Transcript | April 2021

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله

This is a transcript of a talk delivered by someone from Cambridge, UK on 27th April 2021, who memorised the Qur’an from beginning to end in 9 months. Allah increase him and grant him barakah in his life.

The guest was invited by Ustādh Tahseen Hamid (London, UK) to speak about his Qur’an journey.

He discusses what his relationship with the Qur’an was like prior to memorising, what sparked his interest, and how he manages his Hifdh revision now that he is in full-time employment. He also briefly discusses memorisation techniques in the Q&A.

Ustādh Tahseen was hosting short, daily discussions in Ramaḍān, focusing on one āyah or a small selection of verses from that day’s Juz'. The guest was invited on Day 15, and so he chose an āyah from Juz' 15. As he was asked to speak about his journey with the Qur’an, he linked the chosen verse to his journey.

Introduction (Ustādh Tahseen Hamid)

Today will be a slightly different session to our usual sessions. Today, we will have with us someone, who I have had the blessing and honour to become acquainted with over the last few months, alhamdulillah. I consider him to be a very close friend ―and I hope he considers me to be similar― and someone I look up to very much. I've always intended since the beginning of Ramadan to have one of these sessions delivered by him because I think his story is quite interesting and beautiful, and I think there's a lot we can learn from it. I thought it would be a shame if this Ramadan went by and we didn't use one of these sessions to benefit from him and his journey and his experience. So, very briefly… I don't want to take away from his time and I'd prefer he shares his own journey, but very briefly…

He recently graduated from the University of Cambridge and has started working at a very reputable consulting firm. In between those two commitments, he took some time out after he graduated. He delayed his start date and spent those months memorising the Quran from beginning to end. He started around mid-May 2020 and finished in mid-February 2021, so about nine months from beginning to end. I think there must be a lot in that journey that we can learn from.

What we'll do is, he will start off sharing some reflections of course from the verse, as we usually do. He will go through Surat al-Israa’ verse number 82 (17:82). Then we'll spend some time discussing his journey and of course there will be an opportunity for Q&A from anyone. I'll hand over to him insha’Allah.

Introduction (Guest)

Assalāmu alaikum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakaatuh (Peace, mercy and blessings be upon you).

JazakAllah Khair for that introduction, Tahseen. I hope you’re all safe and well. I'm truly honoured to be invited by Ustādh Tahseen. He's been too kind to me, to invite me to speak today. I'm not sure I’m deserving of this honour given the calibre of those who preceded me, such as the Shaykh yesterday. However, Tahseen thought it would be a useful exercise for me to share my journey with the Qur’an by narrating my story, and I ask that Allah allows us all to extract some benefit from it.

There are two messages I’d like to convey, and may Allah grant me the ability to communicate it in a way that you understand me.

Number one: It's never too late to start learning the Qur’an; 

Number two: It's a lifelong journey.

 By my count we're on Juz’ 15 today, and Tahseen already introduced the ayah that I'd like to discuss in light of this, which is the first part of verse 82 of Surat al-Isra’:

“And We sent down the Qur’an as a healing and a mercy for the believers.” (17:82)

I apologise I don't have any lexical insights to draw from this ayah as Tahseen normally would do. But I’d like to elaborate on exactly why I chose this ayah towards the end of my story.

Before memorising

I thought it perhaps would be helpful to discuss:

A) My relationship, or rather lack thereof, with the Qur’an 12 months ago;

B) The spark that Allah ignited within me which changed that relationship;

C) The journey itself, and then

D) An open discussion answering any questions you have.

For the first 22 years of my life, it would be an understatement ―and I'm also ashamed to say― that I neglected the Qur’an. It didn't really feature very much in my life beyond reciting Surat al-Kahf every Jumu’ah (Friday), Surah Mulk before sleeping, a khatm (complete recital) when someone passed away, opening the mushaf (Qur’an) and reading a little bit more in Ramadan.

When I was a child, the only time I would engage with the Qur’an was when my parents would tell me to recite it, but nothing came from me. It was a chore, pushed by external factors as opposed to something internal. It reminds me of all the ayat where Allah refers to “Allah guides whom He wills”…  Alhamdulillah, that brings me to the second thing I wanted to discuss, which is the spark that Allah ignited.

The spark

For a bit of contextual background, yes, I’m brown *laughs* but I’ve never actually been to the subcontinent, nor can I speak the language. I was born and grew up in South Africa, and lived there for my early childhood before moving here to the UK.

In August 2019, my dada, paternal grandfather for the non-subcontinental people *laughs* ―I know it's a big diverse group, Mashā’Allah! My dada came to visit us over here in the UK, and although he was not a hafidh (person who has memorised the Qur’an), he was a man of Qur’an. It was not uncommon for him to complete his own personal khatam (complete recital) every month.

What I noticed when he came over here to the UK, was that he was reading a lot more Qur’an than usual. He was completing a khatm pretty much every week. He had just retired earlier in the year, so I just figured he had more time, but I thought I’d ask him, “Now that you've retired, what are you looking for in life?”

He mentioned two things, in passing. It wasn't a long conversation. He said he'd like to see his grandchildren grow up, get married et cetera… But he said it'd be nice to see a grandchild who memorised the Qur’an.

It was a passing comment, nothing major, but the second point really, really hit me.

However, I guess, as tends to be the case, there were enough dunyawi (worldly) distractions to occupy my mind. Job interviews were a key focus in my life at the time.

Fast forward a few months. In the very same week that I received one of my greatest dunyawi successes (a job offer from a management consulting firm), my Dada passed away. In the very same week. May Allah have mercy on him and grant him Firdaus.

As sad as I was (and still am), reflecting back on it now, I honestly believe the timing could not have been more perfect, and I’ll explain why.

For a significant portion of my life, certainly since I was 15, I’ve been a very goal-oriented person ― get good GCSEs to get into a good college; get good A-Levels to get into a good university; get a first to get a good job… I was always working towards the next thing, every single year.

Once I actually got a job, it was the first time in seven years I’d suddenly lost that immediate goal I was working towards. I was fortunate my employer offered me a chance to take 9 months off after graduating. So I drafted a list of things I wanted to do, and it went something like this…

1.     Learn python for data science

2.     Learn mandarin

3.     Study for the GMAT

You get the picture of where I was at that point in time.

But subhānAllah, a friend reached out, at the time when my grandfather passed away, just to offer his condolences. He decided to check up on me a couple months later, asking what I was up to. I told him I had a job offer alhamdulillah, and that I was looking to start in March 2021. I told him my plans and asked him, “What about you, what are your plans?”. I have the habit of flipping the question back at people when asked, though I knew he was also planning to start working at a similar time.

He told me he intended to memorise the Quran.

And it completely stunned me.

As you can probably tell, I don't have a lot of trouble talking (a lot). But at that point, I just didn’t know what to say. I think it was at that specific moment that Allah opened my heart and I realised the opportunity He had provided and sent my way. That brings me to the journey itself, and how this ayah features. 

If you recall, the first lesson I wanted to spotlight was: It's never too late to start. 

I opened the muṣḥaf willingly for the first time 22 years into my life. 

My friend connected me to his teacher who, only after speaking on the phone, I realised was actually his older brother who was with me at school as well! MashāAllah he was hāfidh at the age of eight and spent his pre-university gap year in Medina learning Arabic, as well as the different recitation styles. Now he’s a final year medic. May Allah reward him. It highlighted to me that you can have success both in the dunya and in the deen; they're not mutually exclusive. 

Building on the first lesson, the journey itself. I had to start from the absolute beginning― and I really do mean the beginning. The only Juz’ I knew was Juz’ ‘Amma, but even then, I didn't really know it. 

My tajwid was very, very average. I wasn't saying ―if you forgive the example― I wasn't saying wa la zaaaleen *laughs*, but for example I would struggle with heavy and light letters, articulation points for certain letters like ta, nasality with waw’s and ya’s for ghunna. So there was a lot of tajwid I had to work on. 

I essentially had to relearn it because I didn't have any visualization of Juz’ ‘Amma — I would recite it without thinking. There's a lot to correct and, I mean, I've still got a long way to go. But it's a lifelong journey. I can't recite anywhere near as accurately as Tahseen, and I'm sure many of you. My second takeaway is: Each day, we've got to take it upon ourselves to be better than we were the day before. 

Today’s ayah

You must be wondering, where does the ayah for today feature! I don't know Arabic —I didn’t know at the time and still don't today. InshāAllah that will change.

But my teacher emphasised the importance of reflecting on the ayāt. Don’t just robotically learn for the sake of learning. On this point, he advised me to have a life outside of hifdh, because if it were the only thing I was doing for 9 months solid, I would burn out and risk losing motivation when things weren't going so well, or if it was frustrating. I'm sure anyone who's been on their memorisation journey will tell you there are some pages that you can try and try and try to learn but it’s just not ‘going in’. Other pages come so naturally, alhamdulillah. 

There was nothing more transformational than these past 9 months. It was honestly the most transformational experience of my life. Anyone who’s reflected on the ayat they are reading can attest to this.

There were days where I’d faced difficulties. Something troubled me. And either the ayāt I was memorising, or revising, gave me the answers I so desperately needed to whatever problems or trials I was facing. This is best illustrated with this ayah that I'm going to discuss and I'll end with this example. 

It's quite a personal one, but I think it strongly illustrates the point ― which is why I chose it. 

December last year, there was something I desperately wanted in life. I approached a sister for marriage, and was memorising Surat al-Israa’, ayah 81, at the point where, alhamdulillah, she expressed that she was not interested. Naturally, I was quite devastated and started crying. But I decided to go back to memorising and subhānAllah the very next ayah I read, was this ayah: Ayah 82:

We send down the Quran as healing and mercy to those who believe… (17:82)

At least, that's the first part of the ayah. Never have I experienced such a rollercoaster of emotions. It turned my tears of sadness into tears of joy.

I hope that could have been of some benefit to some of you and I'm happy to answer any questions, or have a general discussion, if there are any talking points from what I've just mentioned.

Q&A

Ustadh Tahseen:

JazakAllah Khairan. Really appreciate that, especially the personal stories as well. If anyone has any questions or anything they'd like to share or ask.. I know there are other huffadh in the chat and I haven't taken permission from anyone so I'm not going to put anyone on the spot, including brothers and sisters, so if you wish or if you're happy to share your own tips and stories, you're welcome to do that insha’Allah. I'll start off. I feel bad I'm not showing my face, let me show my face... There we go.

Guest: Mā shā’ Allah

Ustadh Tahseen: My hair's not as luscious as yours but we'll make do! I'll start off with a quick question. You mentioned that the Quran was a transformational experience while you are memorizing it. I'd like to ask ―and I think everyone else would appreciate this:

 What role has it played since completing memorisation? Especially now that you've started working full-time, and it's quite a demanding role, right? Especially this current project you're on, with long hours, and so we especially appreciate your time today. I guess two questions, slightly unrelated, but…

What role has the Qur’an played in your very corporate life, which is very much a dunya-centered role. What role does the Quran play there, and how has it supported you? 

How do you balance your time with keeping up with the Quran alongside all the other commitments?

Guest: 

Both are very good questions, JazakAllah Khair. I think it's got an even more important role than it did before, which is grounding me, realising the importance of it, realising why I'm doing it, and why I'm working. 

With anything in life, you'll make time for what you find important. As you said, once you start working it consumes your life. But you can make time for anything that you want, and honestly, the moments that I'm reciting the Qur’an are the best moments of the day, and the moments I look forward to the most. Even if it's the break between the meetings, or during a zoom meeting where you can turn the camera off  *laughs* and quickly take out the mushaf. 

With my personality type, I get very consumed by any activity I'm doing―I go all in.  It can therefore be very easy to go down the rabbit hole and work for hours and hours and hours. So with the Qur’an, what I try to do is space it throughout the day, rather than just do it in one block. It provides that relief and detachment from work. 

To your second point about balancing time, I try to have a schedule and stick to that as best as I can. Equally, I understand there will be times where that doesn't necessarily work―either a client meeting comes in the way, or the work is going on later than expected. There are certain times I'll block off. That allows time for consolidation, particularly of my weakest Juz’, which I rushed towards the end just before starting work, so they’re still quite rusty. They need a lot of work to get up to the level that I'd like. So overall, I’d say know your boundaries and communicate that very clearly to your employer. If you don't, work life will very quickly encroach into your personal life.

Ustadh Tahseen:

JazakAllah Khairan. I'll just read out some of the comments and questions. I'll try to be chronological, as that's the only way to be fair I think. A couple of comments are related, maybe you can share your reflections on them. 

‘This must be your most enjoyable Ramadan yet! Has your taraweeh been transformed?’ 

‘The joy of being able to read with the Imam must be amazing.’ 

I think they're quite related. Any thoughts on that? 

Guest:

100 percent! *laughs* I've never looked forward to Ramadān as much as this! 

I've been very, very fortunate. I had to learn through COVID― it would have been different if you could go to a madrasah and actually sit in front of your Ustadh and recite to them. 

As it was all remote, I needed an extra level of accountability, and I was very, very blessed alhamdulillah with my younger brother. He’s currently in university but also started his journey around the same time. However, because he had university, he couldn't focus full-time on it [Hifdh]. He's memorised ten ajza’ over the past year and so it's good to have someone else who I can recite to, to hold me accountable.

In terms of taraweeh, we’re actually just reading it at home within our family, just to practice(!). Leading in a masjid later on requires a bit more confidence. This way, he can get consolidation of his ten ajza’; I can correct him and he can correct me as well, so that aspect has been really lovely, although I do wish I could go to the masjid a bit more, just to listen to the Qaris recite. They can recite a LOT better than me *laughs* ― their voices are much more melodious and their tajweed is a lot better.

Ustadh Tahseen:

JazakAllah Khairan.

How did you prioritise memorising the Quran and correcting tajweed?

Guest:

That's a great question. So I think it’s the 80:20 principle. Focus on the most important things first. My teacher's still working on his tajweed. With any of the sciences, there's almost no end to them, so just understand it’s okay, as long as you are covering the major rules. For tajweed, I wanted to get it out of the way such that, say, 95% of people listening would probably say ‘he's reciting accurately’, so at least I'm adhering to the major rules. There will obviously be other rules which are a bit more nuanced, a bit more advanced, and I think it's good to learn those on the side, but not dedicating as much time to them compared to prioritising memorisation. 

The main focus was to achieve a solid grounding by making sure I was articulating the letters correctly, and adhering to the major rules indicated in the colour-coded mushaf. Those were the two main areas I wanted to at address such that, as I said, if 95% people were listening they'd say, ‘yeah, we think he's reciting accurately,’ whereas someone who's got a more advanced, trained ear could probably pick up on a lot more development areas― I probably couldn't get past the basmalah! *laughs*

After I'd got the ‘major’ tajweed rules on lockdown, or the basic ones, I then shifted to prioritising memorisation and consolidation. Now, alhamdulillah there are intermediate classes― which I'm taking to recite more accurately, closer to the way it's been transmitted down from the Prophet ﷺ.

Ustadh Tahseen:

Did you hit moments that were really difficult on the journey? For example, getting stuck on a particular page, and how did you remain motivated and keep going?

Guest:

Yeah, I'm sure anyone who's done any memorisation can speak to this point about getting stuck! I’m trying to think ― I don't have specific surahs or pages…

There were definitely days where a page would sometimes take two hours to learn. Perhaps it was a page on legal rulings or with many new words, or the construction of the ayat were not ones I was well acquainted with, or it was a change in the style… Some did take a lot longer.

But my teacher reminded me we're human. We're not robots. You can't learn two pages every single day with perfect consistency to a rigid routine. 

If pages were taking longer (e.g. if I'd spent more than three hours), at that point I'd cut my losses. However much I'd done up to that point was where I would stop memorising for that day, and then shift to consolidation of previous material. If that was one and a half pages of new memorisation, or one page, I would stop there. I tried not to get too bogged down or too demotivated if things didn't go my way. 

Ustadh Tahseen:

Someone was asking, did the hair grow with your Hifdh?

Guest:

*laughs*  So it's been about 13 months since I cut it. I got my last haircut literally a week before the very first lockdown. As barbers were closed for such a long time, I thought let's just grow it out. Now I'm just a bit lazy to be honest.

Ustadh Tahseen:

A lot of the time, people are put off by the fact that it usually takes people two to three years to memorise the Qur’an because it's a massive commitment― did you have that in mind when starting?

Guest:

Before starting, so more than a year ago, that was my mentality― 

‘This is not really something for me’  

‘It takes a long time’

‘I've missed the boat, you have to do it when you're younger, when you're 6, 7, 8, 9…’

My intention, for the past year… 

I think you have to set your goal high, and even if you don't meet it, you'll go further than if you set your goal lower.

My intention was to try and memorise the whole Qur’an within the timeframe, but let's say if I hadn't. I would have still been content with memorising 20 ajza’ or 25.

I was also fortunate that there was literally nothing else I could do. Other people in these programs still have school―they’re probably primary school students, high school students, or perhaps they have a part-time job. I was fortunate that it was lockdown. There was nothing else to do. I couldn't even go out, so there was nothing really I could be doing with my time other than procrastinating online. So I was fortunate like that. Alhamdulillah, it didn't factor too much into it at the time when I started, but before starting, it definitely did.

Ustadh Tahseen:

I guess for you, your goal of nine months was particularly strict because you wanted to get it done before you started work, as you knew it would be a lot tougher afterwards. 

Guest:

I still have a long way to go. As I said, my most recent ajza’, I had to really rush to try to get them done, and now it's a period of consolidation. This ties to the second lesson that I want to talk about. It's a lifelong journey. It's not that, ‘okay I can stop reading it now.’ It’s very easy to forget the Qur’an, so it’s about constantly trying to be on top of it, perfect it, bring everything up to the level of al-Fatihah, perfect the tajweed, perhaps even try a different recitation style in a couple of years… The point is, this journey never stops.

Ustadh Tahseen:

JazakumAllah Khairan. A couple of questions I'm going to merge, related to schedule and balancing. I know you touched on it, but just more specifically for university students. The question is:

What would your brother say about memorising during university and trying to balance studying the Qur’an, especially during exam season? What have you observed from your brother's motivation, routine and mindset?

Guest:

Two things:

1.  Prioritise consolidation over memorisation.

2. Memorise over a longer period of time with a small but consistent amount every single day.

During exams, understandably it's going to be trickier.