A Hifz Story You Won’t Believe
From ICU to Qur’an: This one isn’t just inspiring. It’s raw, real, and full of heart. - Issue #161
Bismillāh al-Rahmān al-Rahīm
Assalāmu ʿAlaykum!
I’ve been in storytelling mode for the last month and it continues today.
This story broke me in the best way.
It’s the story of a young woman who was once bedridden, half-blind, hopeless — and went on to memorise the Qur’ān, despite everything breaking around her.
If you’ve ever thought:
"My life is too unstable for hifz..."
"I’m too disorganised, too behind, too broken..."
Read on.
⚠️ It Started With Rock Bottom
She was 17 when her health collapsed.
She was in intensive care, nearly blind from a brain-related condition.
No strength to open her eyes. No cure available.
She could barely speak.
That’s when she whispered a duʿā’:
"Yā Rabb, if You get me through this… I want to hold onto something that will never leave me. I want the Qur’ān."
She survived. Allāh saved her.
But like most of us, she forgot her promise. SubḥānAllāh… we make deals with Allah in hardship, and forget them in ease.
Then came a wave of trials.
One after another. No time to breathe.
Until she hit rock bottom.
“The person closest to me was sitting by my side — and couldn’t help me. I realised in that moment: I have no power, no plan. I submitted.”
🌪 A Messy Start
She wanted to memorise. She tried: once. A big, intense push.
“I memorised around 10 ajzā’ in a centre. From 8am to 4pm. Daily. I was too fired up. I burnt out.”
She memorised about 10 ajzā’, but none of it stuck.
She was trying to memorise 8am to 4pm straight — like a sprint to the finish.
But it wasn’t sustainable.
“I didn’t have sabr yet. I didn’t have tawakkul. I didn’t know what it meant to lose everything.”
📉 Six Years Without Qur’ān
2015–2021.
Not a single page added.
Not one surah reviewed.
Just life. Chaos. Exhaustion.
Family responsibilities. Illness. Loss.
She went through multiple surgeries, the death of her father, and an ever-growing sense of spiritual distance.
She was busy, overwhelmed, doing everything except the one thing that mattered.
“I was chasing everything. Studies. Work. Relationships. Success. But I was hollow. So empty.”
🤲 The Turning Point: A Simple Du’ā’
She made a simple duʿā’ one night:
“Ya Rabb… I want a Qur’an centre… near my home… with a gentle teacher… who accepts me as I am.”
Then she saw a post.
A sister posted about a hifz class — 5 minutes away from her house.
“A sister posted about a class near me. I opened the post, saw the faces of girls who had memorised 20 ajzā’… and I thought: These are normal people. Like me.”
She joined. She told the teacher:
“I’m not here to become a scholar.
I came to take healing.”
📲 A Hifz Journey From Her Phone
She wasn’t consistent. She wasn’t always strong. Her hands were weak. She couldn’t hold a Musḥaf.
“I memorised from my phone. I couldn’t hold the Musḥaf. It was too heavy for me.”
No structured life. No glowing motivation.
But she kept going.
“I lived day by day. One Juz at a time. Light review. Then hifz.”
At one point, her phone broke — and she picked up a physical Musḥaf again.
That’s when she flipped the pages and suddenly realised:
“Wait… there’s barely anything left. I'm almost done.”
🧱 Structure That Saved Her
She didn’t want any rules.
“I thought structure would add pressure - but it carried me.”
She used the famed five fortresses to memorise and revise in a structured way.
It slowed her down. It grounded her. It gave her something to hold onto when life felt like quicksand.
📖 How Did She Finish?
She didn’t even realise she was finishing.
It had taken around 2.5 to 3 years, but it never felt like that. Because she wasn’t rushing. She was just being carried.
“I wasn’t trying to finish. I was enjoying the journey.”
Even her test — for 25 ajzā’ — caught her by surprise.
She didn’t notice how far she had come until someone else told her.
She once said this, which was one of the most beautiful lines:
“I wasn’t trying to become a ḥāfiẓah.
I just wanted Qur’an in my life —
and one day I looked back and realised:
I had become a ḥāfiẓah.”
💬 Her Final Message to You
When asked what advice she’d give others, she paused and said:
Be eager with Allah. Crave His gifts.
Don’t let your circumstances, exhaustion, confusion, lateness, or age make you say, 'It’s not for me.'
Don’t wait until your life is fixed. Start anyway — and let the Qur’an carry you.
🛤 What Can We Learn From Her?
Start even when your life is a mess.
Don’t aim for perfect — aim for consistent.
Seek healing, not performance.
Let the Qur’ān organise your life — not the other way around.
And maybe that’s the most powerful thing of all.
What’s really stopping you?
Not having a routine?
Feeling too far behind?
Thinking you're not "the type"?
She was sick, broken, busy, unsure, and unstructured. But the Qur’ān reached her anyway.
Because she craved it.
Let it carry you too. Recite an āyah, right now! Begin again.
🤲 Requesting your prayers,
- Qāri’ Mubashir
📖 THE DIARY OF A HĀFIZ
This is where we try to learn by watching others memorise. A roundup reporting the progress of our brothers and sisters in their pursuit of memorising the Qur'ān:
👳🏼♂️ Muhammad
Background: After forgetting what he memorised (half the Qur'ān) and kept struggling to start again. So he decided to share his diary and mission with us. After 19 weeks of struggle, he finally started. It took him a few months to do a few Juz’. He’s 37 and has been the most consistent of our diaries despite continued struggles.
Year 2 Week 36:
“I’ve continued with doing 2 rukū’ a day and have now covered the 1st and 2nd juz’ - they feel really stronger now, alhamdulillāh, I will continue onto the 3rd now.”
🧕🏼 Aaliya
Background: I'm 28 and I started memorizing full time about 2 years ago. I have almost 17 Juz memorized Alhamdulillah. I go to a masjid hifz class everyday and I'm trying to increase my daily revision to 2-3 juz. I'm hoping recording weekly diaries will motivate me to be more consistent and inshAllah help others who read it too.
Week 38:
“Alhamdulillah I finally went back to madersa this week. My teachers are wonderfully understanding but also caring and concerned about my progress, so I got scolded just the right amount.
Looking back, I feel so silly delaying returning to madersa. And the anxiety that I had has mostly gone away so I can focus on just reciting. Reciting to other people makes a world of difference. Reading from the mushaf and even reciting to myself without looking isn't good enough to retain the paras.
I'm starting to get back to a consistent Quran routine. But since I haven't recited all of my paras in a few months, I'll be treating them like sabak, one juz at a time, then adding them to the revision list.
So far, I have revised 4 ajza Alhamdulillah. I started from the back since I knew it would be easier to strengthen them. Then I skipped to the last full para that I memorized, which is 16, and I will work backwards to 1st juz. I know it's going to be hard to remember 16th juz since it's newer memorization. But this way I will have more rounds of reciting the newer/weaker paras while I'm working on consolidating.
Completed:
30, 29, 28, 27
Next week, I hope to complete 5 more ajza for sabak and continue revising 3 ajza daily from the completed list.”
🧕🏼 Aisha
Background: I am a 36 yr old, mother of 6 kids. I memorised 20 juz in a madrasa but got married and although completed my hifz on my own , my revision was poor and I couldn't recite anything properly except for 5 or 6 juz. It's been 12 years of ups and downs trying to rememorise with little success. Alhamdulillah I found Qari Mubashir’s website that answered so many of my questions and took me out of self doubt, I discovered the tikrar program, downloaded the app and Alhamdulillah my path to rememorise has finally been made possible by the grace of Allah. I started on the 20th of June and so far have completed 8 juz , currently doing the 9th . I also gave my first test for juz 1 - 6 last month and passed it Alhamdulillah. I am looking forward to completing hifz, with a solid revision this time, bi iznillah.
Week 25:
“Assalamualaikum warahmatullah,
New : Alhamdulillah started the 14th Juz, memorising Surat ul Hijr.
Connection : A bit of a struggle here , haven't revised this thoroughly yet , due to lack of time every day I'm ending up with broken revision here. Hoping to solidify it inshallah.
Revision : Again lack of time , if I fail to recite in prayer due to other engagements it won't be reviewed, I have to come up with some time management strategies.
All in all , I'm grateful that Allah has given me this opportunity and inshallah I will strive as much as I can.”
👉 If you have any questions, just drop a reply to me and I'll feature the questions and answers in relevant issues. If you want to join the diaries, get in touch also!
Allāh grant us all success and ease on this path!
⭐ COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES
🚨 Website & Communities
1️⃣ WhatsApp communities
- Alhamdulillāh, we’re moving a step forward in the groups. We now have a new set of helpers and groups with weekly timetables.
2️⃣ Website & updates
- Updates are still ongoing.
- If anyone has any specific feedback or ideas, you are most welcome.
- If you want to get involved in the project, please get in touch. Devs, designers, community builders, content creators, etc!
3️⃣ Upcoming LIVE Workshop ❗❗
- I have shared a proposition for a live workshop on memorisation methods (check it out in the community chat and let me know if you’re in!)
📌 Your Turn: How Did You Find This Post?
🔥 Reply & let me know what helped you most today.
💬 Reply & tell me: What’s your biggest struggle in Hifz right now? Have a question? Reply to this email (or answer the question below) and let me know—I’ll try to feature your question in upcoming posts.
This is truly amazing. Thank you so much .