Question
Assalamu-alaikum
wa rahmatu-llah,
I am a
London
student and would like to ask which, do you think, is the best way to learn
Qur'an. I do understand some Arabic which helps and can read, is it best to
read, understand and write? (just that writing can take long) I have
tried listening and reading English and Arabic but is there a better way?
I would also
like to ask, is it necessary to learn in a specific order (juz' 'amah, tabarak;
then from
surat
al-Baqarah onwards) as I did learn odd pieces here and there.
And, once you
learn something, is it not permissible to move on until acting by what you
have learnt?
Jazaku-ullahu
khayran
Answer
Wa alaikum
assalaam wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh.
The best way to
memorize the Qur’an differs from individual to individual.
Understanding the meaning is important for all.
Some rely on vision more than sound, others sound more than vision,
others need a combination.
Reading
is always recommended, especially for non-Arabs, so they can concentrate on
the letters, the ears may not pick up every letter.
Reading the section to be memorized with a tape, many, many times so
that the reading is completely smooth, then starting to memorize is a very
good way to go about it. That
combines both vision and sound. It
is incorrect to try to memorize without having the reading smoothed out first
as there are very likely to be mistakes in the memorization, especially in the
timing of the vowels and medd letters. Another
important item is to completely memorize an aayah, then start the next aayah
and go back to the first again with the second. The third aayah then is
memorized and the first and second are recited again (by memory).
This may seem to take a lot of time, but it makes for firm memorization
in the end. One should not try to memorize the next aayah, section, or surah
when the previous aayah, section, or surah is not completely memorized and
firm in the memory. Many find
writing out the aayaat to be memorized a good tool for memorization.
Some write them out first, others memorize, then write them from memory
to see if the writing and the memorization correspond.
The last recommendation we have is to record yourself after you have
firmly memorized the section that you are working on.
If you have a tape player with double cassette capacity, it is good to
listen to a known sheikh read the aayah, then listen to the recording of
yourself reading the same aayah. You
are more likely to hear any mistakes this way.
It is not
necessary to memorize in order, but it is very useful so there will not be
gaps in your memorization later.
Applying the
aayaat to our life is very important and the essence of the revelation. The
Qur’an was revealed as a guidance for mankind.
As Muslims we should apply all the aayaat in the Qur’an to our lives,
whether we have memorized them or not. Certainly
the companions of the Prophet, , were keen on learning and applying the words
of Allah to their lives as shown in the following hadeeth: It was narrated
that Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan said: The companions of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) who used to teach us Qur’aan told us that
they would learn ten aayaat, then they would not move on to the next ten
aayaat until they had learned the knowledge contained therein and how to act
upon it. They said, So we learned the knowledge and how to put it into
practice. Ahmad, 22384
It is not a
prerequisite to have applied the aayaat to our lives before moving on to the
next section for memorization, but this is highly praiseworthy and the path we
should strive towards. And Allah knows best.
Please also
see:
http://www.abouttajweed.com/310704.htm
Wa iyyaakum
wa-l-muslimeen
Wa assalaam