💍🧕🏽 Marriage as a way to become Hafiz?!

The Diary of A Hāfiz - Issue #90

Qari Mubashir

Dec 26, 2023

Bismillāh al-Rahmān al-Rahīm

Assalāmu ‘Alaykum!

Hope you’re all doing well. Allah grant ease and blessing.

We’re now reaching the end of the year! With that I have another new thing to share today!

Requesting your prayers,

- Qāri’ Mubashir

🔗 READ

How Marriage Can Be A Powerful Gateway To Hifz (7 min read)

Marriage often elicits mixed reactions; for some, it's a subject they shy away from, while for others, it's a constant presence in their thoughts. In modern times, the notion of marriage has become fraught with complexities and blurred understanding. Marriage takes effort and dedication, yes, it's a matter of personal choice, and for many, this topic of marriage is also a source of deep-seated emotions and reactions.

It’s no secret that the Muslim community is not only in a marriage and divorce crisis. Pew Research reports that only 17% of Muslims aged 18-29 are married compared to 58% in the 30-49 age group. Muslims are getting married later in life despite beginning the search early on. There are multiple challenges.

Marriage is more than a union of hearts; it's a profound source of Rizq (sustenance or provision) bestowed by Allāh Himself. It comes from Him. We can seek it and it will unfold as He wills.

Quran Teaching Strategies For SEND Students (9 min read)

Teaching students who have special educational needs, and disabilities (SEND) Qur'ān is something that is greatly overlooked in our communities. Yet this is something that's becoming increasingly prevalent.

I've had messages about resources on how to identify or help with the recognition of delay, dyslexia, and ADHD for teachers. I've had others asking about methods to help neurodiverse children and those with learning difficulties.

There is a lot of work needed in this area what you'll find here are some general fundamentals that are a starting point. Most of this material is from a Quran teacher training course I gave during the summer.

📖 THE DIARY OF A HĀFIZ

This is where we try to learn by watching others memorise. Today I share a roundup reporting the progress of a brother and a sister in their pursuit of memorising the Qur'ān.

Muhammad, 36, still on Surah an-Nisā’

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 a few months away from having a years diary complete.
What he accomplished last week (1 year, week 16):
“I’ve gone through juz 1-6, and started another round doing juz 1 and 2. I’m basically going through all my mistakes and using the Tarteel app to track them. So far so good. I’ll continue with this until I’m good to continue from the 7th again.”

Halima, 47, school teacher

Background: A 47 years old Black American Muslim school teacher. She has 3 adult children who are in university and grad school, Alhamdulillāh. She began memorizing the Quran about 5 years ago. It's been on and off with different teachers and motivation levels. She was inspired as a child to memorize Quran but my family lacked the access to a madrassah due to financial costs. She is the oldest of eight children. As a child she had never read more than the last ten surahs. Later in life, she rekindled her connection with Allah swt, and began taking tajwid classes in 2011, then finished her first reading of a khatam of Qur'an to her teacher in tajwid, from then her hifz struggles eased a bit. Currently, she is memorizing Surah al Maidah with Ustadha Sofia.
Week 4:

Not heard from her this week

Fahmid, 17, college student

Background: A17-year-old college student from Bangladesh. Started Hifz during the COVID pandemic. After watching a documentary featuring some people doing Hifz, reading out their memorized Surahs to their teacher, he decided to start memorizing the Quran. He says, “I really became emotional to see the part where two brothers finished their memorization together and did sujood to Allah with their teacher. I started with Surah An-Naba. After memorizing almost one page, one day my mother told me that she wanted me to memorize the Quran. Weirdly enough, I didn't tell her anything about it. So I started memorizing Juz Amma under a teacher. Later I paired up with a younger brother from school to memorize the Quran. He and I used to hear each others' memorized surahs online after Fajr. I also had another teacher as my first teacher was too busy and couldn't give me much time. Things were going great. But things just messed up... Due to some personal reasons, we had to discontinue our online memorization. Later on, my second teacher moved to a further area and as a result, I couldn't continue hifz under him. Since then, almost one and a half years have passed. I had memorized 29 and 30 Juz, some Surahs from Juz 28, and some random Surahs from the Quran. I tried to memorize many other Surahs during this period, but I couldn't, rather I forgot many of the memorized surahs. I really feel bad about it. I had the freedom and opportunity to memorize, but I wasted it. I want to start again!”
Week 4:

Not heard from her this week

👉 If you have any questions, just drop a reply to me and I'll feature the questions and answers in relevant issues.

Allāh grant us all success and ease on this path!

⚒️ MOTIVATION, TIPS & TOOLS

I’d like to thank everyone who supported the efforts of the How To Memorise The Qur’an platform this year 2023. I’m grateful.

Remember…

Your first 100 verses may be bad.

Your first 100 paragraphs may be bad too.

Your first 100 attempts will not be perfect.

Nobody can pick up a book and become a professional overnight.

Nobody can pick up a pen, then write and win a Pulitzer Prize right away.

Nobody will lead on something without getting a few things wrong.

Nobody learns how to walk after the first step.

We all do bad at the beginning

But…

Children can do what most adults fail to do.

We always think children need our guidance to figure out life. But they know things that most of us have forgotten.

We don’t become better by giving up. We keep trying.

Do babies stop trying to learn to walk after falling the first time? No, they keep trying.

That is why everything seems to be possible when you were a child. There was no ego. You only see a finish line and you want to cross it.

I didn’t have a super sailing journey on the road to memorizing the Qur’an. Some people said I wouldn’t do it. But I still kept at it.

I know people who memorised the Qur’an but then forgot it. That didn’t stop them. They regained what they had lost. They showed up until they figured it out. And they still show up to this day.

The truth is no matter how smart you are.

WE ALL DO BAD IN THE BEGINNING.

Most people give up right away.

A few people stick around until they get it right.

It means nothing if you are good at something but adding no value. It is better to show up every day and try.

We do bad and it is fine.

Because it is just the beginning.

May Allāh bless you, may the new year 2024 be full of blessings for you and our communities.

Remember me in your prayers.
Sukran.

Qari.

⭐ COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES

🎉 What’s new / recent 🎉

I have created a form for those looking for Hifz Buddies on the groups page - please visit if you’re looking for someone. I’ll either create a database or a tool to help you find someone.
Launching ‘Finding My Half’ and WhatsApp Channel for marriages.

📢 📢 Requests

1️⃣ My request is also on-going, share your usual hifz schedule with me. Please fill in the Form. (I have had several which I will add online soon)

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