If there is any book in the world that a Muslim should strive to memorize, then it is the Quran. The Quran is the guideline and constitution of Muslims. Allah revealed the Quran so that Muslims can read and deduce Allah’s judgment from it.
For a student of knowledge or someone that is aspiring to be a scholar, you should drive hard to be a Hafiz. If you read the story of the companions of the prophet and some notable scholars like the four Imams, you will find the first thing they dedicated themselves to was the memorization of the Quran.
Imam Shafiee said in one of his poems, ‘’ilmi mahi haysu ma yamamtu yanfahuni, qolbi wihahu lahu, labtnu sunduki’’ which means, my knowledge is with me, everywhere I go, my knowledge benefits people. He said, my heart is like a shell where knowledge is stored. He said, my knowledge is not in my locker.
The message Imam Shafiee was trying to pass with this poem is that everything he knows is in his head. You can ask him anything about the Quran or hadith anywhere you meet him. He doesn’t have to go home and read before he gives you the answer to any question.
8 Best Tips to Memorize Quran by Yourself
If you want to memorize the Quran by yourself, here are some tips you can follow and learn Quran at home.
1. Daily Memorization Limit
The first thing to do after deciding to memorize the Quran by yourself is to set a daily memorization limit. You must have tested yourself with other memorization before embarking on online Quran memorization, therefore, you must have known what you can memorize daily.
As soon as you hit your daily limit, the next thing is to be repeating the memorization continuously so that it will stick to your brain.
2. Not Exceeding the Daily Limit
Sticking to the daily limit is very important. It helps in balancing. It discourages laziness and encourages a positive attitude. Sometimes, you will feel you can do more, but it is a trap you should not fall into. If you start stretching your brain more than the ability of that it can assimilate, that can be a recipe for disaster.
Allah in his wisdom created us differently, what some people can memorize in 30 minutes, it will take some people 24 hours to memorize it.
The most important thing is to know your limit.
3. Balance Between Tajweed, Hifz, and Revision
it is very important to balance these three points. As you are striving in your memorization, you must also pay attention to the rules of tajweed. There is nothing to celebrate when you memorize the Quran but you cannot read it properly.
4. Ask a Tutor to Give You a Monthly Hifz and Tajweed Test
Experience they say is the best teacher. In everything in life, some people have gathered experiences that can’t be bought. In Africa, there is a saying that, he who has never been to another person’s father’s farm will say his father’s farm is the biggest.
One way to test yourself is to subject yourself to external scrutiny. You can look for An Imam around you and ask him to be scrutinizing you. Let him give you online Hifz classes and Tajweed tests monthly. This will go a long way in determining how far you have improved or how far you are still lagging.
5. Recite Other People
If you have parents or friends who have Quranic knowledge, it is an added advantage when it comes to memorizing the Quran. After Subhi or Ishai prayer, your friends or family members can help you hold the Mushaf while you revise what you have memorized during the day or the previous day.
6. Use Nawafil Prayer to Sharpen Your Memorization
Solatu Subhi, Solatu Zuhr, Solatul Asr, Solatul Magrib, and Solatul Isha are obligatory prayers in Islam. You might not be able to practice your memorization with these prayers because you have to consider your followers.
In one hadith, Jabir narrates that Muaz ibn Jabal would offer prayers with the Messenger of Allah and then would return to his people and lead them in prayers. One evening, he offered the Isha prayer behind the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him. When he returned to his people, he led them in Isha prayers and began reciting Suratul Baqorah. Upon this, one person separated himself from the congregation, said salam to indicate the end of the prayer, and began to pray on his own. Seeing him do this, the people called out his name and said, ‘’Have you become a hypocrite?’’ They admonished him for leaving the congregational prayer and praying on his own and asked him whether he has become a hypocrite. The man said I will certainly go to the prophet and inform him of what I have done. He said, if I was a hypocrite, I would have offered my prayer secretly.
The man came to the Messenger of Allah and said, we transport water from one place to another on our camels and ensure people have water in their homes. Thus, we work all day long. He said, Muaz offered the Isha prayer with you and cane to his own neighborhood and started reciting Suratul Baqora. The Messenger of Allah called Muaz and said, why do you cause hardship for people? The Messenger of Allah then advised what to recite and repeated it again.
The Messenger said you ought to have recited Suratu Shams, Suratu Duha, Suratu Layl, and Suratul al-Ala.
I quoted this hadith to let you know that there will be a limit to what you can recite during the five daily prayers. As for the Nawafil prayers like Solatu Duha, Qiyamu Layl, Solatul Witr, and others, they are good avenues for you to practice your memorization because there is no limit to what you can recite.
7. Master the Similar Areas in the Quran
The Quran is a book that has many similar verses. Mastering these similar verses is what will make you a certified hafiz.
For example, in Suratul Baqorah verse 58, Allah said, fakulu minha while in verse 161 of Suratul Al-araf, Allah said wakulu minha.
Another example is verse 170 of suratul Baqorah, Allah said ma wajadna alayhi aaabahana while in verse 21 of suratu Luqman, Allah said ma alfayna alayhi aabahana.
So these are some of the similar verses that you have to master in the course of your memorization. There are many more in the Quran. In fact, scholars have written many books explaining similar verses in the Quran.
8. Constant Revision
The Quran is different from other books. It is not a book that you can close for several days and come back to it expecting your Hifz to be sharp as you left it. It is a book that requires you to be going through it every day till you go back to Allah.
Conclusion
It is the amount of effort that you put into something that will guarantee its success. If you have the determination and you applied these 8 tips I have listed in the article, you will get a result in no time InshaAllah.
