how to memorise the

An Interview with Umm Saalih, A Grandmother Who Completed Memorizing the Qur’aan at Eighty-Two Years Old

As Read by Dr. Saleh as Saleh (May Allah have Mercy upon him)

Al-Hamdulillaah (All-Praise is due to Allah), the One Who said (what means): “And in truth We have made the Qur’aan easy to remember; but is there any that remembers?” (Surah 54: 32)

Many all over the world memorize the Qur’aan, and it is not strange to see the youth memorizing the Noble Qur’aan and an early age. Al-Hamdulillaah, the One who made the Qur’aan easy for remembrance, had made it easy for Umm Saalih age 82. In an interview with Umm Saalih, she was asked the following questions:

Q1: “What was the reason that drove you to memorize the Qur’aan after so many years?”

She said, “I always hoped to memorize the Qur’aan from the time I was young. My father always used to invoke Allaah for me to become one of the memorizers of the Qur’aan, like himself and like the elder brothers of my family who memorized it. So I memorized in the beginning about three parts and then after I completed the age of thirteen, I got married and became busy with the household and the children. After I had seven children, my husband died. They (the children) were all young so I took the time to raise them and educate them, and then after they grew up and got married, I had more time for myself. Therefore, the first thing I directed myself to focus upon was the Qur’aan.

Q2: “Tell us about your journey with the Noble Qur’aan.”

She said, “My younger daughter was going to high school and she was the closest of my children to me and the most beloved, because she stayed with me after her older sisters got married and got busy with their lives, and because she was a quiet girl, upright, loving, and good. In addition, she was interested in learning the Noble Qur’aan, and her teachers encouraged her.

Furthermore, she was very enthusiastic and always told me of many women who were driven by this great motivation to memorize the Qur’aan, and this is where I started.”

Q3: “Tell me about your way of memorization.”

She said, “We assigned ten verses (meaning her and her daughter who was going to high school). So each day after Asr, we used to sit together. She reads and I repeat after her three times. Then she explains the meaning to me, and after a while, she repeats that three times. On the next morning, she repeats them to me before she goes to school.

She recorded also the recitations of Ash Shaykh al Husary, Rahimuhullaah, repeating each verse three times and thus I continued to listen most of the time. Therefore, the next day we would go to the next ten verses if my memorization was good. Otherwise, we would postpone taking additional verses until the day after. Moreover, we assigned the day of Friday to review the memorizations of the entire week. And this was the journey from the beginning.”

Then she said, “Over four years and a half, I memorized twelve juz” according to the way I described to you. Then this young daughter got married. When her husband knew of our task concerning the memorization, he rented a house close to me, close to my house, so that he could allow the continuation of the memorization. In addition, he, May Allah reward him used to encourage us and sometimes sit with us listening, explaining and teaching.

Then after three years of her marriage, my daughter got busy with the children and the household and our schedule was interrupted, but that did not make her give up. To the contrary, she sensed that my eagerness for the memorization was still established so she looked for a special good teacher to continue the journey under her supervision. So, I completed the memorization by the success of Allaah and my daughter is still working to finish the memorization of the Glorious Qur’aan. She has a little left, In Shaa Allaah Ta’aala.

Q4: “This motivation of yours, did it have an effect on other women around you?”

She said, “It really had a good strong effect. My daughters and stepdaughters were all encouraged and worked on learning and teaching the Qur’aan to their children and learning it themselves.

Q5: “After finishing the Noble Qur’aan, don’t you think about working on memorizing hadith?”

She said, “Now I have memorized ninety hadith and In Shaa Allaah I will continue the journey. I depend, in my memorization, upon the tapes and upon the Qur’aan radio station. At the end of each week, my daughter comes and checks for me the memorization of three hadith, and I am trying now to memorize more.

Q6: “Over this period of memorization of the Qur’aan, did your life change? Was it affected in one way or another?”

She said, “Yes, I went through a major change and I tried always, all praise is due to Allaah, to obey Allaah before I started the memorization. However, after I started the task of memorization, I began to feel a self-comfort, a great self-comfort and all worries began to move away from me. I even reached the stage of freeing myself from all these excessive worries concerning fearing for the children and their affairs, and my morale was boosted.

I had a noble objective to work for and this is a great Ni’mah (Favor) from Allaah . upon me, since we know that some women, when they get old and they do not have a husband, and their children got married, may be destroyed by the empty time, thoughts, worries, and so forth. But, AlHamdulillaah, I didn’t go through this and I made myself busy with a great task and a great objective.

Q7: “Didn’t you think at one point, to join one of the circles focusing on teaching the Noble Qur’aan?”
The answer was, “Yes, some of the women suggested this to me, but I am a woman who got used to staying at home, and I don’t like to go out everyday, and Al Hamdulillaah, my daughter sufficed me from all difficulty and I was so happy while I was learning from her. My daughter had set an example in goodness and righteousness which we rarely find in our days.

She started this task and journey with me while she was an adolescent and this is a critical age many people complain of. She used to pressure herself so that she could have spare time to teach me, and she used to teach me with kindness and wisdom. Her husband was a good help to her and he exerted a lot of effort. I ask Allaah . to give them success and to bring their children up on uprightness.”

Q8: “What do you say to a woman of your age who wishes to learn and memorize the Qur’aan yet she is worried about it and feeling unable to?”

She said, “I say to her there their shall be no despair with the firm, sincere and truthful determination. Begin with sincerity, firm determination and dependence on Allaah at each time. And remember that at this age you should have the time for yourself. However, do not use your time to only go out or to sleep and so forth. Rather, busy yourself with righteous work.

Q9: “Now what would you say to a woman who is still young? What would you advise her?”

She, may Allaah preserve her, said: “Preserve Allaah and He will preserve you. Make use of the favor of Allaah bestowed upon you from health and ways and means of comfort. Use that to memorize the Book of Allaah. This is the light which enlivens your heart, your life and your grave after you die.

And if you have a mother then exert the effort to teach her, and there is no better favor upon a mother than one of her righteous children aiding her to be close to Allaah.”

Presented on the 1st of Muharram 1426, Feb 10th 2005. Originally published in Ad-Da’wah Magazine, no.1552, 17th of Rabee’ Al-Awwal 1417,corresponding to Aug 1, 1996.

Source: Dr Saaleh as-Saaleh’s (rahmatullaahi ‘alayhi) website www.understand-islam.net

I found a small Arabic e-book a couple of years back, titled ‘How to memorise the Qur’aan in one Month’. At the time, I remember reading the title and thinking, ‘One month?! That’s impossible!’  I skimmed the pages of the PDF file but never read it until I completed my own memorisation. In the e-book, there were several accounts of how others managed to complete their hifdh but one story touched and inspired me a great deal. It is the story of a married sister by the name Umm Zayd who despite the responsibilities of housework, looking after children and tending to her husband’s needs, managed to memorise the entire Qur’aan under unique circumstances. I will briefly narrate her story to you in the hope that it will instil within you the encouragement and drive to achieve similar to what she did.

Umm Zayd doesn’t mention when she started her journey towards memorising the Qur’aan but she mentions how she felt the task would be unattainable and extremely difficult. She says she never dreamt in her wildest dreams that she would ever complete memorising the entire Qur’aan. When she first started to memorise, she began with Soorah al-Baqarah and Aali-‘Imraan, thinking they would be the hardest and take the longest. Her memorisation of these two chapters was extremely prolonged and lasted 7 years.

During one Ramadhaan, her husband told her that he would be spending the last fifteen remaining days performing I’tikaaf (seclusion) in the Haram (Makkah). This was difficult for Umm Zayd as she would be left alone with her four sons and they lived in a remote place, far away from family and friends, and the few neighbours she had did not mingle and preferred to keep to themselves. So when the time came for her husband to travel, she says, “I raised my hands to the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful and supplicated with a supplication of one in distress and tears poured from me, O My Lord, You are the Most Merciful of those who show mercy. Grant me righteous companions who are more virtuous than me so that I may (strive to) be like them and so that they may be for me the best of companions.” So Allaah answered her du’aa quickly. Whilst sitting in front of her computer one day, she came across an online academy for memorisers of the Qur’aan and at the time she did not realise that her entering this website was the answer to her supplication but she says she entered the website in a state of sadness and when she left, she was in a completely different state to that which she was when she entered. She met through this online academy the best of sisters who inspired her with their striving to reach this noble goal. She says, “There were sisters there who had memorised the Qur’aan in three days and (here) I was, in seven years I haven’t managed to memorise anything other than two chapters!” So Allaah removed Umm Zayd’s sadness and replaced it with a new found spirit and she said to herself, this Ramadhaan will be different from previous ones. She decided she would strive her utmost to complete memorising the Qur’aan in the last ten blessed days.

Umm Zayd reminded herself of the various ahaadeeth speaking of the virtues and rewards of the memorisers of the Qur’aan, those who are the best of mankind and who have gained the pleasure of Allaah and His abundant blessings! She wrote all these things down and placed them with her mushaf, which was to be her close companion on this journey.

She performed wudhoo (ablution), sat down and opened the mushaf. She began by placing her trust in Allaah and repeating out loudly the verse from the Qur’aan, ‘And We have indeed made the Qur’aan easy to understand and remember, then is there any that will remember (or receive admonition)?’ (Soorah al-Qamar 54:17). She set herself a target of memorising one page in ten minutes and so she memorised, page after page and each time she completed one page, Umm Zayd supplicated to Allaah to make firm her memorisation and said, “O My Lord, I commit to you what you have taught me so guard it for me.” She began to memorise from the time of Dhuhaa up until 2.30pm in the afternoon. She took a short break and returned to memorising up until close to the time of ‘Ishaa prayer. By the end of the day, she had memorised three juz!! Glory be to Allaah who grants these great blessings but unfortunately we do not know how to show due gratitude!

After six days, she had completed memorising twelve juz and started to contemplate whether she should continue memorising or review what she had covered so far. She sought the advice of the sisters she met via the online academy and they encouraged her to continue memorising. She looked forward to the return of her husband and for ‘Eed day to come, when she will have two joys; the joy of completing the fast of Ramadhaan and the joy of completing her memorisation.

But Allaah brought upon her trials to test her resolve and the sincerity of her intention; was she going to give in to the tests or would she continue to achieve her goal? On one particular day, she only managed to memorise two pages, not because she was unable to do so but because she became extremely busied by many things. Amongst them were that all her four sons fell ill with an extreme fever and she was awakened throughout the hours of the night tending to them, especially her youngest child who wept profusely. Then by the Will of Allaah, Umm Zayd herself fell ill but she did not stop memorising. She strove to do as much as she could until Allaah cured them all and kept saying to herself, “I will complete it soon InshaaAllaah.”

Their remained for her only ten juz to memorise and by the grace of Allaah, she memorised them quickly and easily. On the final day, she woke up that morning having dreamt a beautiful dream that this would be the day she completed memorising the Qur’aan and she was filled with immense joy. She had three juz remaining and by now, she was able to memorise an entire page in five to eight minutes. At 9pm that night, she completed her memorisation and she tells of how she was overcome with strange feelings and emotions, the like of which she had never experienced before, nor could she describe to the readers in words.

When she read the final verse, she threw herself onto the ground and prostrated a prostration of thankfulness, weeping out of happiness that she was finally carrying the Qur’aan in her chest. She thanked Allaah for granting her the ability to do so before death approached her and she hurried to share this happiness with her husband.

At the end of her account, she gives some final words of advice saying, “I am a woman like any other woman. I have a husband and children and they study in select schools known for their demanding curriculums and teaching methods. I memorised the Qur’aan without neglecting any of my duties and responsibilities, I put my children and (helping them with) their education first, and always hastened to do what would please my husband without falling short in giving him his rights and always fulfilled my obligations completely. And to Allaah is all Praise. O you mothers! By Allaah! Do not ever make excuses for your not memorising the Qur’aan. So how about those young girls who are not married and do not have such responsibilities upon them?”

She goes on to say, “When I thought that Soorah al-Baqarah and Aali ‘Imraan would be hard to memorise and take a long time, Allaah gave me that which I thought, for my memorisation of these two chapters was extremely prolonged. It took 7 years because I did not have good thoughts but when I placed my trust in Allaah and thought well of Him, and said I will memorise the entire Qur’aan in a short space of time, Allaah honoured me with the memorisation of His Book and made it easy for me….O you who wishes to memorise the Qur’aan! Place your trust in Allaah and be true and sincere and have good thoughts about Allaah that He will direct and facilitate that for you, for By Allaah, you will find that (you will reach that goal) quickly.”

Taken from: http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=24165

After Umm Al-Sa’ad completed her memorization of the Quran at the age of 15 she went to the Shaykha Nafeesa bint Abu Al-Alaa, who was known as “The Shaykha of her time” to request from her to learn the 10 Qira’aat (recitations). Nafeesa agreed on an peculiar condition; that Umm Al-Sa’ad never marry. She used to refuse to teach girls because they would marry, become busy, and neglect the Quran.

What was even more amazing was that Umm Al-Sa’ad accepted the condition from her Shaykha who was known for her strictness and harshness against those whom she did not feel were proper for this honorable task. But Umm Al-Sa’ad was encouraged by the fact that her Shaykha herself had never married, even though there were many of the great scholars who had sought her hand, and she died in that state while in her eighties, having secluded herself to the Qur’aan!

Umm Al-Sa’ad said, ” It is from the blessings of my Lord that anyone who has obtained an ijaaza in the Qur’aan, in any Qiraa’ah, in Alexandria either received it directly from me (munaawala) or from someone whom I had given an ijaaza to. ”

And what proved her unique status was that she was the only woman to whom recitors and huffaadh (memorisers) of the Qur’aan would travel to receive ijaaza in the ten qira’aat.

Umm Al-Sa’ad Ali Najm,age 77, is considered to be the most well known woman in the world of recitations of the Qur’aan. The only woman to specialize in the ten qira’aat, and has spent over fifty years granting ijaazas in the ten qira’aat.

Waves of people could be seen entering and leaving her humble apartment, students who dreamed of memorizing the Qur’aan, comprised of different age groups and both genders.

Classes for the women and girls would begin from 8 AM until 2 PM after which the classes for men and boys would start until 8 PM. Umm Al-Sa’ad would continue all day with no breaks except for salah and a light meal to sustain her.

Umm Al-Sa’ad was born into a poor family in a town called Bandaariya, one of the towns of the larger city Munofiya (north of Cairo). She was afflicted by blindness shortly after her first year and, as was the practice of many in rural areas in dealing with blindness, her family sent her to learn the Qur’aan. She completed her memorization in Alexandria at the age of 15. She then completed the memorization of the ten recitations of the Qur’aan from Shaykha Nafeesa when she had reached the age of 23.

Umm Al-Sa’ad mentioned that when she had completed her memorization of the qira’aat the number of huffaadh were few. Families used to request from her, as they had requested from her Shaykha before her, to recite Qur’aan for them at occasions and religious festivals. It was acceptable at that time for a woman to recite the Qur’aan with tajweed in the presence of men who- as she recounted- used to praise her recitation and the beauty of her tajweed. She mentioned however that this practice disappeared after Qur’aanic recitors became widespread, as well as the spread of radios and televisions, and the most that could be done by a female recitor now is to recite at occasions that were female only. She believed that the real reason for this however was the belief that had increased in the recent years that the voice of the woman is ‘awrah.

Many different types of people would return to her, seeking the completion of the Qur’an or ijaazah in a Qiraa’ah, from all ages and levels in society. In a day she would teach old and young students, men and women, engineers, doctors, teachers, university professors, college students, high school students, etc.

She would single out for each student a time, not more than an hour in a day, in which the student would recite what they had memorized and she would correct their mistakes bit by bit, until they memorize the Qur’aan in one of it’s qira’aat.

Umm Al-Sa’ad once commented:

“Sixty years of memorizing the Qur’aan and it’s recitations has made me unable to forget any of it. I can recall every ayah, it’s surah and its juz, I know the ayaat that are similar (mutashaabih) and how to recite the same ayah in different qira’aat. I feel like I know the Qur’aan like my name, I cannot imagine forgetting a letter of it or making a mistake in it. I don’t know anything other than the Qur’aan and its recitations. I never learned a science, listened to a lecture, or memorized anything other than the Qur’aan and the mutoon that were related to the Qur’aan and tajweed. I don’t know anything other than that.”

Her students:

When asked about her students Umm Al-Sa’ad said:

“I remember every one of them, there were some who received Ijaaza in one of the recitations, and there were some (and they were very few) who received ijaaza in all ten recitations. They are the ones who receive an ijaaza with a special seal that I have that I always keep with me, I never give it to anyone no matter how much I have trust in them.”

The happiest days for Umm Al-Sa’ad are the days of khatma, when she would grant a student an ijaaza, even though she has experienced this day over 300 times! She keeps a copy of every ijaaza, the most recent one being to a sister in the recitation of Qaloon from Naafi’.

On the day of khatma, a waleema is normally done, or a tea party with sweets. The student who is receiving the ijaaza normally gives a gift to the Shaykha; a jilbaab, a ring, golden earrings, all according to what they can afford. As for the most beautiful gift that the Shaykha received was a Hajj and ‘Umrah trip accompanied with being hosted in Saudia for an entire year! The best part of the trip, after the hajj and ‘umrah, was that she reviewed the Qur’aan, and granted ijaazas in all ten recitations to students from all over the world; Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Sudan, Palestine, Lebanon, Chad, Afghanistan…

The most beloved of those ijaazas that she granted was to a student from Saudi Arabia who received it when she was seventeen years old!

The wives of her students become jealous…

And from the most interesting things that Umm Al-Sa’ad recounts is that some of the wives of her students became jealous and fearful that she might “snatch” their husbands. Especially since their husbands would continually speak about their Shaykha with pride and endearment. To the extent that some of the wives would accompany their husbands to the class to ensure that their fear had no real cause, for the Shaykha was old and blind!

“And some of the men hesitated to recite to me considering that I’m a woman, and some refused, but Shaykh Muhammad Isma’eel (the most well known shaykh of the Salafi Da’wah in Alexandria) gave a fatwa that they could when he learned of my age, and he sent his entire family to me to recite to me!”

And what about her marriage?

When she was asked about the closest student to her, she replied “My husband, Shaykh Muhammad Fareed Nu’maan.”

Shaykh Muhammad Fareed, who- before his death some years ago-was the most well known recitor on Alexandria radio. He was also the first one to receive an ijaaza from Umm Al-Sa’ad.

She said about the story of her marriage, “I was not able to keep my promise to my Shaykha Nafeesa. He used to recite to me the Qur’aan in all ten recitations, I became comfortable with him, and he was like me in that he was blind and memorized the Qur’aan at an early age. I taught him for five years, and when he finished he asked me for my hand in marriage and I accepted.”

She was married to him for forty years and had no children.

But she had students who were huffaadh and recitors of the Qur’aan, so all praise is due to Allaah.

She commentated on that saying, “Alhamdullilah, I feel like Allaah chooses for me the good always. Maybe if I had children I would have become busy with them and neglected the Qur’aan or forgot it.”

Adapted from http://ahlalhdeeth.com/vb/showthread.php?t=34855

Umm Al-Sa’ad Rahimahallaah passed away to the Mercy of her Lord in 2006.

You can listen to what Shaykh Muhammad Isma’eel (the one who gave the fatwa to study with her) said at her passing here.

http://www.islamway.com/?iw_s=Lesso…lesson_id=56469