Can you read now
Surat Al-Qasas
verse number 55
Suratul-Ahzaab, verse 45.
Surah Taha 73.
The miracle of memorizing the Quran is truly wondrous.
You find that people from a very young age
memorize the whole Quran from cover to cover, meticulously.
And there’s over 6,000 verses in the Quran.
To be able to memorize all of that is truly a miracle.
- One of the miracles that Allah gave to this Ummah
is that he's put in our hearts the love for the Quran.
He's put in our hearts the love for our scripture.
The love that the Muslims have for the Quran
is not the same as other religious groups
have for their scripture.
And the proof of this is that the Quran
is still in its original form.
It's memorized by millions of people.
There's no other book.
- There's never been a book in the history of humanity
that has been memorized and preserved
in the way that the Quran has.
Doesn't matter which corner of the world you go to,
you will find Muslims memorizing,
preserving and reciting the Quran
in the same way that it was revealed
to the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
from Jibreel, from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
- I started studying Quran when I was in Somalia
at a young age and it was the proper culture at the time.
Children will start age of three, age of four
and they will learn the writing of the Quran,
the Usmani script, not the normal Arabic writing.
- In Mauritania, we came across a couple of the students
of the Quran and they would memorize the Quran
on wooden board, if you wanna call it.
They call it al-lawh in Arabic.
They would write the page of the Quran
that they would memorize, and then they would memorize it.
And then when they finished memorizing this page,
and making it very strong, it becomes so strong
that they don't need it anymore.
They basically wash it off the lawh,
the board that they memorize.
So there are different ways of memorizing the Quran
in the West, Mauritania and Morocco,
This is how they do it.
(Quran Recitation in Arabic)
- So after I had become Muslim, I had the opportunity
to meet a few people who had memorized the Quran.
And when I met them, the idea just instantly
came into my heart that I want to do that too.
I didn't know how I was gonna do that.
I remember telling one sister actually,
an Arabic speaking sister,
when I was only like, you know, in my early twenties,
I was telling her I wanna memorize the Quran
by the time I'm 30.
And she actually laughed at me.
Actually, the way I started memorizing the Quran
in the very beginning,
many of you may have seen copies of the Quran
that have the transliteration in them, right?
So I couldn't read Arabic in the beginning,
but I wanted to memorize.
So I used to copy out that transliteration
and then write the English underneath
until I became very familiarized with the Arabic script.
And I slowly moved on to the Arabic script
and started memorizing from that.
But after having taken 20 years to memorize it,
I kind of can see why now she found it quite incredulous
that, you know, I had that goal.
But look, I just was very determined.
I made it my goal that InshaAllah,
I wanna die with this Quran in my heart.
- You want to finish the whole Quran?
- Yeah.
- And why do you want to finish the whole Quran?
- I wanna get the reward of like memorizing the whole Quran
because on the day of the judgment,
my parents will have crowns on their heads,
unlike some other parents.
- I wanna try and finish the Quran
and then I want to be able to teach it
because the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
The best of you are those who learn the Quran
and then teach it.
- Yeah, so, by the Grace of Allah SWT,
actually four of my kids have memorized the Quran.
My eldest, Jamaal, Alhamdulillah,
he finished when he was 14.
- I've got two sons that have memorized the Quran.
I've got six other more children.
- Alhamdulillah, I'm a Hafiz of the Quran
and I've memorized it almost three years ago.
- I memorized the Quran in 2018,
Alhamdulillah.
- The Quran was my life with my kids.
We get to school, 20 minutes, we memorize.
We come from school, 20 minutes.
It was something that I really enjoyed.
- From the time that my children were born,
I had the Quran read to them.
I would read, and I would have a CD player on
for them to listen to the Quran, to familiarize themselves
with the articulation of the Arabic language.
- First Arabic Quran school,
it was in this garage in Australia, maybe 40 years ago.
I get all my children
and the street children, about 19 of them
and I make a school for them here.
I teach them Quran and Arabic in this garage here.
- From a young age, I'd always go to the Mosque
with my grandfather and my dad.
And so, even though I memorized the Quran,
I feel like most of the credit has to go to my dad
because he's the one that showed me how to do things,
when to do things, and why we do things.
- It was my dad's kind of like, dream,
I could say, for me to become a Hafiz.
And of course, you know the importance of becoming a Hafiz,
you know, entering Jannah
and living according to the Quran was, Insha Allah,
the most important point of becoming a Hafiz.
- How does that make you feel when you look at your children
and they can read the Quran?
- Very proud, very proud, said, Alhamdulillah.
I put the seeds and the seeds now make a tree
and the tree make fruit now.
So the birds can eat, people can eat you know.
Everybody get benefit from the good seed.
- I am the proudest mother in the whole world.
And I think I am the happiest mother in the whole world.
Having my two boys and my girls, Alhamdulillah.
I think my life is complete.
If they would give me million dollars,
millions of dollars, or they tell me own Australia (all of it)
or you teach your kids the Quran.
I will still teach my kids the Quran.
I'm very proud of them.
- You know, for me, the greatest joy is, for example,
listening to them as an adult,
you know, going about their daily life,
you know, reciting the Quran wherever they go,
whether in their car or at home.
I think to me, that gives me the greatest joy,
just knowing they've got that for life.
You know, you've given your kids this Quran,
you know, SubhanAllah, for them to have for their life.
- Imam Al-Shatibi, he says in his poem, he says,
"Glad tiding to your parents on them, on the day of judgment,
"will be,
"illuminating clothes of a cloak and a crown."
Then he says after that,
"So what do you think the reward will be
"for the one who actually memorized the Quran?"
- When I first went Turkey, I didn't know much.
I only knew Juz Amma
and they didn't really like, the process of my recitation.
I had days where I would cry because I can't do a page
and you know, not seeing your family for a month or so
was very tough as a kid, as a child.
- You just got to be ready to go through that process.
But like, it is so worth it.
You know, if you can just get over that initial stage.
Yes, it's a lot of hardships
and you might feel frustrated sometimes,
but, just always remember
that the amount of reward that, Insha Allah,
you're gonna get, it will never be lost
with Allah SWT
- The whole journey of memorizing the Quran
it's like the Quran becomes like your best friend.
Wherever you go, the Quran goes with you.
You know, you're holding your mushaf
wherever you go, from class to home.
- So realistically, if you wanna memorize the Quran,
I can say, you need to be able to find
at least one or two hours in your day,
every day to sit and memorize, and revise.
That's the reality.
So you need to be committed to do that.
- I can assure you, my own journey with the Quran
was not without struggles.
I embarked on the journey to attain certification
to teach the Quran and I thought
I'd complete the journey in one year.
And during that time, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blessed me
with three more children in very close time to each other.
So for each of us, the Quran is our personal journey.
- And ultimately, what does Allah look at
when he rewards us?
It's our Ikhlas, you know, our sincerity
and also, you know, how much we've strove to, you know,
to achieve that particular goal.
- And once we, you know, purify our intention
that we are doing this solely
for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
to get closer to him, then, you know, we would succeed.
Not even if we don't complete the journey with the Quran,
as long as we are on that path and we start today,
things will progress Insha Allah.
If it takes a year, 10 years, 20 years,
let the journey continue.
- I also learnt that the level of Jannah you go to
depends on how much you've memorized.
So if you memorize the whole Quran,
then obviously you're gonna go to the best type of Jannah.
- Indeed, the reward in the hereafter
that is promised for those who memorize the book
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is for those who memorize and act upon it,
those who implement.
And the first step to that of course,
is to actually understand the meanings
of what one is reciting.
- So they do memorize, but my husband and myself
encourage them to understand what they are reading
rather than rote memorization.
If we are only memorizing for the sake of memorizing,
we're not getting the true message.
We need to allow those verses to touch our hearts
and transform our lives.
- What that means is that I try to the best of my ability
in all aspects of my life,
to try and find out what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
wants from me in the Quran
and I try to apply that in my life.
- So that's really the process of memorizing,
you know, memorizing but also ensuring
that you're understanding, implementing
and then continually thinking and contemplating to yourself.
That's where you get spirituality.
That's where you get that connection
to the Quran and the connection to Allah.
- You know, memorizing the Quran,
it's a milestone that,
it's a bit hard to explain this.
- I remember the day where I finished my Hafiz.
It was very, very emotional.
You know, becoming a Hafiz after I gave my last page.
My sheikh started to cry, I cried,
and it's just a very good feeling.
- And I remember the day when I finished,
when I finished the last surah of the Quran,
it was very special, it was very special
- When I finished the Quran and memorized,
the most happiest day was that day.
And I still remember because the teacher has to be given
an animal or value of an animal.
And I remember my teacher was given a cow,
the value of a cow not the cow, actually.
And I remember the mu’alim was making dua` for me
and saying that you have graduated.
And I have earned also my cow.
And I never forget that.
- And when we go to meet Allah SWT,
what is your anticipation from this?
- I don't know what to say.
I just ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us
the highest level of Jannah
and ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he knows our intention.
He knows that the goal, that what we want
in life for me and for my children and for all.
And I pray to God that my kids will be a role model
and be an influence for other people
to wanna do the same things
and we all can be in Jannah.
And tell Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, as much as I loved you,
ya Allah, and I loved the Quran,
that's a gift from me, for my kids.
I don't know what to say, I'm just lost for words.