In this third part of the series, we’re going to talk to you about the importance of learning the meaning and tafseer of the Aayaat.
As the majority of you probably do not speak Arabic, it would be extremely useful for you if you learnt the meaning behind the verses you are memorising and read their tafseer. This is a great tool for strengthening your memorisation and for helping to increase the presence and concentration of your heart whilst reciting and memorising the Book of Allaah. If whilst reciting a section you have memorised, you find yourself stuck at a particular aayah and are not sure what is coming next, knowing the meaning can help trigger your memory. And as there are many parts of the Qur’aan that narrate stories from past nations, it aids your memorisation when you understand and know the narrative.
The way to do this is to read the translation of the verses you are memorising before you start to memorise the new section, one verse at a time and its corresponding Arabic text. Try to compare the Arabic and English sentences and connect words that you know in Arabic to the English meaning. Also, if there is a specific word in the verse that will help remind you should you be made to forget, try to learn the word in Arabic.
In addition to this, should you choose to, you can read the tafseer of the verses. An abridged version of the Tafseer of Ibn Katheer has been completely translated into the English language in a ten volume set and is available at all good Islamic bookshops. This is very beneficial reading for any Muslim towards understanding the revelation of Allaah but even more so for the student of the Qur’aan.
Some of you may ask, ‘I don’t know Arabic anyway, so what is the point of me learning the English meaning in order to remember the Arabic Aayaat?’ This can be answered from two angles. Firstly, it is desirable for the student of the Qur’aan and its memoriser to have a basic understanding of the Arabic Language and the Qur’aan is the source, manual and explanation of this beautiful language. There are many verses of the Qur’aan in which making a mistake as simple as replacing a kasrah with a fathah can cause you to alter the meaning of the verse so much so that you would be uttering a statement of kufr (disbelief). An example of this is in Soorah al-Baqarah, verse 124 where Allaah says:
وَإِذِ ابْتَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا قَالَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِي قَالَ لاَ يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ
And (remember) when the Lord of Ibraaheem (Abraham) [i.e., Allaah] tried him with (certain) Commands, which he fulfilled. He (Allaah) said (to him), “Verily, I am going to make you a leader (Prophet) of mankind.” [Ibraaheem (Abraham)] said, “And of my offspring (to make leaders).” (Allaah) said, “My Covenant (Prophethood, etc.) includes not Dhaalimoon (polytheists and wrong-doers).”
Mixing up the fatha on the letter meem in إِبْرَاهِيمَ (so that it reads Ibraaheemu) and dhamma on the letter ba in رَبُّهُ (so that it reads rabbahu) renders you to change the meaning of the verse to:
And (remember) when Ibraaheem tried his Lord….
This is a statement of kufr as Allaah is above being tested by any of His creation. This is a slightly complex example and mistakes concerning the vowels on the letters can be complicated for even those who have studied the Arabic language in detail.
But there are simpler examples which involve omitting prepositions and pronouns or mixing up letters such as replacing ta for ya in the word ta’lamu (you know) so that it reads ya’lamu (he knows).
Another good point for learning the tafseer and reading the translation is that the more you memorise of the Qur’aan, the more you will encounter Aayaat of very similar wording and this can make you confused but if you have a strong understanding of the verses, you will be able to distinguish the differences.
In time you will find that through applying this tip, you will increase in your knowledge of the Arabic language by acquiring a lot of vocabulary.
On a final note, please don’t put yourself in difficulty by trying to memorise the English translation as this isn’t something that we can see any benefit in. Even if you were to do it, you would eventually reach a point where you cannot continue because the English language and translation of the Qur’aan doesn’t retain the rhythmic and poetic flow of the original Arabic. So it is arguably impossible to memorise the English translation of the entire Qur’aan. If you are thinking of doing this, we would advise you to rather spend that time to learn the basics of Arabic as this will be much more useful to you.