Advice for parents of kids memorizing Al-Quran
by Nawal Academy
Memorizing the entire Qur’an is a dream many Muslim parents
today have for their children. And indeed, this is a goal nobler than many if
not all others. However, after children have memorized a number of surahs and
perhaps even a juz or two of the Qur’an, there is a question that plagues many
parents: how do I know if my child is ready to commit to memorizing the entire
Qur’an?
Parents should be aware that doing hifz of the Qur’an is not
a small task. It requires a tremendous amount of effort, focus, and dedication
on behalf of the student, parent(s), and the teacher. Therefore, when deciding
whether or not to enroll your children in a hifz program, you should make sure
that you, the child, and the teacher are prepared for this huge and blessed
commitment. If the child has a Qur’an teacher, ask the teacher if s/he feels
your child is capable of doing hifz of the Qur’an. If the teacher thinks that
the child indeed has the focus and persistence needed to memorize the Qur’an
and that he does a very good job memorizing surahs, then you may consider
enrolling the child in a hifz program.
However, first you, the parent, must make sure that you are
willing to expend the time and effort needed to support your child during this
endeavor. If not, it may not be best to put this responsibility on the child’s
shoulders. Last, but certainly not least, the child should be asked if he or
she is willing to strive to become a hāfiz or hāfiza. If the child says no,
then the parent should drop the idea, at least until the child is willing to
make this commitment.
Unfortunately, many parents do not follow this advice, which
was given by Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad Naqshbandi Mujaddidi (db), a very well-known
and authentic scholar, hāfiz, and spiritual guide from Pakistan. Parents often
force their children to do hifz, when it is not fard (obligatory) on everyone
to memorize the entire Qur’an. Children should only be enrolled in a hifz
program if they are happy and willing to commit to this blessed task.
Okay, so you decided your child is ready to do start doing
hifz. What next?
After children are enrolled in a hifz class, the children’s
parents and teachers should encourage them and teach him with love, care,
softness, and gentleness. When children are taught by someone with these
characteristics they soar and reach heights they may have never imagined.
In contrast, under no circumstances should the parents or
the teacher beat children for not memorizing or doing well on their lessons.
When parents and teachers show children such harsh behavior, there is a danger
of them losing their desire to recite the Qur’an and love for Islam. How many
students are there who memorized the Qur’an under a harsh teacher and, after
completing the memorization, stopped revising the Qur’an and therefore forgot
what they had worked so hard to memorize? How many huffāzwent on to become
astray and began leading a life of sin? There are unfortunately many such
cases, and often the reason is that those students had been taught the Qur’an
with harshness and force.
It is much better if a child happily memorizes half, or even
a juz, of the Qur’an rather than being beaten and forced into memorizing the
entire Qur’an.
The following are some additional things the parents of hifz
students can do to help their children succeed:
Make du’ā for your child.
Parents’ du’ā for their children is extremely valuable and it is the best gift
you can give them. Allah (swt) is the only one who can truly help a person in
any matter, which of course includes memorizing His Blessed words.
Help and encourage your child to abstain from
sins.
Light and darkness cannot coexist in the same place. Similarly, by nature, the
dazzling radiance of the Qur’an and the darkness of sins simply cannot gather
in one place. Watching movies, missing prayers, listening to music, and
engaging in other sins are displeasing to Allah (swt), and this has a
detrimental impact on both students’ memorization and on their connection with
Allah (swt). However, parents must keep in mind that they should remind
children to abstain from sins with love and softness rather than through fear
and force.
Be a good role model. When
your children see you reading the Qur’an, then they will very likely be
encouraged to do the same, Insha’Allah. The same goes for praying salāh,
engaging in Allah’s (swt) dhikr (remembrance), etc. Engaging in acts of ibādah
causes a person’s soul to grow, very similar to the way food causes a person’s
body to grow. A stronger soul will make it easier for your child to memorize
the Qur’an, Insha’Allah.
Make sure your child is eating the right foods. It is
crucial to make sure that your child consumes only halāl foods. Consumption of
harām foods is of course prohibited, and it may negatively impact a person’s
progress in his or her memorization of the Qur’an. There are several breads,
cereals, etc. that contain harām ingredients and we must be very wary of the
foods that enter our bodies and the bodies of our children. Also, make sure
your children eat nutritious meals, that they maintain a balanced diet, and
that they eat a healthy breakfast before class every morning so that they are
energized for class, Insha’Allah!
Help your child create a schedule. It is
necessary for hifz students to devote at least a few hours every day for their
memorization and revision. It is beneficial to create a set time for this task,
as it will help ensure that neither memorization nor revision ever gets
“skipped.” The times after Fajr and after Maghrib are very blessed times for
memorization and revision, but any time of the day that is convenient will
work, Insha’Allah.
Of course, even if the parents and teacher put their maximum
effort into helping a student, if the student is not willing to strive to
achieve his or her goals, then there will be very little progress. The
following are a few, but not all, of the qualities that should be found in
every student willing to memorize the Qur’an. Some of these qualities come with
time, so if your children are lacking in any of them, then you and their Qur’an
teacher(s) should try your best to patiently and gently instill these qualities
in them. Moreover, if you yourself are a person who is striving to memorize the
Qur’an, check to make sure you are making an effort to obtain the following
qualities:
Sincerity. Hifz students should
recognize that the only reason they are memorizing the Qur’an is to please
Allah (swt). Attaining the pleasure of Allah (swt) is the purpose of every
mu’min’s (believer’s) life, and everything he or she does should be a step
towards that ultimate goal, Insha’Allah.
Devotion. Hifz students must be aware
of the blessing and responsibility that Allah (swt) has gifted them with. They
should recognize that memorizing the Qur’an takes a great amount of time and
effort and they should be willing to expend that time and effort on their
memorization and revision.
Concentration. When hifz students are
memorizing their lessons or revising their previous lessons, they should be
fully concentrating on what they are reading. All distractions should be
eliminated and their attention should be on the blessed words of their Creator.
Self-Discipline.
Although parents are most certainly encouraged to remind and help their
children practice their lessons, hifz students should recognize that this is
their responsibility, given to them by Allah (swt). They should not need
someone to constantly remind them to practice their lessons. They should know
that practicing Qur’an may sometimes mean that they will have to wait a couple
hours before getting to play or engage in other activities, but that they must
finish their memorization and revision before play in order to progress and
reach their goals.
Patience. Hifz students should realize
that some lessons are not as easy as others and that they might not always see
the results of their efforts as soon as they like. Hifz takes time and students
should not become frustrated if they are not reaching their goals quickly. Hifz
students should know that although memorizing may sometimes seem a little
difficult, they should never give up and that their efforts are never done in
vain—for any effort to please Allah (swt) is never done in vain. Hifzstudents
should know that if they keep trying their best to perfect their memorization
of Allah’s (swt) words, Allah (swt) will make it easier for them and allow them
to reach their goals, Insha’Allah.
Gratitude. Allah (swt) says in the
Qur’an: “If you express gratitude, I shall certainly give you more” (14:7).
Although we can never thank Allah (swt) enough for the countless blessings He
bestows upon us, when hifz students are grateful to Allah (swt) for allowing
them to memorize His blessed words, He will Insha’Allah make it easier for them
to memorize the Qur’an. When the great ImāmAbu Hanifa (rah) would understand a
new concept, he would say “alhamdulillah,” and thereafter Allah (swt) would
increase his knowledge. Hifz students should make an effort to constantly thank
Allah (swt) for all the blessings He has given them, particularly this blessing
of memorizing the Qur’an. If possible, they should try to make it a habit to
pray at least two nafl (optional) rak’āt salāt-ul-shukr (prayer of thanks)
every day, Insha’Allah (however, parents should not force their children to
pray these two rak’āt).
Humility. It is natural for students,
children and adults alike, to compare themselves to their peers, and sometimes
students who memorize the Qur’an begin to think of themselves as better than
others. However, it is very important for parents and educators to gently
remind students that this opportunity of memorizing the Qur’an is a gift from
Allah (swt) and that we have no reason to be arrogant because of it. Allah
(swt) does not like arrogance and He can easily take that gift away, God
forbid, and give it to someone else instead. Hifz students should be humble and
should know that the fact that they are memorizing the Qur’an does not
necessarily make them better than their peers. The heavier the fruit, the lower
the branch bows. Similarly, the more knowledge Allah (swt) gives a person, the
more humble the person should become, as we are absolutely nothing compared to
Allah’s (swt) infinite greatness.
Perhaps your child has already completed his or her
memorization of the Qur’an, whether recently or years ago. Or perhaps you have
completed your memorization of the Qur’an. In either case, huffāz must do their
best to maintain a schedule of revision. It takes approximately 10,000 focused
hours to excel in any field [of] the dunya, which means that it will take at
least that much time to excel in a field [of] thedeen. Hence, the time spent
doing the actual memorization is just the formation of the base—the real
excellence in hifz comes much later. Huffāz and their parents alike often
forget the importance of regularly revising the Qur’an after the memorization
has been completed and students get busy with school and other
responsibilities. However, it is crucial for huffāz to remember the gift and
responsibility Allah (swt) has given them and, thus, to continue to
consistently revise the Qur’an for the rest of their lives—which they will
naturally be driven to do if they had a soft, encouraging, gentle, loving, and
caring learning experience, Insha’Allah.
Additionally, huffāz are encouraged to acquire knowledge of
the deen, to teach the Qur’an to others if they get the opportunity, and to
practice upon the Qur’an that Allah (swt) chose their hearts to preserve.
May Allah (swt) keep us on the straight path and
may He make it easy for us and our children to excel in memorizing, retaining,
and practicing upon the Qur’an with love and happiness.
Ameen. (HSH)
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