Memorizing the Quran as adults
By Tayyaba Syed
Nov/Dec 2023
Many companions of the Prophet (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) memorized the Quran as adults. They were accepting Islam, learning it, and memorizing the Quran simultaneously.
We usually think that only children memorize it. When I reflect on what role I want the Quran to play in my life, I first have to remember that I grew up without it. Thus there is 20 years’ worth of lost time I feel like I need to make up.
When I was expecting my eldest, I got a job teaching Islamic studies to a group of young girls. I was embarrassed to admit how little of the Quran I knew by heart compared to them, but they inspired me. I had learned that the Quran you recite out loud while the fetus is in utero can help the child eventually memorize it. It’s worth a shot, I thought.
That summer I memorized the four Qul (Chapters 109, 112, 113, 114) and that winter, at 23, I completed my first reading of the entire Quran. To my surprise, my daughter was born shortly thereafter — seven weeks early. Little did I know that this 4.5 pound preemie the size of my hand was already carrying the Quran in her little heart.
It’s Not a Race
Both of my teens took their time completing hifz (memorization). My husband’s upbringing and relationship with the Quran was completely the opposite of mine. He had taken a gap year between high school and college to formally memorize the Quran, but found it hard to do in such a short time. So for our children, we decided to take a more traditional approach: enabling them to pursue hifz by prioritizing the creation of a solid and sound lifelong relationship with the Quran. We found teachers and programs that taught them how to build fluency and recite with proper pronunciation. To stress this undertaking’s importance, we’ve continued our own Quran journeys alongside them.
We assumed hifz would happen organically. Our children were good memorizers, so we encouraged them. I still remember driving with my daughter, then probably around 10, one day. She had been memorizing part time for two years. She said, “You and Baba didn’t ask me if I wanted to do hifz.”
Silence.
Of course, what I wanted to do was steer right off the road in shock. Deciding not to react, I heard her say, “But I’m glad that you did. I don’t think I would have chosen this for myself.” Okay, I could breathe again.
Shahzain Kureishy from Dallas actually cried when his parents said he was going to start hifz full time. He and his older brother had already memorized a few sections part time, and his parents felt they were ready to transition. However, all Kureishy could think about was leaving all his friends behind. Aged 10, he was just coming out of elementary school and looking forward to starting middle school.
“It was a really big change and adjustment,” recalls Kureishy, 27. “We had super long hours in the masjid from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, plus five hours on Saturdays with homeschooling incorporated in between. Day in and day out we did the same thing, and it was very intense.”
After each section, he would think, Wow. I finished that, only to realize how much he still had left to do. There were times he would get discouraged and felt like it was too hard, but he did not give up.
“Sometimes I wasn’t allowed to move forward [in my memorization], because I had to solidify what I already knew,” shares Kureishy, who now works in digital marketing. “As a kid, that can be hard and affects your self-confidence. Overall, it took me 2.5 years to complete hifz, and I am grateful that my parents pushed me to do it. I made good friends, learned so much about my religion and developed the ability to read the Quran with fluency and proper tajwid (pronunciation).”
One aspect of hifz that Kureishy found stressful, though, was leading tarawih prayers during Ramadan. It was a lot of pressure and responsibility, but he states that he appreciated the opportunity to practice what he had memorized.
Women and Hifz
Since women don’t have to lead tarawih, some may consider this a reason not to pursue hifz. However, a woman’s relationship with the Quran can impact generations to come. The mother’s lap is the first madrasa for the child, so the Quran has to be an intricate part of it.
Sarah Othman, the mother of four, had no intention of teaching her children the Quran; however, she became their first hifz teacher while working on her own memorization. Once she completed it this year, aged 31, she found herself teaching international students online as well.
“[It] was part of my life from age 5 until secondary school,” says Othman, who lives in Alexandria, Egypt. “Unfortunately, with the pressures of [secular] studies, I decided to leave the Quran until I entered university. It was the wrong decision, of course, as the Quran does not conflict at all with studies, but helps. In college, I saw my friends completing the Quran while studying, and I felt so much regret for not continuing it. I then decided to restart after motherhood and promised myself that I would continue whatever the circumstances. Now I can’t believe how many doors have opened, and not only do I get to teach my own kids, but so many others abroad as well, alhamdullilah.”
Tasneem Paruk from Cape Town, South Africa, has also been memorizing the Quran along with her children. Her hifz journey began when she was ten. Twenty-two years later, she’s still working on it.
“My mom would take me at 5 a.m. to a not-so-safe part of town for my Quran class,” Paruk remembers. “In that one year, I didn’t even memorize one juz, but that desire never left me. It’s hard to find female Quran teachers here, though, so my 6-year-old and I are memorizing with the same teacher,” she chuckles. “We still practice in the car together on the way to her school.”
Paruk suffered severe postpartum depression after her second pregnancy and found grounding and healing through the Quran. Even though she finds memorizing to be challenging with a new 1.5-year-old son, she’s managed to commit almost a third of it to memory.
“I have to get up two hours before everyone wakes up and stay up two hours after everyone goes to sleep to focus,” Paruk shares, “but memorization is not my end goal. It is just the starting point of my journey. I want to continue learning my deen, so I am giving myself two to three more years of memorization and then continue my religious studies further, insha Allah.”
From both Othman and Paruk’s examples, we see that there is never a “right” time to start memorizing. Sayeeda Hikmat, 24, of Bloomingdale, Ill., says to just go for it.
Keep Intentions Pure
“A lot of individuals worry about lack of time to memorize, that it will take a long time or think they can do it later in life,” notes Hikmat, who completed her hifz during her teens over a span of five years. “But you will surprise yourself how much you can do if you are just consistent. Memorizing the Quran teaches you discipline and good habit-building. The process brings you blessings on repeat, so you might as well get started anytime. Keep your intentions purely for Allah, and He will always make a way for you.”
Personally, I’m still working on improving my recitation skills but managing to memorize chapters I never thought I’d be able to. My children quiz me, and that keeps us all grounded and humble. We shouldn’t limit ourselves and think we’re too old. What’s the excuse? We’re just standing in our own way. A friend of mine recently asked me how she can support her daughters in their new hifz journey, and I suggested that she start memorizing as well.
It doesn’t matter how much we memorize, but that we stay consistent and persistent. When was the last time you tried to memorize a few verses? If you don’t have time to sit and memorize, just listen or repeat until it’s embedded in your cells. It’s the Word of God, so make it part of your essence. Find the teachers to listen to you recite, the ones who will encourage you, be patient with you, believe in you and cheer you on. A few years ago, I met a woman in her 60s who had finished memorizing the Quran. Yes, it is possible, or at least I can face my Lord saying I tried to “read…read in the Name of my Lord.”
Tayyaba Syed, a multiple award-winning author, journalist, and Islamic studies teacher, conducts literary and faith-based presentations for all ages and is an elected member of her local school district’s board of education in Illinois, where she lives with her husband and three children. Learn more at www.tayyabasyed.com.
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