Starting Hifz

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 I am nowhere near completing my Hifz. I'm still very much a beginner. So technically I have no place to offer advice to those starting out or thinking about starting Hifz--so let's just call this sharing. In case there are people who's reading this who are thinking about starting their own journey. 


Things to consider when first starting Hifz:

  • Intention. The intention to start memorizing Quran has to be for the sake of Allah alone. Not to show off. You will have to recheck your intention regularly to make sure it is still for Allah.

  • Use the same Mushaf and dont keep changing. Believe it or not, while most mushafs appear the same, theyre not. Even if theyre both 15 line mushafs, they will differ in verse spacing and placement. The madinah mushafs differ to other mushafs (dont believe me, try compare madinah mushafs to the standard translation ones). If you keep changing mushafs, your brain will have difficulty to picture the verse. I made the mistake of changing mushafs during my first attempt of memorizing-- didnt work out well. 

  • Set small and realistic goals that you can keep consistent. It is better to memorize a verse a day everyday then 2 pages every few weeks.

  • Listen to the Quran . Pick your favourite reciter and listen to how they recite, where they stop, how they change intonation at certain verses. It'll help your memorization. I'll talk more about reciters in future posts probably. Listen to Quran in the car, on your commute or whenever you have the time. Helps with correction of tajweed too.

  • Find a teacher. Non negotiable. Teachers guide , correct your recitation and keep you accountable. 

  • Revision daily. This is another non negotiable. Revision schedule is a whole topic by itself. Basically you take the amount of pages you've memorized and divide it over 5 days at first. Aim to finish the Quran in 5 days if youve not memorized much. As you memorize more, you should aim to finish all your memorization within 10 days. So you'll probably start with 2 pages a day and work your way to more pages. so this, is another NON negotiable. Rain or shine, sick or healthy, busy or not-- you gotta find a way to complete your set pages for the day. It is okay to slip up once in awhile but dont neglect your revision or your new memorization will be futile if you cant retain the previous surahs. Trust me thats how I failed last round haha

  • Enjoy the process and persevere. My ustazah always says what an honor it is to carry Allah's words in your heart. It's truly the most beautiful fulfilling journey you can embark on. And also I want to my parents to be granted a crown and robe on the Day of Judgement. Aminn.

If you're thinking of starting Hifz--just Do It! You will never regret it. Once the Quran is in your life- the blessings are lifechanging.

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