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

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~ by flanteen on November 16, 2009.