š Which Qari are you supposed to listen to?
The Diary of A HÄfiz - Issue #92
BismillÄh al-RahmÄn al-RahÄ«m
AssalÄmu āAlaykum!
Hope youāre all doing well. Allah grant ease and blessing. Today I share notes on listening and some further updates!
Requesting your prayers,
- QÄriā Mubashir
š READ
Which Reciter is The Best for Hifz (Quran Memorisation)? (6 min read)
Listening to a reciter (QÄri') for your Hifz (Qur'Än memorisation) cannot be underestimated. But who is the best reciter to aid your memorisation? Who is the recommended reciter to listen to?
How to Memorise by Listening to the QurāÄn (9 min read)
I was walking on the streets of Hayy ath-ThÄmin (the eighth zone or district) in Nasr City of Cairo. I was so interested to know what happened in the mosques and schools there. In particular, the Qur'Än memorisation schools. I'd learned of a local mosque after a friend took me down to see a teacher. So I went along into the mosque between the 'Asr prayer and Maghrib for the Qur'Än memorisation circle. As far as I remember they had a 6-month Hifdh programme there. I went to check it out.
Straight away, I saw a huge difference in the experience I got used to back home in Manchester. I was used to a class around benches on the floor rocking away reading out aloud with a loud angry teacher! Over in Cairo, I couldn't tell who was the teacher and who was the student. People were all over the place - I mean, there was no sign of a structured class. It was a simple process, anyone could come in at any time and read to one of the teachers. The teacher was always kneeling against a pillar with a bunch of adults and children around him. Yes, adults and children! This was a session where it didn't matter who you were, where you were from, and what age you were.
š THE DIARY OF A HÄFIZ
This is where we try to learn by watching others memorise. A roundup reporting the progress of two brothers and a sister in their pursuit of memorising the Qur'Än:
Muhammad, 36, still on Surah an-NisÄā
Background: After forgetting what he memorised (half the Qur'Än) 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 Juzā. Heās a few months away from having a years diary complete.
What he accomplished last week (1 year, week 18):
āIāve been continuing the revision process consistently. I have complete all 5 juzā and feel I need to restart the 6th. So thatās what Iāve done. I aim to do a page or two, or a rukuā a day going forward. While revising a juzā from the back. Duaās please.ā
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,Ā AlhamdulillÄh. 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,Ā sheĀ 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.Ā Currently, she is memorizing Surah al Maidah with Ustadha Sofia.Ā
Week 6:
Ų§ŁŲŁŁ ŁŲÆŁ ŁŁŁŁŁŁŁ Ų§ŁŁŁŲ°ŁŁ Ų¹ŁŲ§ŁŁŲ§ŁŁŁ Ł ŁŁ ŁŁŲ§ Ų§ŲØŁŲŖŁŁŁŲ§ŁŁ ŲØŁŁŁŲ ŁŁŁŁŲ¶ŁŁŁŁŁŁŁ Ų¹ŁŁŁŁ ŁŁŲ«ŁŁŲ±Ł Ł ŁŁ ŁŁŁŁ Ų®ŁŁŁŁŁ ŲŖŁŁŁŲ¶ŁŁŁŁŲ§
"Praise be to Allah who had saved me from what He had afflicted you with, and for honouring me over many of his creations."
I have been blessed to visit an ailing family friend this weekend. Before I arrived I had been informed that their health was declining. I made lots ofĀ additional plans despite the warning. I had no sense of the gravity of their physical state. When I walked in the room shock and saddness instangly took over my heart. Tears swelled in my eyes and I felt weak from seeking their frail body. I was instandly awakened to the reality of death. I was glad that someone was ahead of me to sit with them so I could leave the room and collect myself. I couldn't regain my composer for some hours and days. I am so grateful for the reminder of death and our meeting with Allah. I pray for my heart to remain alive in rembrance of Allah subhana wa taAllah, and to deepen my love of His Nabi sws. Truth is I have a ways to go. Alhamdilillah, I am recovering more from my laryngitis infection, my voice gets stronger each day. This week I focused on strengthening my recent hifz, so I could recite from the beginning of Maidah until ayah 69. Alhamdlillh, 8 pages to go. There's a new love in my heart these days, it's like a sleeping giant has been awoken and I feel myself climbing up instead of aimlessly wondering "Will I make it with my hifz? or "Oh Allah, plese take me despite of myself." duas
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, āI 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!ā
Week 6:
Not heard from him. May Allah make it easy for him and grant relief.
š If you have any questions, just drop a reply to me and I'll feature the questions and answers in relevant issues.
AllÄh grant us all success and ease on this path!
āļø MOTIVATION, TIPS & TOOLS
A memorizer of the Qurāan once said this to someone; āI recite the Qurāan everyday not because of fear of forgetting my hifdh, but because I will never want to loose my connection with the Qurāan even for a dayā
Your connection, as I always stress, is the most important thing. This is why I produce content for you. I hope all of you maintain a daily relationship and that you pass this down to the next generation.
Do not underestimate this habit.
ā COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES
š Whatās new / recent š
I have created a form for those looking for Hifz Buddies on the groups page - please visit if youāre looking for someone. Iāll either create a database or a tool to help you find someone.
Also looking to make updates to some of the Hifz tools as well some new ones!
After launching āFinding My Halfā and WhatsApp Channel for marriages, Iāve had 13+ submissions so far. I have now opened a Telegram channel upon request.
š¢ š¢ Requests
1ļøā£ 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)
2ļøā£ Those of you that are teaching or have an institute can get listed on the Teachers directory.
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Brought to you by QÄri' Mubashir.