How To Use The Ottoman Stacking System For Hifz

Over the years, my journey with the Qur'ān has led me to delve deep into various memorisation techniques, each with its own beauty and challenges. Among these, the stacking system stands out as a profoundly effective method for both learning and reinforcing one's Hifz.

In the newsletter I send out every Tuesday, 'The Diary of A Hafiz,' brother Muhammad has been chronicling his own experiences with this approach, demonstrating its remarkable potential.

Now, it's my turn to bring this system into the light for you. Today, I want to explain how it works and how you too could benefit from this method should you choose to do so.

What is Memorisation Stacking?

Imagine for a moment that each page of the Qur'ān is a building block. This is the essence of the Ottoman Hifz Method—an approach deeply rooted in tradition and proven by time.

In Memorisation Stacking, we adopt this principle but add our unique twist. It's similar to what we do when we link together verse by verse, rukū' by rukū, or even page by page in isolation. Here though it's pages from various juz' and layering them upon one another, much like crafting a mosaic with the pages.

This method isn't just about creating stacks of memorised pages; it's about building connections between them. As you layer the pages, you're also linking the meanings, the flow of narrative, and the intricate patterns within the language itself. It's a holistic approach that marries the structure of memorisation with the fluidity of understanding, allowing each segment to support and reinforce the others.

By integrating this strategy, you're not simply memorising the Qur'ān—you're sculpting it into your heart and mind, block by block, with a mindfulness that ensures each piece is firmly in place before adding another. And just as a lego masterpiece takes shape with patience and care, so too will the structure of your Hifz become a testament to your dedication and love for the Words of Allāh.

An example:

How can the stacking system be used?

The beauty of the stacking system lies in its versatility—it's a customisable strategy designed to meet diverse learning needs. It can be integrated into your processes, no matter your schedule or objectives. I want to explore three scenarios where the stacking system shines:

1. For those that are memorising Qur'ān and short for time
2. For those that want to strengthen their Qur'ān (revision)
3. For priming your memorisation ahead of time

In these cases, stacking can work wonders provided you can be consistent and put in sustained effort.

Using the stacking system to memorise the Qur'ān (as a busy person)

If your days are bustling with activity, leaving little room for memorization, the stacking system offers a pragmatic solution. Consider aiming for a modest yet impactful goal: memorise between a half to a full page daily, preferably from a 15-lined mus-haf, to align with traditional practices.

Allocate five days a week, rather than a full week to memorise. Reserve the remaining two days for revision and consolidation.

Case study

Take, for example, brother Muhammad's journey from our newsletter—a testament to the system's efficacy. At 36, with his time thinly spread across various commitments, he finds a mere half-hour to an hour and a half for the Qur'ān. He is prone to missing days because often things can get really late. He's too tired to read at night and so often he will skip it or he would just read over by looking. What is interesting is what he's doing these days. He's previously tried using the Ottoman method but the inconsistency and time available meant he couldn't keep it up.

After a hiatus, he rekindled his relationship with the Qur'ān at 35, revisiting what he once memorised in the days of his youth. Progress was steady until he hit a plateau with the 5th and 6th Juz'. The pivot point? A shift from a seven-day cycle to a five-day memorisation schedule, an adaptation that has rejuvenated his journey.

But he is using the stacking system.

He now interlaces pages from the 5th and 6th Juz', reciting them in unison each day. Come the weekend, his focus turns to reinforcing what he has memorised. Concurrently, he acquaints himself with the 7th Juz', a strategic move to prime his memory for the verses ahead.

This proactive engagement with the forthcoming juz' means that when the time comes to commit it to memory, the verses are already familiar friends, not strangers. Such is the wisdom behind brother Muhammad's current practice. He's figured out that if he does this, it helps him prepare and prime his memorisation by the time he finishes the 6th Juz'. Imagine repeating the 7th day by day, reciting some verses from memory and some not for a month, will it not help when it comes to memorising it? It will.

So this process gave birth to a new method of memorisation inspired by the Ottoman method:

1. Memorise a page a day for 5 days, consolidate those 5 days for the next 2 days
2. You memorise a page from one juz' (properly) and you also memorise a page from the next juz' (half baked). So let's say this juz' 1 and 2 (priming).
3. When you finish the memorised juz', place that into your history box for daily review. This would be juz' 1.
4. When you go to the next juz', memorise a page a day but this time properly and alongside this start the next juz' too (but half baked). This would be juz' 2 and 3 (priming).
5. Now you should memorise juz' 3 properly but also start to prime juz' 4.

You carry on like this, as you go along the previous juz' get added to the history box, you repeat a juz' daily.

An alternative tweak to this is the following:

1. Memorise a page a day for 5 days, consolidate those 5 days for the next 2 days
2. You memorise a page from one juz' (properly) and you also memorise a page from the next juz' (half baked). So let's say this juz' 1 and 2 (priming).
3. When you finish the memorised juz', start it again alongside juz' 2. This time memorise both of them properly.
4. Then move these to the history box for a juz' daily basis.
5. Now do the same two round process for juz' 3 and 4. Then place them into the history box.
6. Now do the same two round process for juz' 5 and 6. Then place them into the history box. So at this point you're revision will be 6 juz', one a day.

There's another alternative tweak to this:

Do the same but instead of finishing juz' 2 and placing it into your revision cycle, start it again for a third time alongside the 3rd juz'.

There are many ways to use stacking but these are some of the most effective versions I have experienced.

Wouldn't stacking take a lot of time to do?

If you're reciting and memorising the same juz' each day, you're going to get quicker and stronger. Muhammad does recitation in Hadr (fast pace) and at the moment, the day of writing this he will be doing the following:

1. After 'Ishā' prayer - Recite the full 4th Juz' once (mix of looking and without looking) for revision. This should take about 10-15 minutes.
2. Then he will be reciting (from memory) the first 6 pages of the 5th Juz' and rememorising the 7th page of the Juz'.
3. Then he will be reciting (from memory) the first 6 pages of the 6th Juz' and rememorising the 7th page of the Juz'.
4. Then he will be reciting (mix from memory but mostly by looking) the first 7 pages of the 7th Juz'. This is the priming process.

All together, this will take him about an hour or an hour to do. He isn't anywhere near the end of the Juz' yet and so with time, the amount of pages will increase. How will he adapt to time constraints? He will either batch the pages into quarters or halves and spread across two days or he will continue in the same way and trying to keep up the pace within the time frame he has.

Why go through the hassle of this process?

He's found it to be very beneficial in strengthening his memorisation and recall. Before this, he would memorise a page a day, revise the entire juz' and one from the back. But, he would grow lazy with it and start to forget. This process, at least for him, has challenged him to stay on his toes.

It's essentially a smaller scale system to the Ottoman method.

Enhancing Your Revision with the Stacking System

For those seeking to solidify their memorisation, the stacking system is equally beneficial. The journey to robust Hifz is paved with the bricks of consistent practice and thoughtful repetition, which this system amply provides.

You can use it by taking the Juz' that are weak and take a page per day for them in the same way. You can batch together a group of Juz' per day. But when revising, you can stack not just sequentially, but thematically, based on the text itself. This is especially interesting for children. It will make the revision process a bit more fun and engaging.

Here's how you could implement the stacking system for revision purposes:

1. Daily Thematic Stacks: Choose pages that share a common theme or subject matter. By revising these together, you deepen your understanding and retention of the concepts. This is useful for the mutashābihāt.
2. Sequential Stacking: This is similar to your initial memorisation process but now with a focus on revision. Stack pages from the same or consecutive juz' and revise them in order, allowing the natural sequence to aid your recall.

A Practical Example:

Let's say you have memorised up to the 10th Juz'. You could create a revision schedule like this:

• Monday: Revise pages from a single Juz' that you've recently memorised.
• Tuesday: Select pages from different Juz' that cover a similar topic or story.
• Wednesday: Focus on pages with a similar rhythm or rhyme scheme, to enjoy the poetic beauty while revising.
• Thursday: Revise the pages that you find most challenging, to turn weaknesses into strengths.
• Friday: Create a stack from the beginning of your memorisation journey, revisiting the foundational blocks of your Hifz.

For each day, you might dedicate a session in the early morning and another later at night. This dual engagement ensures that the Qur'ān stays fresh in your mind throughout the day.

Hopefully this makes sense and encourages you. How would you use the stacking system?

May Allāh grant blessing!