My Hifth Kit

Here I’m going to detail my ‘hifth kit’ which are the things I use for memorising and revising Qur’aan.

1) The Qur’aan

I use this particular muss-haf because it has the start of the next ayat of the next page at the bottom of every page. When revising/memorising it helps me to link better than if it wasn’t there.

Here what I did was go through the special words that occur in the Qur’aan for reading by way of Hafs ‘an ‘Aasim,(most of which you can find here , changes in the pronunciation of raa are found in the rules of raa) and the changes necessary when shortening the maddul munfasil (which you can find here – these are applied in addition to the special words provided there is no clash) and note them in the muss-haf so when reading I don’t have to consult a book or rack my memory

The notes at the top of the page are for normal reading whilst the notes in the margin are specific to qasr ul munfasil.

2) The Qur’aan again

This is a pocket sized muss-haf. It’s not the really small one – a size bigger. I carry it with me when travelling around. I haven’t made any notes in it.

3) Dictionary (of sorts)

This is ‘The Easy Dictionary of The Qur’aan’ which you can download here.

I find it easier to access than a dictionary like Hans Wehr or Mawrid. It is in surah order so if you consult it whilst memorising from the beginning then you will cover all the words. It doesn’t always mention words found in an earlier surah in a later surah which is a slight drawback for those not memorising from the beginning.

4) Qur’aanic Grammar Reference

Mu’jam I’rab Alfaz al Qur’an al Karim

This is one of the most useful books I own. I have another tome which is similar (another grammatical breakdown of the Qur’aan) but the layout is different. This is easier on the eyes and quicker to read.

I find this useful, on occasion, as sometimes I get confused as to the vowel on a letter. Knowing the grammar destroys that sort of confusion totally. You will need a good grasp of Arabic grammar for this book to be of any use so probably not one that everyone will want to rush off and buy. It is a beautiful book.

5) Index of Qur’aanic words

This is an amazing book, much like the grammar reference in how much I am amazed by it and love it. Pick a word, look it up, and it lists all the ayahs that it occurs in and all the variations of it. Very helpful in getting your head around the mutashaabihaat or those ayahs which you get mixed up on.

There is also a book more or less identical to this by Muhammad Fu’aad ‘Abdul Baaqee but I believe the one that I’ve posted pictures of is better since the author mentions a few failings of it and has addressed them in his edition. I have both but would love a pocket sized version, I remember somebody having one but can’t find one to buy

If you don’t have the book, can’t get one or your Arabic isn’t at the level needed for you to make use of this gem then there are alternatives. I haven’t used these sites myself but I came across a thread where somebody said they used them as they didn’t have the book.

http://www.openburhan.com/

http://www.textinmotion.org/

I have used http://www.tanzil.info (thank you sister) and you can perform a word search which brings up all occurrences of what you are searching for.

6) Tajwid Book

Taysirur Rahmani fi Tajwidil Qur’ani by Doctora Su’ad ‘Abdul Hamid. http://www.halqat.com/Book-225.html

This is one of my many Tajwid books. I bought this in Egypt for about £1. I like this book because it goes into lots of detail and has a friendly writing style. I like the way that everything is laid out although the edition is poor (should be hardback with better ink and paper).

For English readers I recommend http://www.abouttajweed.com which is an excellent resource with a great q&a section. There is a 3 part set of books available called Tajweed Rules of the Qur’an which is in my opinion the best that the English language currently offers. The books are comprehensive and detailed and follow the same methodology as the abouttajweed website. Highly recommended.

7) Stories of The Prophets

Qisasun Nabiyyin lil Atfal by Abul Hasan An Nadawi.

A well known text, popular amongst learners of Arabic for its’ simplicity, this is full of Qur’aanic ayahs and tells the stories of the Prophets via them. It serves as a useful aid in gaining a quick insight without too much detail like you would find in a tafseer.

This particular edition by Darus Salam is very good, the paper and ink are great and it also has a question section at the back which earlier editions don’t.

8) Tafseer

Ma’ariful Qur’an by Mufti Muhammad Shafi.

This is my tafseer of choice in English. Very comprehensive, I’d say the most comprehensive available in English (I’ve heard that the tafsir Al Qurtubi has been translated by ‘Aisha Bewley which I would imagine is comprehensive also but I haven’t come across it and it would probably be expensive whereas this isn’t). It is intelligently and well written and the books themselves are of an acceptable quality although not first class. You can download pdfs here.

9) A book specific to similar ayahs in the Qur’aan

I have this in pdf format and I don’t really like the pdf as it isn’t scanned very well and strains your eyes after a while.

The book itself is easy to read and seems thorough although I haven’t ventured far into it, it is interesting.

Available for download here, it is 57.4mb.

10) Miscellaneous

Pictured:

Mechanical pencil with thin lead for making notes and markings in my muss-haf.

A quality eraser for not messing up my muss-haf by erasing the actual letters of the Qu’raan.

A tally counter for keeping track of how many times I have repeated a page or an ayah.

MP3 player for listening to the Qur’an that I have memorised or am to memorise, split into half a juz segments.

That’s all. Of course you could just make do with number 1

Some points on Suratul Baqarah

The following are a few things I jotted down whilst memorising/revising Suratul Baqarah to help me. They are not in any specific order.

Over time the need for anchors like these has diminished as I have become more efficient at memorising and pay less attention to understanding during memorisation as it slows you down. These may not help you except to give you an example of how I make links, they are after all, specific to the workings of my mind. Some came to me whilst memorising, others whilst revising or reciting.

Number One

كتب عليكم القتال و هو كره لكم و عسى أن تكرهوا شيئا و هو خيرلكم و عسى أن تحبوا شيئا و هو شرلكم والله يعلم و أنتم لا تعلمون

Fighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not. (A216)

الله says about fighting و هو كره لكم ‘hateful to you’.

Then الله says you may hate something and it is good for you.

Then الله says you may love something and it is bad for you.

الله doesn’t say hated as:

1. That wouldn’t make sense
   
2. And no effect would be stated otherwise. Effect meaning like ‘this is bad’ ‘this is good’ ‘this is of some benefit’
   

Also worth noting the pairing of hate with good and love with bad.

Number Two

والفتنة أكبر من القتل

And fitnah is greater than killing (A217)

Possible confusion with A191

والفتنة أشد من القتل

And fitnah is worse than killing (A191)

Thing to note is the occurrence of كبير and أكبر shortly before so link to that.

يسئلونك عن الشهر الحرام قتال فيه قل قتال فيه كبير و صد عن سبيل الله و كفر به والمسجد الحرام و إخراج أهله منه أكبر عند الله والفتنة أكبر من القتل

More updates to come إن شاء الله

2

My lessons on the path of learning Quran:

•    Do not underestimate the importance of a partner/company which learns Quran with you: if anything, the one thing which ensured I was learning consistent and quality Quran every week was the fact that I had fixed a time and day weekly to meet my memorisation partner. Alhamdulillah, this motivated me to learn (even if just the day before our meeting) and furthermore, spurred me on to learn more than my partner

•    I have experimented with many methods of learning and I feel this is essential for most memorisers of the Quran as different people are different types of learner (auditory, visual, kinaesthetic, stronger types of memory store: short/long, different levels of complementary knoweldge: Arabic, Islamic)

•    Some of the methods which I tried:

METHOD

– madrassah style, similar to yours splitting an hour session into 3 parts : jadeed, muraaji’ and previously memorised. I found this was good up to a new juz but then became difficult to maintain with more than that

LEARNING STYLE

I tried a few methods in the following order – most of them overlapped in terms of usage

1- reading the Arabic a few times, then reading a translation of the meaning to familiarise myself with it and then return to learning the paras I had selected. This led me to go through extensive thinking to try to recollect the memorised Quran which my Shaykh advised me against.

2- just ratta learning Quran from my own mushaf and repeating again and again – this was good quality but took a long time and was quite monotonous

3- writing the Quran I was to memorise down and then reading it from what had been memorised – this was very effective in memorising Quran but meant I was looking at a number of copies of the Quran – my written version, my personal mushaf and translation

4- listening to the Quran to be memorised but found it too fast to recall and hard to focus on without seeing it visually

5-reading the tafsir of the ayaat to be memorised – in my mind contemplating the words and story, knowing the Arabic words and then the memorisation and connection between ayaat was so much easier – I could learn my weekly amount in a fraction of the time and join it easily to what was previously learnt. The only thing I have found with this as a result of giving it less time is that the quality of memorisation was not as strong as earlier methods.

•    Closing points

- Dont stop learning even for one day as its a door for Shaytaan to stop learning

- Recognise the endgoal and reward

- One of the most important points which I cant underemphasise is the need for self-motivation through the use of rewards just like Allah(SWT) reminds us of Jannah and Jahannum: I found setting myself a reward for:

a) weekly learning goal: this varied from golaabjaman to giving myself personal relax time doing things I enjoyed or in extreme circumstances witholding myself from something I really enjoyed (this was super-effective)

b) learning the whole of Suratul Baqarah: I bought myself a quite expensive gift which really helped me achieve my goal 6 weeks prior to my target date

(shared by a dear brother جزاه الله خيرا)

1

This is what I do. My teacher listens to a juz, then I mark all the mistakes i made in that juz. Then i take a piece of paper and write out all the mistakes (not the whole ayah) but just the word itself, and the page number. Then I try to correct those mistakes by repeating those ayaat several times. Then I read the juz on my own (when I read the ayah which I had a mistake I autmoatically remember not to make that mistake, and recite the correct version), and after finishing the juz, I tick off on the paper which mistakes I have corrected, and I keep looking at the list for a few days to make sure I don’t make those mistakes again. I hope that’s not confusing

anon said this on September 8, 2009 at 8:38 am

جزاه الله خيرا

Written Contributions

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

If anybody has any ideas/input/personal experiences relevant to memorising and revising the Qur’an that they would like to share please contact me, and if appropriate, I would be more than happy to post them in my blog.

جزاك الله خيرا

والسلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Brain Gain! Nootropics

Nootropics are substances used to enhance cognitive function. They are taken by people with memory/attention/thinking problems and Alzheimer’s disease etc…  They are also used for off label reasons such as studying. The reasoning being that if they benefit unhealthy minds then surely they benefit healthy minds too – and they do. The method by which they impart benefit is not known for each substance and varies from increasing brain blood flow (and thereby vital nutrients too) to neurogenesis. They are generally well researched and safe, some more than others. For more information see here and ask Shaykh Google

The effects are quite user specific. Some respond well to ‘x’ whilst others do not. Some work together for a synergistic effect. Some have an instant effect, others take weeks before you notice any benefit. Some are prescription only, depending on where you live, others are not. Before taking Nootropics it is important to have your basics covered.

Your basics are:

Sleep

Diet

B Vitamins

Fish oil

Hydration

Exercise

Once you have these covered you can look into benefitting from Nootropics (Noops from hereon).

There are many different Noops but I will only be reviewing a select few:

Piracetam

Aniracetam

Oxiracetam

Vinpocetine (Periwinkle)

Choline (Bitartrate)

I will also be looking at some supplements that are not classified as Noops:

ALCAR

L Tyrosine

Taurine

I will be posting my experiences of these Noops and other supplements providing feedback specific to memorising and revising the Qur’an since it is different from normal studying. Currently I only have Piracetam, ALCAR, L Tyrosine, Choline Bitartrate and Taurine to hand.

If you live in the UK then you can order from Cerebral Nutrition or Enhancedminds (both the same) and save yourself the hassle of shipping from the US or elsewhere and getting stung by VAT (17.5% of the value of your order), Customs duty and a Royal Mail handling fee – in addition to your shipping costs and worrying about your order.

It is, for some reason, very difficult to source Noops in the UK, however in the US they are widely available with many not even classified as medicinal. For the record, I’m not affiliated with Cerebral Nutrition/Enhanced Minds, nor do I benefit in any way by anybody purchasing from there. I have ordered from there myself and received the order with no problems. The products are affordable and the service is friendly, I intend to shop there again because it is too much hassle ordering from outside of the UK. I enquired about the capsules and was informed that they are Kosher and Halal certified. If you buy bulk powders (more economical) then you will need a digital scale. I suggest that you purchase one that can measure in mg so just go to ebay and search for digital scale 0.001g. They are quite cheap.

As for the other supplements, there are many places you can buy them. I buy from myprotein. If you buy from myprotein and are a first time customer then you can get 5% off your first purchase by entering MP20720 at checkout (this a referral code which all customers get so you may as well use mine! I benefit by getting 1 point, which equals 1p, for every £1 you spend, excluding delivery, woohoo!)

For vitamins, fish oil capsules/gels etc… I buy from Healthspan . They have a Halal range and also a decent number of Vegetarian products.

It is highly recommended to do your own research before taking anything and always take small doses at first, working your way up to a dose that is effective, in small increments. Just google Nootropics and/or read from the many links here.

Qur’an on the outside – Qur’an on the inside

The Qur’an has an interesting effect once memorised. The whole Qur’an doesn’t have to be memorised, rather what is important here is the ongoing effort in memorising and revising – the contact with the Qur’an and internalising it.

What I have noticed is that I am more conscious of my behaviour online and offline. At times it gets rather frustrating. I am a normal person from the UK (born, raised and educated in the UK) and I have many flaws in my character and lots of quirks in my outlook on life, sense of humour, language used, thought patterns, manners of dealing with people etc… in short, everything that makes me ‘me’ is somewhat tainted and can be improved upon. It is a natural consequence of life but a lot of it is at some sort of conflict with the Qur’an and Islamic teachings.

Currently that is having to go under the microscope – all the time. That’s where it can get frustrating. Aside from memorising the Qur’an there is really a lot more to address. So you end with this constant “I shouldn’t have said that”, “I shouldn’t have done that”, “I can’t think like that”, and so on.

Not all of this is a result of understanding the meanings of the Qur’an. A lot of it is from getting a glimpse of what it means to be a memoriser/carrier of the Qur’an.

You see what you essentially do is you put yourself on a pedestal for people to scrutinise. Even if you do not intend it, you are saying loud and clear “I am working on bettering myself”. How? Well a simple example is somebody asking you what you are doing/where you are going? Your reply of “I am memorising Qur’an” or “I am going to the madrasah to memorise Qur’an” has instantly put you in a place, that the vast majority of the time, you are not worthy, nor a good representative, of. If you ever end up in an argument with someone it will be one of the very first things they will pick on. I think this is because they are afraid of reflecting upon themselves and their shortcomings. Seeing you trying to improve yourself and please Allah makes them feel insecure and knocks their ego because your primary concern isn’t financial success, which, I think I can safely say, is what most people measure their worth, and that of others, by.

Perfection is attained by traversing the seeking of it, in and of itself we cannot achieve perfection.

Just something to think about.

 

Linking pages

There are a number of ways to link memorised pages:

1. Link the pages together with 50 – 100 repetitions per weak link, or more if needed, joining the last ayat of one page to the first ayat of the next page and work your way forward.
   
2. Same as above but only link 5 or 10 pages together at a time and then move on to the next 5 or 10 pages covering the ajzaas in this manner.
   
3. Do nothing special and just revise as normal and with time it will be covered.
   
4. Establish links (mental anchors) based on understanding the ayat and context. ***
   
5. Take a short break from that area and move on to a different area for a few days.
   
6. Get someone to test you regularly just on the page endings and beginnings.
   

*** This can be either by memorising the meaning of an Arabic word in those ayat, looking for similar words, similar meanings, reading the tafseer, asbabun nazul, some sort of connection and so on.

Daily update hiatus

There won’t be any more daily updates for the foreseeable future. I may post progress updates on a weekly/fortnightly basis.

I will still be sharing my experiences and thoughts on memorising and revising Qur’an and have a few writings planned which I will share إن شاء الله

Day 46, 47 & 48

Nothing elaborate to report. Heat and revision don’t go together. I have been finding it difficult to sleep at night. Sleep after Fajr is so tasty that I overslept a few times and ended up missing the class. I still put in hours at home but it isn’t the same. I have asked the new lad to give me a couple of missed calls in the morning to help.

I have read from the 2^nd half of juz 2 to the end of juz 3 satisfactorily. Currently I am on the first half of juz 4. I read it today (Thur 02/07/09 Day 48) and I spent lots of time revising it so it was solid but when it came to reading it to Abdul Haq I had so many lapses it was terrible. One of the children sat so close to me that it was annoying and I had to gesture him away – he was nearly in my face! I would really appreciate a coffee or something but alas the system here isn’t like that. I am careful about drinking water at the madrasah to the point that I only drink if I absolutely have to in order to avoid salivating children. I also dress simply due to the same reason, which means that as much as I would love to wear ¾ length shorts and a t-shirt I don’t.

Later, I read some pages from memory after my afternoon sleepathon and I didn’t make the mistakes that I made earlier. Doh!

Today’s performance made me think pragmatically about the ups and downs of hifthing. It also made me sad. But then it also made me remember that the Qur’an is for the duration of my life and memorising it is an excellent way of initiating positive changes in my life. I don’t see why anyone should settle for being the person they are and not actively seek religious improvements. Too many people become complacent and think ‘Well I am praying, and I give some charity, and I’m not as bad as so and so’. These people sell themselves short.

I also thought about the thousands of huffath who are getting ready to/currently revising in order to not embarrass themselves in Ramadan. Forgetting what you know is really sad and regaining it requires hard work. I suppose people get away with it due to not having to read much in one go. A juz a day, or less if you are sharing the prayers, is manageable.

I am a little concerned about Ramadan. If I stay in Pakistan my teacher told me I will be leading the children in tarawih. If I go back to the UK I will have problems finding somewhere to pray. Hmmm.

Revision is interesting. Some ayat come back very quickly, others not so. It is like visiting an old friend in that the familiarity is there and not lost. Very soon the words flow easily like conversation flows between friends. In fact I find the words to flow easier than when initially memorised and with no conscious effort. However sometimes there are not enough hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the month etc… to do what you want. And so life passes you by and your ambitions remain as ambitions.

Next lesson = Re-read juz 4a and start revision of juz 4b. I’ll be referring to the hizb of each juz by ‘a’ and ‘b’ from now on so it matches how I have labelled my mp3s.