Ease in the Quran Journey

25 Mar Ease in the Quran Journey

Assalamu alaykum!

This week, I’m sharing the perspective of Sh.Eesa and his experience in teaching his daughter memorization. Do read on:

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I was trying to get my daughter Hiba to memorise a quote in English. It was absolutely insane how long it took and how many times it needed to be repeated. And then the process had to be done again the next day too. All for a single sentence! A week later and practising it every day, she still gets it wrong!

But just like we see with all our kids, indeed adults too, it only requires a few minutes and repetitions to memorise a sentence in Arabic whether it’s the Qur’an or a du’a etc – even if one isn’t a native speaker.

The Qur’an has its own special blessing, indeed Allah has made it easy to memorise as He tells us in Surah al-Qamar. But there are a few extra things that make it easier too:

1. Melody: the brain finds it easy to pick up tune, tone and melody, and then it can fit the lyrics into it easier as well. That’s why despite hearing a tune only for a few minutes on the shop radio, you’ll hum it for ages. When we as kids start learning dhikr, du’a and Qur’an in our singy-songy fashion, the melody and rhythm plays a massive part in memorisation. Huge. Especially as we often cannot read/see the text (see point 3). When I was younger, I would utilise the Pak singy-songy memorisation method to memorise hadith. Some folks call this using a “maqam”. The terms are irrelevant, the principle is clear though. When I complete a maqra’ah of hadith, I will always do it in a maqam as opposed to just reading it out, and not just for speed, but for flow and memory as well.
2. Interest: this is either our kids being directly interested in the text, or indirectly interested in the text. Direct interest is difficult for kids because they don’t understand the value or meaning of the Qur’an. But indirect interest is easier because it is associated with rewards like gifts and treats and the feel-good factor, and so they will have more motivation to concentrate and get the job done. This interest also helps them combat the boredom that occurs in continued repetition until it becomes settled into long-term memory.
3. Seeing/Touching: many studies have shown that what you hear, you forget, but what you see you remember. Think of the phone number example. Enough said. That is why even when they’re beginners, to look at the text that is being memorised plays an important role in the game.

In summary:

– we underestimate just how much our younger children can memorise from the Qur’an. WE are lazy, and we don’t push our kids enough either. Once you get started you’ll be amazed how good they are!

– if you want to memorise anything of any sort, remember to write it down, look at it, repeat it loudly, and ideally in some sort of tune. You might find it makes the memorisation process easier.

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By: Sh. Abu Eesa