The Extraordinary Story of Hafiz Abdullah Atif
The Diary of A Hāfiz - Issue #60
Bismillāh al-Rahmān al-Rahīm
Assalāmu ‘Alaykum!
I hope you’re doing well and you’ve had a good week.
Today, we have some new articles and motivation!
In This Issue:
The Extraordinary Memorisation (Hifz) of Hafiz Abdullah Atif: A story of a young 13 year old with Down Syndrome.
Techniques To Remember The Similar Verses [Mutashābihāt] P7: More on the contemplation of similar verses.
How I Memorized the Quran In Three Stages: Revisiting the story of Isra Migdad.
The Diary of A Hāfiz: We have some amazing news today. A roundup reporting the progress of a brother and a sister in their pursuit of memorising the Qur'ān.
Motivation, Tips & Tools: Any resources, tips, and tools shared in the community and more.
*NEW* Community Highlights & Updates: Make sure you share your experiences, requests and engage with emails for this to be a success.
Let’s get to it!
- Qāri’ Mubashir
🔗 LATEST ARTICLES
The Extraordinary Memorisation (Hifz) of Hafiz Abdullah Atif (4 min read)
In the realm of extraordinary achievements, there are stories that transcend the boundaries of expectation and touch our hearts with their sheer inspiration. Today, we delve into the captivating journey of Abdullāh Ātif, a remarkable 13-year-old boy who defied the odds and accomplished a feat that seemed almost fictional. Despite being diagnosed with Down syndrome at birth, Abdullāh’s unwavering determination and a divine gift of a strong memory allowed him to embark on an incredible quest: memorising the entire Qur’ān.
Techniques To Remember The Similar Verses [Mutashābihāt] P7 (11 min read)
In this the final part of the series, I’ll share more methods that can further improve your ability to memorise and retain the similar verses. By incorporating these techniques into your memorisation journey, you can cultivate a more efficient and seamless approach, making the entire process smoother and more accessible.
How I Memorized the Quran In Three Stages (8 min read)
Before I share the tips with you, let’s agree that there is NO ‘one size fits all’ steps/tips for memorizing. So what you can do is pick what fits you and add anything that will help you if you are planning to memorize the Qur’an, In Sha Allah.
📖 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, 35, now on 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 again. It took him a few months to do a few Juz’ and now he’s been on Surah an-Nisā’ (5th Juz’) for a while carrying his struggles.
What he accomplished last week (days 269 to 275):
"Alhamdulillāh, I have consistent in revising but I’m still on the last quarter of the 5th Juz’. I’ve still been hesitant again in approaching teachers and a bit lazy with memorisation."
Aishah, complete here Hifdh last week!
Background: She started hifdh when she was a child and memorised half. But recently started again from Juz' 1. She's been memorising and revising while also studying medicine.
For those who missed last week, here’s a recap:
🎉🎉🎉 Week 36 🎉🎉🎉
I received a pleasant surprise from Aishah when she messaged me a few days ago saying:
"AlhamduliLlah, I completed my Hifdh today. I couldn't have done that without your help. It's definite that Allah sent your blog/articles to me when I needed them the most. I'm grateful for your advice and every resource you put into those weekly newsletters. It's like I gain my weekly strength from them. AlhamduliLlah.
May Allah preserve you upon goodness and make the initiative a form of Sadaaqatul Jaariyah for you. May Allah grant your Duas and never set His eyes away from your affairs.”
Alhamdulillāh! Subhān Allāh, mā shā' Allāh! Many congratulations to her. May Allāh accept it from her, grant her further strength, and blessings! I’m super proud of her. And congratulations everyone - it’s our first Hifz completion for the Hifz diaries!
I asked her to send me her reflections for today, here’s what she had to say:
"Alhamdulillah, for Allah has aided me in achieving my lifelong dream. I completed my Hifdh last week Saturday and I couldn't believe it, SubhanaLlah. If someone had told me last year that I would achieve this, I wouldn't have given it a thought but Alah gave me what I needed while I was oblivious of it. AlhamduliLlah.
The moment I read the last verse to my teacher, a beautiful feeling enveloped me. I felt like I had increased in my ranks with Allah and felt so grateful to Him.
I looked back at my journey, how it started and especially how the last ten months had transpired. How making Dua' to Allah, change of mindset, reliance on Allah, consistency, dedication and hardwork has brought me here.
How I had to navigate the easy days, the challenging days and how I had to show up for my Hifdh and revision no matter what. How I struggled with consistency on some days and how with the help of Allah, I managed to pull myself out of it and move on! And how I make Dua to Allah every single day to ease my affairs and make my dream a reality.
The support of my parents, siblings, friends and my Qur'an buddies really aided me throughout this journey. They are great blessings that Allah sent through my way and I'll forever be grateful.
I've learnt a life lesson that nothing is impossible for me to achieve. The only obstacle to my goals is myself/my mindset. I've been trying to memorise all these years but I wasn't able to, because I thought I was busy with Medical school and wouldn't have time, may Allah forgive me. Matter of fact, this phase of medical school is supposed to be busier, but with Allah's help, I achieved this.
Again, the word busy is only relative to what we deem important to us. Can we ever be too busy to eat? Exactly, let's place the Qur'an in a more important place in our hearts and we'll see how Allah will cater for the rest of our needs so beautifully.
I can't help but appreciate Qari for everything he's done. I came across his blog when I was fervently making Dua to Allah to ease my affairs and grant me all goodness in my Hifdh and I got that and more from Him. I pray that Allah reward him abundantly and ease his affairs, Aamin.
I know this is just the beginning and the relationship with the Qur'an is lifelong. I pray that Allah make me and you from among the people of the Qur'an.”
Aameeen!
What were the methods used and plans for solidification?
”For the Hifz method:- I use the 6-4-4-6 method. i:e- I recite each verse 6 times by looking into the Mushaf, then 4 times from memory, then 4 times by looking into the Mushaf, then 6 times from memory. Then I connect the each verses together once I've done more than one verse.
After few hours, I re-memorise this page again using the 3×3 workout. Recite the first verse 3 times by looking then 3 times from memory, then I move on to the second verse. Then after the first 2 verses, I recite both verses 3 times from memory. I continue this way until I get to the end if the page.
This really makes the memorisation solid and makes the revision easy.
Revision:
Sabqi: I recite the last 20 pages I memorised every day and correct any mistakes that might come up.
Manzil: I've done as much as 2 Juz daily but I'm now on 1 Juz daily.
Moving forward
I plan to continue the 1 Juz daily revision.
Then for consolidation, I'll do a Juz a week- 4 pages daily, then I'll recite the Juz to my teacher on weekends. I plan to repeat each page at least 15 times before reciting to my teacher.”
👉 If you have any questions for the brother and sister, just drop a reply to me and I'll feature the questions and answers in relevant issues.
👉 If you want to join and share your diary, please get in touch!
Allāh grant us all success and ease on this path!
⚒️ MOTIVATION, TIPS & TOOLS
Another Hifz story:
“I started hifdh al Quran last year actually. I’m 32 years old and I’m an engineer who worked full time. I never read the Quran before because to be honest I never got time, or shall I say, I never made time for the Quran. May Allah forgive me. It was only after I was involved in a car accident. SubahnAllah. This car accident changed my whole life. I had to quit work, was on a wheeelchair and basically normal life for me was impossible. I had to rely on my family for everything. I got frustrated. You can imagine, someone that was working , had a nice job , social life.. all was taken away from me in an instance! I hated life. During that period, my fiancé left me. It wasn’t her fault. I became a very toxic person. I was tired of this life. Bound to a wheelchair. Nothing to do. My life had changed. SubahnAllah. I know say it’s actually a blessing. It brought me close to my lord. Yes it was hard. Yes it was frustrating. But I started to pray to God. It was only when I picked up the Quran and started to read when I realised I had completely forgotten how to even read the Quran! That’s when I asked my brother to help me. I did attend Madrassah at a younger age so when I Started to recite again, it was coming back. I remember in jummah, I spoke to one of the sheiks in my local masjid complaining to him about everything I was going through. I said “sheik , I’m so bored. I can’t do anything. I can’t go work and all day I get tired”. The sheik said “why don’t you challenge yourself and start to memorise some surahs of the Quran, and everyday you can call me and I can test you”. That’s where it all started.
Forgive me, but I’m really cutting this story short). I would memorise some ayahs from juz 30, would call the sheik , he would test me and I’d move on to the next. As days passed, I Started to love it! I would enjoy memorising and would Wait for the time I could call my ustaad! I guess, it got me busy. I was feeling happy. I found a purpose! Something to do. I know this sounds cheesy but Wallahi it’s the truth! From. Juz 30, I proceeded to Juz 29, 28, 27 and so on... I’m on Juz 17 now. I’m taking it slow. Each day as it comes. My method is literally repeating and testing myself by recording and then listening to Sheikh Mishray Al afasy. I find it helps me. I just want to say.. you are never too old to memorise. Start now. Start today. Don’t let something like a clamity make you start. I wish I had started earlier. But I know this accident was a blessing in disguise for me. Please keep me in your Duas. I’m getting better now health wise Alhamdulilah. For me, and maybe this is what faith is, but I believe I’ll soon start to walk... as each letter of the Quran I recite I feel like it’s the medicine for me! Hahaha! Yes I know that sounds so cheesy but trust me. I believe it. May Allah bless you for this amazing page! Keep me in your Duas,
Your brother
Dawood.”
⭐ COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES
1️⃣ Whoever wants to find a Hifz buddy, a teacher, or make a du’ā request for your journey, this is your space! Just send me an email.
2️⃣ My request is also on-going, share your usual hifz schedule with me. Please fill in the Form.
An update
I’ve had many asking me about The Tikrar Memorisation Program and Method - so I’ve updated the article with some new schedules.
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