Hifz tips…

A friend of mine asked me to give some tips for memorizing Quran… Although I have read many articles on it and have listened to the talks from various experts on this topic… still at the end of the day what matters is how much importance I give to Quran and how much I am willing to work for it…

Basically these tips fall into two main categories… interior and exterior.

We often make the mistake of focusing only on the exterior and that is why it doesn’t work long term…

By exterior I mean, following a balanced sleep cycle… choosing the best time… good posture… having a teacher… use of mobile apps… enough repetition… extra time for revision… keeping the same Mushaf… etc

But all of these things are like a building… a visible structure… but the building cannot stand without the foundation which is unseen but so important…

Therefore we must begin with the foundation… the inner preparation…

First of all we must be very clear on what we hope to achieve through this activity of hifz?  

Our purpose should only be to earn the pleasure and closeness of Allah. For my own self, it is like the water for my soul… because the more I repeat the words of Allah the more clear they become to my heart… and so my heart gets more and more focused on Allah and the hereafter…

It is extremely important to keep revisiting our intentions because when we forget our objectives and hifz becomes just a routine exercise of the mind… then the heart loses interest and we tend to give up… that is why we have so many gaps where we don’t “find time” for it due to so many excuses… and then finally when we do sit down to reconnect with Quran we find that so much has been lost… making us feel so miserable and disappointed… therefore this tip of making a solid intention and reminding yourself about it… should be the number one step of our journey through Quran…

2- The second tip is to get clean and organized… not just on the outside… but more importantly inside our hearts. Do a lot of taubah and istighfar to clean the heart from all the rubbish of sins and negative thinking. Doing Hifz without taubah is like filling a dirty glass with fresh sweet milk… no one would be so foolish not to clean the glass first!!

3- Be really really greedy… super eager and passionate… absolutely thirsty for Quran… because it is this intense longing inside the heart that will act like a sponge which collects the water in seconds…

To develop this yearning, it is recommended that whenever you feel a thirst in your heart… then don’t try to quench it with anything else except the Quran… and whenever you feel restless, then don’t try to comfort your heart with any other thing except the words of Allah… and whenever you feel any emptiness in your life, don’t try to fill it up with any other thing except this book of guidance… in this way you will train your heart to love the Quran more than any other thing in this world…

4- Nothing can happen without the will of Allah… so ask for His help and His tawfeeq… beg Him to make the Quran most beloved to you… and most easy to work with. The moment you feel any weakness, or any difficulty… turn to Allah… in humbleness and in hope…

5- Avoid sins like you avoid accidents and disasters… Fear the disapproval of Allah like you fear the fire… or drowning… or falling… because sins are even more harmful than these afflictions… So take all precautions that you can… but if you still happen to make a mistake, then don’t delay taubah… immediately do istighfar and come back on track!

6- Another good tip is to do daily sadaqah… it wipes away sins and also gives energy for doing good deeds.

7- The best sadaqah is to be on your very best behavior with your parents and other family members. Let them see how hifz is making you a good human being!

8- Let your tongue be used only for good words… because a tongue that backbites or humiliates others or taunts or utters nonsense… cannot truly taste the sweetness of Allah’s words… And the heart that bears grudges and resentments and jealousy and other negative emotions cannot retain the words of Allah… so do hifazat of your thoughts and words.

9- The person who wants to do Hifz of Quran is actually embarking on a great responsibility of being a carrier of Allah’s words… Such a person cannot indulge in idle pleasures and amusements… His time becomes so much precious, so he doesn’t waste it in vain activities… Be a hafiz of your time, and Allah will be Al-Hafiz over all your affairs… He will make it easy for you to concentrate on Quran.

Allah does not look at your talents but it is your dedication, commitment, time and hard work that matters… so even if it takes you 10, 15, 20 or more years to complete the Quran… just imagine being able to say… “I had a 15 year memorization relationship with the Quran and the Quality of my life improved with every second!!”

May Allah bless us all with such a life… full of Quran… inside and out… Ameen