how to memorise the

This is the final part of this series and we will be talking to you about what is known as the mutashaabihaat. From the perspective of the Huffaadh and students of the Qur’aan, this is a name given to the verses of the Qur’aan which resemble one another. Allaah says in the Qur’aan;

اللَّهُ نَزَّلَ أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابًا مُّتَشَابِهًا مَّثَانِيَ

“Allaah has sent down the best statement, a Book (this Qur’aan), its parts resembling each other in goodness and truth, oft repeated.” [az-Zumar 39:23]

There are many examples of them, some are very very similar with only a letter setting them apart whilst others are not so similar. Paying great attention to these verses as you come across them and being fluent in their differences is from one of the distinct signs and proof of how strong your memorisation of the Qur’aan is.

When you come across an aayah that resembles one you have previously memorised, get in to the practice of highlighting the similar aayaat (either the entire aayah or just the part of it which is distinguishes it from the aayah it is similar to) and then on the margin of the Mushaf, get a sharp pencil and write down the reference for the verse/s which it resembles (write both the soorah number and aayah number).

Let’s take an example of two similar verses where the difference is the addition/omission of a letter. The following aayah is from Soorah at-Teen (95:6):

إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ فَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُمَمْنُونٍ

“Save those who believe and do righteous deeds, then they shall have a reward without end (Paradise).”

And it is almost exactly the same as the last aayah from soorah al-Inshiqaaq (84:25):

إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌغَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ

“Save those who believe and do righteous good deeds, for them is a reward that will never come to an end (i.e. Paradise).”

The difference between the two is that the latter has the word لَهُمْ whereas the former adds the letter فَ so it reads فَلَهُمْ. I prefer to highlight only the two distinguishing words rather than the entire aayah, so you would highlight them both and on the margin of soorah al-Inshiqaaq you would reference the aayah in soorah at-Teen and vice-versa.

So you would do this each time you come across similar Aayaat and know that there may be cases where a particular verse is similar to more than one other verse. An example of this is the following three verses from Soorah al-Baqarah, al-A’raaf and Taa-Haa:

وَقُلْنَا اهْبِطُواْ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ

…We said: “Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves…” [al-Baqarah 2:36]

قَالَ اهْبِطُواْ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ

(Allaah) said: “Get down, one of you an enemy to the other…” [al-A'raaf 7:24]

قَالَ اهْبِطَا مِنْهَا جَمِيعًا بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ

(Allaah) said: “Get you down, both of you together, some of you are an enemy to some others…” [Taa-Haa 20:125]

InshaaAllaah, we will soon start posting a series of the mutashaabihaat and highlight for you the ways to remember the differences between similar verses.

It is worth mentioning here that what we discussed in Part 3 concerning the importance of reading the tafseer and translation of the aayaat, is clear when it comes to the mutashaabihaat. And it is a good argument for Qur’aan students to learn the Arabic Language or at the very least, the basics of it.

Today we’ll be covering two points; consolidating and reviewing what you have memorised.
Let’s assume you created a timetable for memorising Juz ‘Amma (the thirtieth Juz) and you have met your target for day 1. The next day you are ready to move on to the next set of Aayaat you have set for yourself. Before starting to memorise any new section, make sure you are 110% solid on your previous day’s section. And as you go along, you will need to regularly review everything you have memorised previously. The importance of reviewing (regularly) cannot be stressed enough. It is easier to memorise the Qur’aan than it is to retain it. This may sound ridiculous to some of you but ask any Haafidh and they will agree with this statement. For this reason, the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam, was reported to have said:

“Secure your memorisation of the Qur’aan, for it escapes more quickly than a camel does from its fetter.” [Saheel al-Bukhaari, #5033, and Saheeh Muslim, #791]
And he also said:

“The likeness of the one who memorizes the Qur’aan is that of the owner of a hobbled camel. If he tends to it regularly, he will keep it, but if he lets it go, he will lose it.” [Saheeh al-Bukhaari, #5031]

Don’t neglect the Qur’aan and slack in constantly reviewing and keeping watch over however much of it you have stored in your heart. The more you do this in the early stages, the stronger you will be as you reach towards completing the Qur’aan. This is very important because as you acquire more of the Qur’aan, the easier it will be for you to be made to forget if you do not review regularly. Its worthwhile having a review timetable just the same way you have a memorisation timetable. InshaaAllaah in a later post, we’ll cover different ways in which you can review your hifdh and why its important to incorporate the different methods in order to make your memorisation more solid.

So, as a final reminder, do not, no matter how tempted you are, move on to memorising a new portion of the Qur’aan if you are weak in the previous section/s you have memorised. This is a rule you should discipline yourself to abide by because if you don’t, you will only find yourself paying the price for it later on down the road. Impatience, hastiness and over-zealousness will only cause you to have to spend time re-memorising previous sections and set you back on your memorisation targets. Nor is it a good sign of your motivation, attentiveness, dedication and respect for Allaah’s Book.