In part one, we covered the two ways in which you can go about memorising. Today we’ll look at how to draw up a timetable so you go about your memorisation according to a well structured plan.
Get yourself a pen and paper and sit down with your mushaf and a calendar and formulate a day to day memorisation timetable that outlines the exact number of aayaat you will be memorising for that day and the date by which you aim to complete it. We suggest you make a timetable for the Juz you are starting on and once you complete that Juz, spend two weeks or so consolidating that Juz before drawing up another timetable and starting to memorise the next Juz. If the following Juz starts or ends in the middle of a soorah, then set up your timetable so that you complete the whole of that soorah too. For example, the 27th Juz starts halfway in Soorah adh-Dhaariyaat, so you would draw up your timetable to include the whole of Soorah adh-Dhaariyaat not just the portion that is included in that Juz.
If you know that you are weak at motivating and disciplining yourself, ask a close friend or family member to help you by giving them your timetable and asking them to monitor you and to make sure that you are meeting your targets.
Please note that it is important for you to set yourself realistic targets and are aware of your limitations. Do not over-load your memory because this will only cause you to forget it. As the famous saying goes, ‘Whoever tries to acquire knowledge quickly, he loses it quickly’. Also, remember not to set up a timetable that spans a large chunk of the Qur’aan. The reason we advise you to draw it up Juz by Juz is because you will find initially it takes you longer to memorise because it is new for you but once you have several ajzaa under your belt, you’ll be able to memorise twice as much as what you were memorising before. And this is from the beauty and wonders of the Qur’aan that the more you memorise, the easier it becomes for you to memorise. Indeed Allaah has said in the Qur’aan,
وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ
And We have indeed made the Qur’aan easy to understand and remember, then is there any that will remember (or receive admonition)? [Al-Qamar 54:17]
Here is a sample timetable for Juz Tabaarak (the 29th Juz of the Qur’aan) for you to look at.
