#Islam

Why Your Kids Should Not Be Huffadh

Published

July 15, 2024

While I do not want to discourage the memorization of the Qur’an in general, we need to talk about the many Muslims who misunderstand the importance and function of memorizing the Qur’an.

First of all, if you want to be a seeker of knowledge or a scholar, then you either must be a hafidh or be working towards being one. The Qur’an is the key to all knowledge. At the very least be consistently working towards it if you are not already one.

But if your intention is not to become a seeker of knowledge or a scholar, then it is different. Memorizing the Qur’an is not obligatory, but learning theology, fiqh, tasawwuf, and tajwid to the extent you can recite the Fatihah properly is. If you do not understand enough of Islam to have correct belief, protect yourself from doubts, fulfill obligations in worship and society, avoid sins, and maintain a relationship and connection with Allah then memorizing the Qur’an is a secondary endeavour, and to prioritize it before the others is a serious miscalculation of direction.

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As for those parents who force their kids into completing hifdh programs, take heed. It is not obligatory for your kid to be hafidh, but it is obligatory for you to impart the aforementioned obligatory Islamic knowledge unto them, whether it be from yourself (if you are learned) or by signing your kid up for classes. If you make your kid memorize the Qur’an but they don’t have sufficient knowledge to understand it and contextualize it, they don’t receive the necessary tarbiyah to absorb it into their character, they have to go through oppression and suffering at your hands or their teachers’ to complete their hifdh, or your intention is corrupt and you are just putting your kid through hell so you can brag about it to your friends, then you are just placing the burden of proof on your child. At any moment they can implode and all that Qur’an in their heart will be a proof against them on the Last Day.

And they do implode. There is a reason I wrote this post. I’m tired of seeing and hearing about huffadh leaving Islam, forgetting all their Qur’an, turning to sin, and grossly misunderstanding the religion. Stop treating the hifdh of the Qur’an like a replacement for a strong Islamic Education. And if it wasn’t clear already then reading a translation is not even close to enough. Most mosques have hifdh programs and nothing else in terms of structured Islamic education for children.

As for the hafidh: Please note that your hifdh has not made you into a seeker of knowledge. You will not truly understand the Qur’an until you learn other Islamic sciences too. Don’t be in a rush to teach or do da’wah just because you’ve done your hifdh. People will praise you and the ignorant will come to you thinking you are a ‘Shaykh’. Don’t let your nafs fall for it. There is a reason the majority of the fuqaha (The Hanafis, Malikis and Shafiis) preferred the more knowledgeable in fiqh to lead the prayer over the ‘most read’.

Hifdh without Arabic is pointless. Arabic alone applied to understand the Qur’an without obligatory (and further) knowledge from the scholarly tradition often leads to misguidance. Recitation of the Qur’an without the rules of the Qurra is not giving the Qur’an its due right. At least ensure that you know how to recite the Qur’an well in one riwayah e.g. Hafs.

Just like a seeker of knowledge, mind your intentions. Its a great blessing and act of worship to memorize the Qur’an. Don’t do it to be known as the ‘qari’ or the ‘hafidh’. Don’t let it all go to waste. Remember, the ‘people of the Qur’an’ are not necessarily those who have memorized it, they are those who also understand it, are companions of it, understand it, teach it and act upon it.

[Man2Man Podcast] Sweetness and Success with the Qur’an

[Podcast] Raising Children As Huffadh | Sh Fatima Barkatullah

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Related Topics:Family Featured hifdh huffadh Islam Islamic Education muslims parenting Quran Spirituality tarbiya

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Samir Hussain, Guest

Samir Hussain studied Evolutionary Biology & Cosmology at McMaster University in Canada and realized that the real answers could only be found with God and in the Islamic tradition. In 2007 he began studying Islam in English with various preachers & scholars in Canada. In 2010 he moved to Riyadh & studied the classical Islamic sciences with scholars in private, one-on-one classes. In 2016 he moved to Cairo to study Hadith. Throughout most of his studies, he worked as a professional educator at the university level. He has ijazahs to teach most of the texts he has studied with his teachers, ranging from beginner to advanced texts across different subjects in the traditional Islamic sciences. Samir Hussain's main research interests are in Islamic theology, Usul-ul-Fiqh & philosophy, and he is also passionate about the Arabic language. Since 2017 he has been teaching Islamic Studies full-time at the high school level. In 2020 he started teaching traditional texts in the Islamic Sciences online at Fahm Education.

8 Comments

Mirza Yawar Baig

July 15, 2024 at 8:22 AM

Excellent article and very important points to note and consider. I’ve seen too many ‘mistakes’ at the expense of the poor child leading to him/her leaving the Quran totally.

Reply
Umm Abdullah

July 16, 2024 at 10:21 AM

Though the many of the author’s points are valid, I feel the title is unnecessarily provocative and negative.

A title like, “Don’t Consider Hifdh the End Goal,” or “Points to Consider if Pursuing Hifdh” would be much better.

Reply
Samir Hussain

July 18, 2024 at 11:36 AM

By author: Just a note, I didn’t choose the title.

Reply
Spirituality

July 18, 2024 at 1:03 PM

As Salamu Alaikum,

Agreed that apart from the unfortunate title, the article presents many great points. I guess the counter argument is that memory is the best when young, and youngsters have (arguably) a lot more time on their hands.

That being said, as the article mentions, its imperative we give the Quran its due; which means being its companion (frequent recitation), understanding it, and reciting it correctly, and in context of making sure we have an overall basic knowledge of our Deen. Memorization and advanced grammatical analysis are not requirements unless one wants to be a scholar.

Memorizing the Quran without reciting the Quran correctly makes no sense, which many have done or attempted to do (I am guilty here!). Imam Wisam Sharieff relates that he memorized the Quran while relatively young, without learning Tajweed. He then went to Egypt for more advanced learning, and when he recited, he was told that ‘he hadn’t ‘really’ memorized the Quran.’

My own experience is that I tried to memorize Quran; I had gotten around 3 1/2 Juz when I decided I better improve my Tajweed first. Unfortunately, my initial pronunciation was so bad that as I changed (corrected) my pronunciation, I could no longer rely on my old ‘muscle memory’ and lost much of what I had ‘memorized.’ I am gradually relearning. But reciting Quran with improved Tajweed is so much more rewarding!

I do really, really hope to memorize the entire Quran one day, though. What is better than having guidance of Allah in your head, accessible at all times?

Reply
Mother of student

July 24, 2024 at 12:10 PM

Asalaamualaycoum,
I appreciate the warning for parents. It’s heartbreaking to hear that children lose their deen through the process of Quran memorization. However, I would like to offer another point of view; as memorization being the beginning of their Quran journey- not the end (inshaAllah.) At younger ages, kids have a lot more free time, stronger memories and are literally language sponges. I personally don’t believe you need to be on a scholarly journey to memorize Quran or to memorize any number of surahs. Although I’m sure there are some very negative experiences with memorization, and my heart goes out to those children, there are a great number of positive and uplifting experiences as well. I think, like with any activity or skill, parents need to check in with their child if he or she want to continue with the program and accept their decision if they don’t- inshaAllah for the best. As parents we need to purify our intentions which is important for any endeavor but especially when it comes to our children and seeking the pleasure of Allah. I resent the characterization of parents of huffadh as feeding their own egos, although I don’t doubt that may be the case for some especially if their child no longer wants to continue. A strong Islamic education starts at home and I would say even if one receives the best Islamic schooling Allah guides whom He wills. We know even some prophets were not saved from having disobedient, disbelieving children. With that said, I pray those children who have rebelled perhaps in a misguided effort to regain some autonomy and control over their life, will return to Islam through the love and guidance of Allah swt and the patience and duas of their parents. Thank you for this article as it is eye opening but I do believe there are other experiences and happier journeys with Quran that shouldn’t be dismissed.

Reply
Muslim

August 12, 2024 at 4:40 PM

if the author agrees that the title is provocative, it should be changed.

unhappy with the disrespectful language: how dare you call encouraging children to memorise Quran as “putting them through hell”

Reply
Hudhaifa

August 13, 2024 at 8:31 AM

The title is very unfortunate, to put it mildly. Every effort should be made to connect our children to the Qur’an. There are too many virtues to list here for the memoriser, and the parents and family of the memoriser alike. It is a great privilege to be able to memorise the Qur’ān. Hence, the title of the article should, and must be ammended to avoid misunderstanding its purport and intent.

That said, i fully agree that students of hifz should and MUST receive proper instruction in tajweed, fiqh, history and aqeeda, together with spiritual guidance to right-living the islamic way.

Reply
MW_M

August 18, 2024 at 3:12 PM

First time I’ve heard a Muslim refer to memorizing Qur’an as “hell”.

Reply