing hifdh, and now their hifdh is solid. We get lazy, we stop maybe at the 5th time while revising an ayah, or a page! So revision is actually the mother of memorization.
3. Committing sins can also hinder memorization since knowledge is akin to light, and this light is not bestowed upon sinners.

As for the tips you requested:

1. Make a planner: what do you want to memorize, and set deadlines to yourself. For example:
   Monday- ayah, surah, revision: ayah_, surah_
   And for example, if you’re memorizing Surat-ul Infitar, you set a deadline (e.g you start on Monday and you finish on Friday).
2. Listen to the part you’ll memorize, this is extremely helpful, because you’ll memorize the way the Sheikh recited and even if you’re stuck somewhere, so you cant remember how to continue next, you’ll remember the voice of the sheikh and it’ll help you in shaa Allah.
3. Revise, anywhere you can especially during salah. Revision is sooo important, so keep revising the part you memorized even if you know it really well, because it fades away quickly.
4. Watch hifdh ceremonies on youtube, how people did hifdh, listen to different Quran reciters, watch muslims who do hifdh now, their lifestyle etc. (Check out the Hifz Motivator)
5. Try to implement whatever you’ve memorized. If the ayat says do NOT do something, you dont do it. If Allah says “I love those who repent” you try to do more istighfar (this is how I understood implementing what you’ve memorized, and I might be wrong of course).
6. Get a mus’haf that you use it only yourself, and do not change it until you finish Hifdh inshaa Allah.
7. Try to find methods of memorizing the Qur’an, those that fit you the best🌼
8. I just advise you to know tajweed well, and to have a good makharij.
9. Also having a teacher that you physically go to is the most important step, do not try to do hifdh on your own because you won’t be able to find the mistakes yourself, and its just really hard and almost impossible!

May Allah give you success in this journey, in shaa Allah after some time it’ll be sooo easy for you to memorize. I have a friend, she was studying medicine, and she was in two colleges, and she was taking courses for biology and chemistry, and she had to travel different cities just to go to the Quran teacher and say new/revision pages to her.

So when she’d come there, after some time, after memorizing maybe more than 10 juzz, she was able to memorize a page for 5min, she’d do it so quickly, I was still opening my Quran and she’d already memorized the page. Ma shaa Allah tabarak Allah, so this way she’d memorize 3-4 pages for half an hour, and she’d also revise the parts she previously said, and she’d take the books and run to her course, so she was really busy, but she prioritized Quran thats why Allah made it easy for her.

and now she is a Hafidhah.

Overcoming Impostor Syndrome: Embracing the Quran as a Companion

A sister says:

I realised that the Quran is a companion to those who make it their companion. Living in a panic of feeling like you don’t deserve it takes away from that sweetness- and it sidetracked me from my goal. I taught myself that the Quran is infront of me for a reason, perhaps both a test and a blessing, and Allah ﷻ knows what we don’t know

And since then, I am much more at ease Alhamdulillah!

Maximizing Hifdh Retention: Effective Revision Techniques

Revising the portions of the Quran you've memorized is crucial in strengthening your Hifdh, but it's important to approach it in a systematic way. Merely revisiting what you've learned every 40 days is not enough to ensure a strong retention.

The key is to revise frequently and incrementally. Here's a method that has proven effective:

• Monday: Revise what was memorized the previous week.
• Tuesday: Review Monday's memorization.
• Wednesday: Revise both Monday and Tuesday's sections.
• Thursday: Go over Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday's portions.
• Friday: Review everything from Monday to Thursday.
• Weekend: Use this time for a general revision or listening to the memorized parts.

This method helps in linking the verses and pages together, creating a stronger and more cohesive memorization.

But what about older sections you've memorized? Here's a strategy:

• Select a segment, such as 5 pages, and focus on revising this portion thoroughly over 4 days. This allows you to complete a juzz approximately every week.
• At the week's end, have someone test you on this juzz. If you make mistakes, pinpoint exactly where they occur and work on those areas specifically.

This approach is both consistent and time-efficient. Remember, it's better to do a little each day to ensure the material moves from short-term to long-term memory. This prevents the frustration and disappointment that can come from trying to cram too much memorization into infrequent, lengthy sessions.

A Structured Approach to Hifdh for Children: Blending Recitation with Memorization

At my son's madressa, his Ustaadh employs a structured and effective approach to Quranic learning that balances both recitation and memorization.

The process begins with focused recitation: every day, he is tasked with reciting 2 pages while looking inside the Mus'haf. This daily practice not only improves his Tajweed, making his recitation more fluent and accurate, but also familiarizes him with the text. It's crucial that he corrects any Tajweed errors and achieves fluency in these pages before moving on.

Once he completes reciting a quarter of a Juz (1/4 Juz) with proficiency, typically after 3-4 days, he then transitions to memorizing that section. This step ensures that he is not just memorizing the text, but also understands it and can recite it correctly.

After he has successfully memorized that quarter Juz, the process repeats: he starts reciting the next quarter Juz while looking inside, fine-tuning his Tajweed and fluency, before moving on to memorize it.

This methodical approach ensures that each section of the Quran is given due attention, both in terms of recitation and memorization. It's a holistic method that prioritizes understanding and accuracy alongside memorization, setting a solid foundation for lifelong engagement with the Quran.

Traditional Quran Memorization Method: A Family Legacy

How did I memorize the Quran?

I memorized the Quran as a child at the hands of my mother, may Allah bless her, according to the method she learned from her father, Sheikh Ahmad Abu Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, as he learned it from the foremost reciters in his village. This was a teaching method traditionally used in the Quran schools in Egypt, as it was in Libya as I have been informed by some Libyan shuyookh.

Methodology for memorization:

• Memorization is by quarter of a hizb, not by pages
• Each quarter is divided into two eighths
• Each quarter is recited in full to the Sheikh from the mus’haf.
• The quarter is transcribed by hand in a designated notebook ensuring appropriate vowels (shakl) and placing a division between each eighth
• The quarter is re-recited to the sheikh in full from the notebook and all mistakes are corrected in the notebook by pen
• The first eighth is memorized from the notebook and recited to the sheikh from memory with no mistakes
• The second eighth is memorized from the notebook and recited to the sheikh from memory with no mistakes
• The entire quarter is recited from memory to the sheikh

Then:

• Each day after reciting the new quarter, the student must recite from memory starting at the beginning of the surah – or Juz’ – and stopping at the current point of memorization (this allows quarters to be properly connected in the student’s mind without any mix-up or omissions)
• At the completion of each Juz’, the student must recited the entire Juz’ from memory in one sitting
• At the completion of each Surah, the student must recite the entire Surah from memory in one sitting, regardless of the length of the Surah
• All of these previous points pertain to “new memorization”. Then comes “the revision” which is arranged according to the capabilities of the student and the guidance of the Sheikh.

General tips:

• The revision is more important than new memorization and it should be in larger quantities.
• Mistakes should not be permitted in the new memorization (maximum one mistake per quarter) since the first memorization is always the most lasting.
• If a section of Quran is memorized with many mistakes, it becomes difficult to be accurate with it in the future.
• The frequent revision and repetition of what has been just memorized is the best guarantee for long term retention.
• We do not believe in quizzing or asking questions during the recitation – it is best to recite the entire section without any interruption
• If you finish memorizing the entire Quran, then review it after that two times at least quickly or you will regret not doing so.
• Read in your prayer from what you memorize, for this is one of the best ways to engrain it in your memory.
• Rely on only one print of the Holy Quran for memorization and do not change it. (We used to memorize with the “El Shemerly” print or Al-Azhar print or its equivalent.)

*
P.S.

It has become difficult nowadays on many people to write what they memorize. If writing is not possible, then at least try to follow the other principles to solidify your memorization and make it more lasting.

..

May Allah have mercy on my mother, my father, my shuyookh, my teachers, and make all their efforts heavy on their scale of good deeds!

Eight Intentions for Hifdh: Connecting with Allah Through Memorization

An edited version of intentions:

The value of our actions is deeply rooted in our intentions, as highlighted in the Hadith of Bukhari. By nurturing specific intentions for Hifdh, we not only memorize the Quran but also engage in meaningful conversations with Allah. Here are eight intentions to consider:

1. 🌟 Intention for Divine Assistance and Acceptance: "Oh Allah, only You provide me the ability (Taufeeq) to do Hifdh, and the outcome of my Hifdh is solely in Your hands."
2. 🌟 Intention for Following Divine Command and Sunnah: "Oh Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, I am doing Hifdh because it is Your command (Hukm) and it is the Sunnah of our Prophet (Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم). I aim to revive the Sunnah of our Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم."
3. 🌟 Intention for Seeking Rewards and Remembering Ahadith: "Reflect on the rewards promised by Allah and His Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Recall the Ahadith regarding Hifdh, such as the teachings of Ali, Uthman, Mu’aaz Juhani, and Abdullah ibn Amr (رضي الله عنهم) about the virtues of reciting, memorizing, and acting upon the Quran."
4. 🌟 Intention for Acknowledging Allah’s Omnipresence: "Oh Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, You see me, hear me, know what's in my heart, and are always with me."
5. 🌟 Intention for Humility and Seeking Acceptance: "Oh Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, I acknowledge that I may not be the most deserving for Hifdh. Many others are more deserving and accepted as Your slaves. Through their acceptance, please accept my Hifdh as well."
6. 🌟 Intention for Seeking Allah’s Pleasure: "Oh Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, I am undertaking Hifdh solely to gain Your pleasure. Please grant me the ability to please You and protect me from Your anger."
7. 🌟 Intention for Hifdh as a Means of Guidance: "Oh Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, accept my Hifdh and make it a source of guidance for myself first and for all of mankind until Qiyamah, without exception."
8. 🌟 Intention for Repentance and Gratitude: "Oh Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, I repent (Taubah) and seek forgiveness (Istighfaar) for my shortcomings, as I did not fulfill the right (Haq) of this favor upon me. I am grateful (Shukr) for having been given the ability to do Hifdh."

Learn more about intentions and why you should memorise the Qur'ān.

Reflect!

Take a moment to reflect. Hifdh is more than just memorisation; it's a spiritual endeavour that connects us deeply with the words of Allah. Each piece of advice, each method shared, is a testament to the dedication and love that the journey of Hifdh embodies.

Remember, the path of memorising the Quran is unique for each individual. It's a journey marked by patience, perseverance, and unwavering faith. Whether it's the structured approach of reciting and memorising, the traditional methodologies passed down through generations, or the deeply personal intentions set for this sacred undertaking, each aspect plays a crucial role in enriching our spiritual and intellectual lives.

Let these insights guide you and motivate you. Embrace the challenges as opportunities for growth. Find comfort in knowing that every step taken in this journey is a step closer to spiritual fulfillment and connection with Allah. The road may be long and at times arduous, but the rewards, both in this world and the hereafter, are immense.

As you continue on this path, remember the ultimate goal is not just the completion of Hifdh, but allowing the Quran to penetrate your heart, guide your actions, and illuminate your life. May Allah bless your efforts, grant you success, and make the Quran a light for you in this life and a companion in the hereafter.