how to memorise the

Imam Abu al-Khayr ibn al-Jazari said: “Reliance upon the memorization of hearts and breasts for the transmittal of the Qur’an rather than upon volumes and books, is the noblest specialty which Allah gave to this Community.”

The men and women Companions known as the memorizers of Qur’an (al-qurra’) were:

1-4. The Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs. However, Abu Bakr and `Umar died before memorizing it completely, while `Uthman and `Ali were among those who gathered (jama`a) the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him. `Uthman was one of those who used to recite the entire Qur’an in one day and night.

5. `Abd Allah ibn Mas`ud — Allah be well-pleased with him — one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him.

6. Salim, Mawla Abi Hudhayfa — Allah be well-pleased with him — one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him.

7. Mu`adh ibn Jabal — Allah be well-pleased with him — one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him.

8. Ubay ibn Ka`b — Allah be well-pleased with him — one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him. He would recite it all in eight days.

9. Zayd ibn Thabit — Allah be well-pleased with him — one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him.

10. Abu Zayd — Allah be well-pleased with him — one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him.

11. Abu al-Darda’ — Allah be well-pleased with him– one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him. His class in the mosque of Damascus counted 1,600 students, each ten with one monitor. If a student made a mistake the monitor corrected him, and if the monitor made a mistake Abu al-Darda’ corrected him.

12. Abu Musa al-Ash`ari — Allah be well-pleased with him — one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him.

13. `Abd Allah ibn `Amr ibn al-`As — Allah be well-pleased with him. He was ordered by the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him — to recite it in no less than seven days.

14. Talha ibn `Ubayd Allah — Allah be well-pleased with him.

15. Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas — Allah be well-pleased with him.

16. Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman — Allah be well-pleased with him.

17. Abu Hurayra — Allah be well-pleased with him. He was examined by Ubay.

18. `Abd Allah ibn al-Sa’ib — Allah be well-pleased with him. He was examined by Ubay.

19. `Abd Allah ibn `Umar — Allah be well-pleased with him — one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him.

20. `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas — Allah be well-pleased with him. He was examined by Ubay.

21. `Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr — Allah be well-pleased with him.

22. `A’isha bint Abi Bakr — Allah be well-pleased with her.

23. Hafsa bint `Umar — Allah be well-pleased with her.

24. Umm Salama — Allah be well-pleased with her.

25. `Ubada ibn al-Samit — Allah be well-pleased with him.

26. Mu`adh Abu Halima — Allah be well-pleased with him.

27. Mujammi` ibn Jariya — Allah be well-pleased with him.

28. Fadala ibn `Ubayd — Allah be well-pleased with him.

29. Maslama ibn Mukhallad — Allah be well-pleased with him.

30. Anas ibn Malik — Allah be well-pleased with him.

31. Umm Waraqa bint `Abd Allah ibn al-Harith — Allah be well-pleased with her.

32. Abu Umama al-Bahili — Allah be well-pleased with him.

33. `Utba ibn `Amir — Allah be well-pleased with him — one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him.

34. Tamim al-Dari — Allah be well-pleased with him — one of those who gathered the Qur’an in the time of the Prophet — Allah bless and greet him — and who used to recite the entire Qur’an in one day and night.

When the above are added to the seventy Ansar who were killed in the battle of Yamama against Musaylima the Arch-Liar, and who were all memorizers of the Qur’an (qurra’) [Bukhari and Muslim], the number of the Companions who had memorized the Qur’an rises to over a hundred. This number excludes the numerous Companions — whether named or unnamed — whose status of memorizers did not reach us through isnad, as well as the women of both the Muhajirin and the Ansar. All of this memorizing was mass-transmitted. The numbers of the next generations, of course, keep rising exponentially in identical fashion of transmission, and praise belongs to Allah.

Sources:

1. al-Nawawi, al-Tibyan fi Adab Hamala al-Qur’an (p. 31);

2. al-Dhahabi, Tabaqat al-Qurra’ (1:24-50)

3. al-Suyuti, al-Itqan fi `Ulum al-Qur’an (1:70-72);

4. al-Zarkashi, al-Burhan fi `Ulum al-Qur’an (1:241-243);

5. Nur al-Din `Itr, `Ulum al-Qur’an al-Karim (p. 164-166).

Extracted from: http://companionofquran.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/companions-memorizers-of-quran/

Shaykh Mustafa Ismaa’eel is deemed by many as the greatest of all recitors. He was the teacher of Muhammad Siddeeq al-Minshaawy and the latter was the teacher of ‘Abdul-Baasit ‘Abdus-Sammad.

The love for the Holy Book and a determination to memorize it enabled a Saudi to overcome age and other barriers to fulfill a life’s ambition. Though he was above 70, Abdullah Muhammad Musa was able to memorize the Holy Qur’an and graduate with honors from the Qur’an Memorization Group for Adults at King Abdul Aziz Mosque here. He scored an average of 91 percent.
“When I was young, I memorized two chapters of the Holy Book but later forgot them completely, carried away by the cares of life,” Musa told Arab News. He, however, made it clear that his love for the Qur’an was always there and it was this love that pushed him to fulfill his dream at such an advanced age. He joined the special courses being held at mosques during the evenings for old men. “This gave old people like me and employees a chance to learn the Book of Allah,” he said. Musa said he began memorizing the Qur’an at King Abdul Aziz Mosque where he was able to learn 10 chapters by heart. “At first I faced great difficulty in pronunciation and Tajweed but was later able to overcome these problems,” he recalled.
He later joined the Qur’an memorization circle at Salah Karamah Mosque where he memorized all the 30 chapters of the Holy Book in two and a half years. “I used to memorize two to three pages every day during the day and in the evenings I would go to King Abdul Aziz Mosque to revise about two chapters of the Holy Book,” he said. Musa said without the encouragement and assistance from his wife and sons his quest to learn the Qur’an would have been unfulfilled. Despite his age, Musa walked daily for about six km from his house to the two mosques where he studied the Qur’an.
Muhammad Humaidan | Arab News JEDDAH:

Source: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§… KEN=77460159