How to Memorize the Quran Part II | Shaykh Umar Badahdah

How to Memorize the Quran | Shaykh Umar Badahdah Part I

Translated by Ammar AlShukry

An abridged translation of the work of Shaykh Umar Badahdah:  Part II

I. The Beginning Steps

II. Memorizing

III. Revising

IV. Tying It All Together

V. Differences

 III. Revision

There are three principles that must be known before delving into revision:

1) Consistent recomittment:

“Commit yourselves to the Quran, for by Him in Whose Hand is my soul, it is faster in slipping away than a tied camel.” [Reported by Bukhaaree and Muslim]

A wisdom behind this may be that if someone memorizes the Quran to show off or just to call himself a Hafiz then they will be able to, but they will forget it just as fast as they memorized in initially. For the one who wants to learn the Quran to benefit from it then they will need to be forever vigilant in their guarding of it.

2) Revising a large portion – revising a page or less in a day is not considered revision, nor is it as beneficial as a larger amount would be.

3) Taking advantage of the ‘seasons’ for revision – such as Ramadan which is the greatest time for revision, when Jibreel used to meet with the Prophet (S) and they would go over the Quran. As for the method of revision, if you have to stop your memorization to revise, then the Sheikh saw that as not being beneficial. Meaning you memorize 5 juz and then stop so that you can revise. The revision has to be a intertwined with the memorization, so that just as you memorize every day you revise every day.

The Method of Revision

We will call this the Minor revision and the Major revision.

1) Minor revision

This is what has already been described earlier. Whenever you memorize a new page recite along with it four of the pages before it, so you are reciting 5 pages. When you memorize the next page you again will go back four pages so you will recite the page you memorized today, yesterday, the day before and so on. The page you memorized today will then be repeated 5 times in the future since every time you memorize a new page you will go back 4 pages.

2)  Major revision

Major revision is longer, it is to recite ten pages from what you had memorized in the past – this Inshallah wouldn’t be too difficult if one utilizes the methods mentioned earlier of using them in his nafl prayers, listening to recitations, keeping a Quran with you and so forth. For example say that you have newly memorized the 30th page of Surah Al-Baqarah, you recite the entire page three times as earlier mentioned, then you recite the 4 previous pages including the one you have just memorized, totaling 5 pages, from the 26th to the 30th page, this is for the new memorization. As for what you have memorized from the past you read say from page 1 to page 10 of Surah Al-Baqarah. The next day you read from the 2nd page to the 11th, third day from the 3rd to the 12th, and so on.

The goal is that if someone were to keep on this method, memorizing a new page and going back four pages, and every night reciting 10 pages from what he had previously memorized, do you think that this person would have difficulty reciting the entire juz from the beginning?

 Helpful activities in revision

 1) Leading the prayer.

 2) Teaching in the area of Hifz. 

When you are teaching people who are memorizing, this person is reciting to you the first juz and this person is reciting the second, this will help you in revision.

3) Participating in Hifz programs.

Being with a group is not like being alone; a little bit of competition and encouragement can go a long way in helping you reach your goal.

4) Qiyam Al-layl. 

A matter that is truly beneficial due to what it contains of calm, peace, focus and clarity of thought, not to mention what Allah may open for you due to you worshipping him while the people are asleep.