I have mentioned many ways to revise the Qur'ān but recently I was in a conversation with brother Muhammad who is sharing his Qur'ān memorisation journey with us in the Diary of A Hāfiz.
After reading about the rule of five and how many strong Huffādh revise 5 ajzā' a day, brother Muhammad asked me whether there was a way to achieve the same but in an easier way. How would it be possible to revise similar, if not the same amounts as those that make a full completion of the Qur'ān every week? This was the idea.
Considering that Muhammad has been revising a quarter each day for the past month, it was beneficial to use this as a starting point or foundation for the revision method.
The idea of revising a quarter a day
While revising a quarter of a Juz' each day is not a common practice and may not be recommended for everyone, it can be an effective way for some individuals to maintain their memorisation and achieve their revision goals.
Even if you're revising a quarter a day, it still requires effort. You have seen how revising a quarter or less has been utilised in other methods and by Hafiz 'Abdullāh Hanook.
By way of principle, revising as much as possible each day is the general goal. The more you do the better. Firstly, it allows you to maintain a consistent pace and momentum in your revision practice. Secondly, repetition is key to retention, so the more you revise each day, the more likely you are to retain what you have learned. Finally, revising more each day can help you build stamina and focus, which can be useful for longer revision sessions or for tackling more challenging portions of the Qur'ān. However, it's important to find a balance that works for you and to avoid overworking yourself or becoming burnt out.
Revising a small amount each day can still be beneficial, especially if you are consistent with your revision over time. While it takes longer to complete a full revision of the Qur'ān, revising a little each day can help you build a strong foundation for consistent habit. If you have a busy schedule, it's easier as well, allowing you to maintain a regular revision practice without feeling overwhelmed or rushed.
The method of revising a quarter a day
The method proposed was rooted in how you can match those that revise a full Qur'ān every week. Those that revise 5 ajzā' a day. Those that sit for 3 hours and recite the 5 ajzā' in one sitting without looking. How can you use a quarter a day yet be able to recite as much as they do.
If you're revising a Qur'ān every single week of the year, you're revising up to 52 Qur'ān a year (at minimum). If you revise a quarter a day, you're revising 3 Qur'ān a year (at minimum). That's a massive difference!
So how can you achieve a revision of up to 52 Qur'ān a year by only doing a quarter a day?
It comes down to the number of repetitions you make. You would need to repeat the same quarter 17 or 18 times every day. That would equal to doing one Qur'ān every 120 days but through the repetition of 17 or 18 times per quarter, you're in reality doing 17 or 18 Qur'ān three times a year.
It sounds like a lot but it has a number of benefits.
- Repeating a quarter multiple times each day can help you solidify the memorisation of that quarter.
- You will get faster on each repetition and will begin to feel like you're reciting al-Fātihah.
- Revising a quarter 17 or 18 times a day can help you maintain the memorisation for longer periods of time.
- Repeating a quarter of the Qur'an 17 or 18 times a day requires focus and discipline, which can help you build these skills over time. This can be useful for other areas of your life where focus and discipline are required.
Are there any disadvantages?
- You would be looking at repeating a quarter 17 or 18 times once every 3-4 months and that gap may pose an issue for someone. Whereas if you're revising a Qur'ān every week, the gap of return is only a week.
How can you divide 17 or 18 repetitions across a day?
The quarter I refer to is primarily the quarter that is usually 4 or 5 pages in the non-'Uthmānī script. There are four of them for every Juz' but in the 'Uthmānī script there are eight quarters of varied length (typically between 1-3 pages).
There are a number of ways to repeat do this:
- You can revise the quarter 3 times per hour for 6 hours.
- You can revise the quarter 2 times per hour for 9 hours.
- You can revise the quarter 4 times per hour for 4.5 hours.
- You can take 3 sittings. Revise the quarter 4 times in the first sitting, 4 times in the second sitting, and 3 times in each of the remaining three sittings.
- You can take 3 sittings. Revise the quarter 3 times in the first sitting, 3 times in the second sitting, and 4 times in each of the remaining three sittings.
- You can revise the quarter 4 times in the first sitting, 4 times in the second sitting, and 2 times in each of the remaining three sittings, with one part left over.
- You can revise the quarter 3 times in a first sitting, 3 times in a second sitting, and 2 times in another four sittings.
- You can revise the quarter 2 times in the first sitting, 3 times in the second sitting, and 3 times in each of the remaining four sittings.
- You can revise the quarter 3 times in the first sitting, 2 times in the second sitting, and 3 times in each of the remaining four sittings.
- You can recite 4 times at every salāh - 5 times a day. You can recite twice before and twice after.
- You can divide recitation with listening. 80% recitation and 20% listening or whatever is feasible.
It all depends on your circumstances.
This is definitely not for everyone but can prove helpful for those that are weak in their memorisation and work as a foundation to build towards reciting one juz' a day and so on.
May Allāh grant success!
