Quran is the miracle sent by Allah to his messenger and his Ummah, that is convenient to every time and place. As Muslims, we are responsible to read and learn our Holy Book, and preserve it in our hearts, so it preserves us back from all bad. The commandment of the Prophet ‘peace be upon him’ is to read regularly. So, make yourself a daily dose of the Quran, even if it is very little (it will increase with time), and do not miss it no matter what happens in your day. 

Memorizing is the first step, but without reviewing and practicing, it will be very easy to forget what you have memorized. And whoever is able to make his first memorization a firm one, there is no fear for him in the future to forget. Memorizing may not be easy for some people. It needs a serious decision and effort. It might be also a struggle with your own self to adapt to a new habit in your life, yet, indeed it is worth it to reach the level of making the Quran your companion. So, to guide you in your memorization journey, we provide you with some tips and steps to take to best memorize the dear Holy Book:

Tips for Memorization:

1. Have the Intention

Make a sincere Niyya and be persistent to start. It might not be easy to take the first step and follow it with a consistent schedule of memorization, but you have to put in the effort and work towards your goal.

If you have an honest intention with Allah, He will facilitate the process for you and will let you enjoy it in all its details. It is important to remove from your heart any intention to show off that you are a Hafiz (memorizer) or just to get an award in this Dunia for what you have memorized. Make your memorization purely for the sake of Allah, and in honor of reviving his words in your heart. Memorize it to understand Allah’s messages for you, and to take it as a way of life, hence applying it in all your life matters. 

From the generosity and the mercy of our creator, He promised us that whoever has the intention to do something, and he dies before completing it, He will be rewarded the same as those who have completed it! And this is enough promise for us to start today and never procrastinate in taking the first step to start the memorization. 

2. Seek Allah’s Help

Have faith that your Dua’a will be answered and ask Allah to help you focus and to facilitate the memorization for you. Be sincere and show Him how thirsty you are to be closer to Him by reading and working by his Holy book. He will guide you to the easiest ways in memorizing, will bless your time and mind, and will purify your beautiful heart.

3. Choose the Best Time and Place 

Dedicating a specific time and place will surely help you in your memorization. Prepare the ambiance and inform your siblings or roommates that this is a sacred time and you need no interruptions. On the other hand, you can choose a quiet, tranquil place to focus. Let it be a comfortable location that affects your soul positively (like the Masjid for example). Make sure you fulfill Wudu ahead and prepare yourself facing the Qibla and covering the Awrah. Put all your focus on the Quran and empty your mind from everything else. 

The best times to memorize are: Before Fajr Prayer Time or After the Fajr Prayer before Dawn and Before the Maghrib Time by half an hour (it is proven that your memory will absorb information best in these times). 

4. Make a Schedule 

Set a time daily or per week for memorizing, another for revision and a monthly time for revision of all memorized Surahs and Ayahs. And do not miss this blessed time no matter what happens in your day or what occurs, because you can always compensate for it. 

5. Choose One Quran Print to Read from 

Sticking to a single consistent copy of the Holy Book throughout your memorization journey will facilitate the process for you  because the shape of verses and chapters will take root in your mind and you will remember them by their position. 

6. Follow up with a Sheikh or a Teacher 

To make sure that your Tajweed is perfected, and to have someone to correct you if you make any mistakes in words or spelling, it is better to recite your memorized chapters to a scholar, especially if you are not an Arabic native speaker. You can always find a guide in Masjids or in Islamic centers, women and men teachers, who will teach you Quran correctly. 

You can also choose a companion to read Quran with, so you encourage each other and challenge yourselves to perform better. 

7. Have a Goal: 

To motivate yourself to memorize, set a goal to finish in a certain period and this depends on the number of Ayahs you choose to memorize on your set times. 

I heard an Imam telling his students about this beautiful way to memorize the Quran easily and smoothly, even with all the life occupations:

Take 15 mins daily to memorize 3 verses only at a time of your choice, whether in the morning, after your work, before you go to bed… In this way, you will memorize more than 1000 verses per year. And after 5 years, 6 months, and 19 days, you will finish memorizing the full Quran. 

Another Sheikh chose the way of memorizing only one page daily, to finish the memorization in only 3 years.

8. Start Little and Grow 

You can start by memorizing one Ayah daily and keep reviewing it. Try to adapt to a certain memorizing habit, to give yourself a push for later and increase your memorization amount, from one Ayah to one Surah and more, in the same period.

9. Begin with Short Surahs then Longer ones 

Start by memorizing Juz’ ‘Amma (Part 30), with the shortest Surahs. Move backward from the final Surah in the Quran, to the last 5 parts (30 to 25), because their surahs are short and mostly read in Salah. Following that, start memorizing the chapters you read often like Surah Al Kahf, Yaseen, Al Waqi'a,… until you fulfill the memorization of the Holy Book. 

10. Review and Recite your Hifz in your Prayer 

Even if you are not memorizing new Ayahs, keep reviewing what you memorized previously. The least you can do is to reread the pages more often to keep them stuck in your memory by using the visual elements. You can also recite the verses in your prayer Raka’at to refresh your memory. 

11. Learn about the Tafseer 

Learning about the Tafseer (meanings of each Ayah), and the reasons behind them, will surely help you in your memorization.  Reading the translation and matching the Arabic words with their meanings could also aid in the learning process. This tip will also help you to understand better each rule and story in the Quran and hence apply it in your life. 

5 Important Steps to Follow while Memorizing a Verse:

1. Read the full page twice (in minimum)

2. Listen to the full page on audio at least 2 times: Choose a reader that warms your heart with his voice and here are some suggestions: Mashari Al Affasy, Muhammad Sadiq Al Manshawi, Abu Bakr Al Shatiri, Mahmoud Al Hussary and many others.  

3. Work on memorizing each Ayah separately. Read the Ayah, listen to it on audio, repeat it at least 5 times while sneak peeking at the printed copy of the Quran only if you forget a word or if you stutter (Some scholars say that you need to repeat the verse 21 times to memorize it and make it stick to your head, so choose the number of repetitions that is convenient to you). 

4. Every time you memorize a new verse, make sure to connect it to the previous one. It is a beneficial way of memorization: The more you repeat, the longer-term preservation is proven. 

5. Write. Yes. Write down the verses. It is said that writing down what you want to memorize is at least 15x more beneficial than reading only. So, you can consider writing the verses that you find difficult to facilitate memorization. 

Before being recorded on paper, the Quran is safeguarded in the hearts. It is a lifestyle and a project for life that will grant you high amounts of Ajer. It is not about the period you spend memorizing the Holy Book, yet it is in how much you perfect it in your heart, and the covenant is to keep reading and reciting even after finishing the memorizing journey.  Give the Quran your full mind, your heart, your pain, and your hope, because in return, it will give you everything.

The more you increase your memorization, the more your knowledge and jurisprudence increase in the religion. To know the virtues of memorizing the Quran, check our previous blog post on the 7 Virtues for Memorizing The Holy Quran.

But always remember that the most important thing is not only to learn but to apply it in all your life matters.

✨ Oh Allah, make us among the people of the Quran and those who are closest to you. Oh Allah, honor us by memorizing it and reaching higher levels in Jannah. ✨