How to memorize the Quran

I am fascinated with such an amazing website. A guy dedicates himself to teach others Quranic Arabic to master and understand Quran for FREE. He gives so many tips, shares it on his blog and hoping that he could achieve his goal this year that 1000 muslims can learned Quranic Arabic.

But this time I wanted to share tips he wrotes on the blog about how to memorize quran easily. For students, this is really helpful. For those who has joined the workforce, we could still find our ways to follow the tips well.

This hifz technique was taught by the Algerian Shaykh Zakariya al-Siddiqi who teaches at the Institute of Human Sciences in France and is one of the foremost scholars of Quran today.

He memorised it by the age of 9 and dedicated his life to studying and teaching it, and he once told us the story of one of his friends. His friend was an engineering student, who was a ’Fresher’ about to embark on a 5 year degree. Let’s call him Ahmed…

Ahmed was an intelligent student who followed one of the oft-forgotten Sunnah’s of Success…

Quran Memorization Tip 1: Wake Up Early

He woke up earlier than most people. In fact, he woke up on time to get to the Mosque to pray Fajr every day. When he got home from the mosque, instead of busying himself with the internet or watching television, he spent the first few minutes of each day memorising the Quran.

Quran Memorization Tip 2: Each Day Memorise Less Than You Think You Can

Ahmed made a firm commitment to memorise the Quran, but instead of rushing in and trying to memorise one or two pages each day (like his friends who gave up before long), he confined himself to learning 5 lines per day.

This worked out to be about 20-30 minutes per day for him.

Quran Memorization Tip 3: Get Familiar First

In order to overcome the initial unfamiliarity with the new verses, he spent the first few minutes each day actually writing out the 5 lines of that day onto a small sheet of paper.

He spent the next few minutes reciting them over and over, and then attempted to memorise them.

Quran Memorization Tip 4: Keep Today’s Verses Close At Hand

As Ahmed went about his day, he often found that he had a few chunks of time – several minutes each. During these times, such as waiting for the bus, or waiting for a teacher to turn up to a class, Ahmed would try to remember the 5 lines from that morning.

To aid his memory, he kept the sheet that he wrote out that morning folded in his pocket, and would pull it out if he was struggling.

Quran Memorization Tip 5: Use What You Memorise In Every Single Salah

To further support his memory, every prayer he prayed that day, he would recite the same 5 verses of Quran that he learned that morning. In each aka’, he would alternate between the 5 lines from that day, and the 5-10 lines he learned the previous days. And remember…

Quran Memorization Tip 6: Keep Track Of Your Goal

With the Uthmani script of the Quran, there are exactly 15 lines per page. So, by the end of the week, Ahmed had not only memorised 2 whole pages of the Quran, but he had written them out in full, too… a very blessed act if ever there was one.

Quran Memorization Tip 7: Perfect Your Tajweed As You Go

On the weekend, Ahmed would visit a local scholar of Quran recitation, and would revise with him the 2 pages he had just memorised, and have a go at the 2 pages he would be working on the following week. This way, he was certain to learn the Quran with accurate tajweed and beautiful recitation.

There was one other secret to Ahmed’s success.

The Spiritual Secrets Of Successful Memorisation…

Once a week, on a weekend evening (usually on a Friday night), Ahmed would wake up in the middle of the night, and pray Tahajjud. During his special Tahajjud prayer, Ahmed would recite the whole two pages he had learned that week, and consolidate them.

At this point, the Shaykh mentioned that perhaps one of the reasons so few people manage to wake up and do this special prayer, which is highly recommended by the Quran and by our beloved Prophet (saw), is that we don’t have anything to recite.

We have so little Quran memorised that there’s no fun or enjoyment in the challenge of waking up for Tahajjud, and we often find even the fard prayers a ’chore’ instead of a pleasure.

The Results…

You can imagine Ahmed’s excitement and feeling of achievement and success 3 months after he started, when he had memorised the entire 1st Juz!

It’s not just the feeling of success and empowerment that the Quran gave him, but also the deep connection with Allah (SWT) he felt every single day.

You can only imagine how proud he must have felt of himself, when upon graduation Ahmed not only received a 1st class degree in engineering (he was 3rd in his class), but he had also officially memorised the entire Quran. He was a hafidh.

Shaykh Zakariya pointed out a final lesson from this blessed brother.

The biggest achievement he made was not to memorise the Quran. The biggest achievement he made was to be deeply connected with the Quran every single day for 5 years.

That connection with Allah (SWT) is what made Ahmed so special. That deep link with the Creator is what keeps life in perspective and is what helped Ahmed to keep on track with the little weekly targets he set for himself.

One can only imagine what happened to Ahmed’s levels of personal fulfilment, Iman and taqwa, as he went back every single day to develop this ritual of ihsan (spiritual excellence). Each day he woke up for Fajr and wrote out another 5 lines of Quran, his self-esteem and self-confidence soared…

“Can the reward for excellence be anything other than excellence?” Surah Rahman (55: 60)

Harapan yang musnah sekelip mata

Sudah seminggu berlalu semenjak kejadian kebakaran dekat IMR. Yep, sekarang saya menjalani latihan di situ. Saya dipercayai oleh Dr, diberi projek beliau yakni a study of Haemophilus influenaze type b(Hib). Saya sendiri dah jatuh cinta dengan Hib, suasana dekat IMR, kesusahan melakukan PFGE,analysing sequence dan optimising and re-optimising my own PCR for Hib. Even, freezer yang melalak pun saya dah sayang. Tapi apekan daya, semua tu sementara je kan.

Pada 18.4.2011, jam 10.30 pagi, Kak Y masuk ke dlm lab smbil berkata 'kena keluar ade kebakaran'. Mula-mula memang blur, antara nak percaya atau tak sebab tak dengar pulak bunyi fire alarm. Lepas tu kelam kabut bos datang lab kami yang paling hujung. Cepat-cepat suruh kami keluar dari lab, barulah kami semua terhegeh-hegeh. Cepat-cepat aku buka gloves and lab coat. Order sequencing dah dilupakan. Capai bag dan terus bergegas ke tangga emergency. Bila dah sampai kat padang tempat berkumpul tu, barulah fire alarm berbunyi. Padahal ramai dah berkumpul kat padang. Selang beberapa minit, bomba pun datang. Sambil berkumpul tu, tertanya-tanya jugak, dari mana punca kebakaran tu.

Rupa-rupanya dari stor chemical unit nutrition. Betul-betul je atas lab kami. Menggelabah jugak sebab takut keadaan lab nanti jadi teruk. mungkin dah terbakar. Bersyukur sebab kami sempat keluar, terbayang jugak masa tu kalau-kalau ada explosion ke. Ye lah chemical yang terbakar kan..

Lepas sejam menunggu kat padang, kami disuruh menjauhi bangunan tu, sebab udara mungkin tercemar dengan bahan-bahan toksik yang terhasil dari chemical yang terbakar. Lori-lori bomba yang datang pun bukan nya yang biasa, HazMat(Hazardeous Material). Kebakaran chemical tu dipadam pulak dengan HazMat, memang patut sgt lah kami ni kena bergerak jauh. Bau nya pun tengik semacam. Last-last kaki kitorang dah berjalan ke luar dari IMR,, menuju warung nasi ayam depan HKL. Melantak la kejap nasik ayam dengan teh ais. dah sejam melepak dekat warung tu, baru nak bergerak balik. Tapi dapat call masa dekat depan pagar guardhouse, kebakaran semakin teruk. Ramai yg dah balik. Pintu pagar pun ditutup. Orang luar hatta van hospital yg datang nak hantar sample pun terpaksa balik dengan kehampaan. Kami yang tadi ingat nak balik ke IMR semula terus call bos dan mintak kebenaran nak balik. Bos pun bagi. Yahoo! ape lagi kami semua pun half day. Kak E tak bawak turun handbag, sempat capai dompet dgn Handphone je. Nasib baik la dapat capai, kalau tak capai alamat terbako le semuanye.

Keesokan harinya, semua orang datang macam biasa, tapi arahan dari pihak atasan suruh kami semua berkumpul dekat padang macam semalam sebab tak tahu keselamatan untuk naik bangunan tu semula. Dr A memberi taklimat, dan mengumumkan yang bila kebakaran dapat dipadamkan petang semalamnya, semua dah ok. Tapi pada pukul 10 malam semalaam terjadi lagi kebakaran, sampai pukul 4 pagi. Kesian bomba terpaksa lagi datang IMR malam2 buta. Ye la dah la dekat dgn HKL, karang tak pasal2 merebak ke sana. Kebakaran pada waktu malam tu lah yang menyebabkan kerosakan teruk. Major structural damage. Harapan untuk naik sangatlah tipis. Orang2 JKR akan dipanggil untuk menggagak tahap kerosakan bangunan tu. Kami bersurai dan patut berkumpul semula 3 jam selepas itu. Tercangak-cangak semua orang nak cari tempat melepak. Lepas 3 jam menunggu kebosanan, Dr A mengumukan yang sejam yang lalu, kebakaran bermula sekali lagi. Yang peliknya, kebakaran bermula dalam pukul 10 pada setiap kali nak terjadi. Wallahualam jangan pulak ade yang fikir benda2 tak elok. Yang besnya, kami dibenarkan balik awal sekali lagi. Tapi diarahkan untuk datang keesokannya dengan berpakai sukan.

bersambung...

From Beirut to Jerusalem... From my heart to you, Palestinians.

I'. on a verge of deciding to go or not to go for a ToT for Palestine speakers. I have been waiting for such a LONG time for such a thing and now I am hesitating, I don't know why. SO, I planned to read books regarding the Palestine issues to urge my inner will to go for it! And hoping I will still get a place.

Browsing the mini library of our little library in a place I call 'home', I found a book whose owned by an unknown owner. Certainly, I am sure I am allowed to read the book. I was 'eye-ing' the book for some time, but have not manage to have my own copy yet. THe book entitled 'From Beirut to Jerusalem' by Dr Ang Swee Chai is now a book you'll see I'm carrying all the time now. Thanks to the book, now I am at a right pace of reading and looking for more.

What is inside intrigued me. It touches straight to your heart and will never know when you will shed your tears while reading it. It was very emotional although you are reading it from stacks of papers, but Ang had done it well through her writing. I admired her courage to write such a book, of being very open in voicing the truth, proud as she is half Malaysian, and prouder to discover that she discover and fell in love with my brothers and sisters in Palestine. I wonder how much will I ever heard this from a non-Muslim, I should be embarrassed by now, so much that I can't bear of what I called myself as a muslim, but little I had done for my brothers and sisters in Palestine.

Here I quote some of the very touching part of the book.

I started to cry. For the first time I grasped the scale of what had happened. The truth hit me painfully. I had been so busy that I had no time to think. But now, I knew that while we had been trying to save a handful of people in the operating theatres of Gaza hospital, the camp folks(Sabra and Shatila) had been dying by the thousands outside. Besides being shot dead, people were tortured before being killed. They were beaten brutally, electric wires were tied around limbs, eyes were dug out, women were raped, often more than once, children were dynamited alive. Looking at all the broken bodies, I began to think that those who had died quickly were the lucky ones.
The machine-gun rattle that we had heard from the hospital was not fighting between PLO terrorists and Israelis as I had vaguely assumed, but had been the sound of whole families being shot dead in cold blood. The heavy explosive noises we had heard had been the shelling of the camp homes. The camps were completely sealed in by Israeli tanks, and not even a child could sneak put past them. When we asked the two thousand people hiding in Gaza Hospital to run away, they had nowhere to go. So indeed, many of them were murdered later that morning. People full of hope an d life were now just mutilated corpses. These were the folks who after months of bombardment had come back from the bomb shelters to live in the camps. They had ben so optimistic just a few days ago. They had believed the promises of the USA and other powerful nations that they would be left in peace, if the PLO left. They all thought they were being promised a chance of life.
I had watched them rebuilding their shattered lives and homes just a few days before. I had spoken to women sho had watched their sons,brothers, and husbands being evacuated with the PLO under the peace agreement and then had taken the guns they left behind to surrender them to the Lebanese Army or throw them away on the rubbish dump. I had eaten in their homes and had drunk Arabic coffee with them. My surgical skills had enabled me to treat a few people, to save them so that they could be sent out into the streets, unarmed, to be shot down again, this time, successfully. I hated my own ignorance which had deceived me into believing that we all had a real hope of peace in Sabra and Shatila,a real chance of a new life. Like everyone else from the West, I thought things would be all right once the PLO left. I thought they were the ones whose presence caused all the attacks on the camps.
I had thought the old people could retire when the PLO went, and the children could grow up - instead of having bullets put through their heads, and having their throats slit. I was a fool, a real fool. It had never occurred to me that this would happen. It was a grim moment. I felt forsaken by God, by men, by a world without a conscience. How could little children suffer the agony and the terror of watching scenes of torture, of their loved ones being killed, of their homes being blown up or bulldozed over. For these children, the mental scars, the psychological wounds would probably never heal. It was one thing to die suddenly. It was entirely different to watch loved ones being tortured and killed, while awaiting one's own turn.

I feel like...

Aku rasa hendak berlari... tanpa henti
Aku rasa nak terbang tinggi... tanpa ada hadnya lagi
Aku rasa mahu hilang... tanpa ada yang menyedari
Aku rasa aku mahu semua yang aku rasa

Bertanggungjawab... satu tabiat, bukan sifat

Setelah sekian lama menyepi dari dunia blogging, tiba-tiba jari ni rasa gatal nak menulis. The title says it all. Saya tak perlu lagi nak jelas kan panjang2. Kita dilahirkan di dunia bukan dengan sedia adanya kita mempunyai rasa tanggungjawab. Tapi rasa tanggungjawab akan datang bila sampai masanya kita faham yang ianya satu kewajipan. Ada orang lambat, ada orang cepat.

Tapi yang uniknya, kita kena tahu, rasa tanggungjawab ini boleh dipupuk. Jadi sebab itu saya kata ianya tabiat, bukannya sifat seseorang. Kalau sifat tu kan macam kita dilahirkan dengan sifat lemah lembut, penyayang, atau tegas dan baran.

Semua orang tak suka dengan orang yang tak bertanggungjawab. Pendek kata benci sangat. Siapa suka lelaki yang pandang buat anak saja, tapi tak bertanggungjawab dalam menjaga anak? Siapa suka ketua yang pandai nak arah orang saja, tapi tak reti nak bertanggungjawab mengurus hal-hal orang yang dipimpin? Siapa suka dengan guru yang hanya pandai mengomel, tapi tak bertanggungjawab dalam mendidik anak murid dengan betul? Siapa suka pada orang yang hanya pandai menegur, tapi padahal diri sendiri tak bertanggungjawab pada apa yang diperkatakannya? Siapa suka? Siapa? Siapa?

Jawap nya.. Tak ada SESIAPA pun.

.....Jadi salah akukah?

mode: bingung...

Di mana kah TAUFIQ ku?

Ramadhan telah pergi.

Begitu juga empat bulan yang lalu.

Semalam ketika duduk sila kami, bait kata seorang ukhti menjadi pembuka selera iman kami.

"Sempena aidilfitri, kita 'sepatutnya' kembali kepada fitrah"(Ayat yg selalu diguna ketika aidilfitri tiba)

....

"Kita sudah tidak sama seperti dahulu. Iman dan taqwa yg kita peroleh dalam bulan itulah bekalan buat 11 bulan yang akan datang. Setiap tahun kita akan berubah, dan pastinya kita SUDAH TIDAK SAMA SEPERTI DULU"

Aku terkedu di situ...

Alhamdulillah. Hati terjentik. Mudah-mudahan kotoran yang membenak di hati terhakis sedikit walaupun jentikan tidak sekuat jirusan 'air'.

Surah al-Insan dibelek semula setelah kurang lebih 2 bulan melalui tafsir surah itu. Bacaan pada petang sebelum duduk sila yang dihadam sedikit demi sedikit me'refresh' semula iman. Namun, ketika duduk sila, hadamannya lain.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

[هَلْ أَتَى عَلَى الإِنسَـنِ حِينٌ مّنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْئاً مَّذْكُوراً- إِنَّا خَلَقْنَا الإِنسَـنَ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ نَّبْتَلِيهِ فَجَعَلْنَـهُ سَمِيعاً بَصِيراً- إِنَّا هَدَيْنَـهُ السَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِراً وَإِمَّا كَفُوراً-]

(1. Has there not been over man a period of time, when he was not a thing worth mentioning) (2. Verily, We have created man from Nutfah Amshaj, in order to try him, so, We made him hearer and seer.) (3. Verily, We guided him to the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful.)

3 ayat di atas sudah cukup mengambil satu malam, buat muhasabah diri. Buat bekalan iman dan jentikan jiwa-jiwa yang dahagakan ilmu Kalamullah.

Ayat pertama adalah sebagai peringatan. Siapalah manusia ini tanpa adanya Allah. Sebelum kewujudan kita, WE ARE NOTHING. NOTHING! Tak layak disebut langsung. Namun, hari ini, saya dan awak adalah saya dan awak. Kita dipanggil manusia,Insan, atau Ali, Siti dan sbgnya.

Lalu, Allah sekali lagi mengingatkan kita. Kita ini adalah dari Nutfah Amshaj(campuran). Campuran air mani. Dari sesuatu yang hina, walhal kalau jatuh ke tanah, tak dipatuk dek ayam, tak disodok dek itik.
Dari sesuatu sel yang halus...Lalu, kita disempurnakan kejadian, menjadi fetus,lalu kepada manusia yang serba lengkap.... sehingga dapat MELIHAT dan MENDENGAR.

Deria mendengar dan melihat adalah komponen penting yang membawa kepada kefahaman. Kita mendengar seruan dakwah. Kita mendengar azan dilaungkan. Kita mendengar khutbah. Kita melihat keadaan umat yang merana hari ini. Kita melihat akibat berpalingnya dari Islam.

Kenapa perlunya semua ini? Sakit mata memandang, bosan telinga mendengar...
Jadi, untuk apa?

".....in order to try him, so, We made him hearer and seer.(76:2)"

الَّذِى خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَوةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلاً وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ-
Who has created death and life that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving (67:2)

Supaya manusia itu diuji kehidupannya dengan dua deria itu.......Ya, saya sedang diuji. Begitu juga kamu, kamu dan kamu......

﴿إِنَّا هَدَيْنَـهُ السَّبِيلَ

(Verily, We guided to him the way,) meaning, `We explained it to him, made it clear to him and showed it to him.'

Setelah Allah mengurniakan rangsangan, Dia jualah yang menunjukkan jalan. Menjelaskan dua jalan yang berbeza sebagai cara untuk bertindak balas terhadap rangsanganya.

Bagi orang2 yang bersyukur, Allah telah mengurniakan mereka TAUFIQ.

Apakah TAUFIQ?

Hidayah 'kapel'nya adalah taufiq. Beruntunglah orang yg mendapat hidayah, tetapi lebih beruntung bagi sesiapa yg mendapat hidayah dan taufiq. Kerana taufiq itu bermakna kekuatan dalam menyambut hidayah. Kebanyakan manusia telah disogok dengan hidayah dari Allah dalam pelbagai cara. Secara langsung mahupun tidak langsung. Ibarat hujan membasahi bumi. Hidayah itu bercucuran di mana-mana. Namun, daya kekuatan dan keupayaan mencari mahupun menghadam hidayah, tidak mudah diperoleh.

Inilah persoalan iman, yang selalu membuatku terkedu dan termenung.

Ya. Cukup 3 ayat.





Ya Allah, kurniakanlah taufiq kepada kami, benarkan kami menyuci diri, benarkan hati selalu dibasahi dengan iman..

NuMb..... not by linkinpark this time okay...

dua minggu.

jangka masa yg agak lama.
utk perasaan ini begitu membelenggu
benci bila kata-kata telah dimakbulkan.
i hate it when i felt so numb inside.
and really hate it when i know why i deserve that.
but in stead i should be grateful

because i discover love in searching the way back.....

and the most important thing, i realized that i had made mistakes

p/s: i am not referring to linkinpark's song by the way