Why Memorize?
I have been asked this question many times.
The decision my family and I made to commit so much of our time, effort and resources towards helping our children achieve the goal of memorizing the book of Allah, has left many people around us puzzled.
Why make it such a priority for our children from a young age? Surely, it is enough to be able to read and understand the Quran? Isn’t the focus on memorizing the Quran going to detract from my children’s “other” and more “important” education?
For the parents who take on this commitment to provide this opportunity for their children, it is about setting a certain priority in life. It is about understanding the deeper aspects of our existence and the reality of our final goal and destination. When we make the Quran our focus and priority, many areas of our life are automatically purged of aspects that may be displeasing to Allah. Our children are given the right (and best) start in life.
The child that grows up in the shade of the Quran inevitably has a greater inclination to good character, and a greater attachment to Allah.
The tongue that is preoccupied with the repetition of the words of Allah, is much less likely to utter words that would be displeasing to its Creator and His creation. The heart that finds solace and companionship in the words of Allah, is less likely to be overtaken by diseases of the soul such as hatred, anger, envy, arrogance and excessive love of the material world. The mind that is nourished through understanding the true meaning of submission to Allah, will be made sharp and ready to take on any other challenges that come its way.
No other book in mankind’s history of existence has been committed to memory by large numbers of people, like the Quran. This is, in itself, a miracle of the Quran and a testimony to it being the final and preserved message of Allah to mankind.
The bearers of the Quran – young and old alike – who maintain and preserve what they have memorized, are given the tremendous blessing of being in a state of permanent and constant connection with the words of Allah. They are given the exalted honor of maintaining the tradition of preserving the Quran through its memorization, as was done by the noblest of companions from the beginning of its revelation. They are given the distinction of becoming a part of the chain of transmission that goes back to the Prophet (peace be upon him), Angel Jibreel and eventually the Lord of the Universe.
What greater honor is there?
What is more honorable than being one whose heart, mind and soul are resonating with the magnificent words of the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth? The One who has given us the very life we live? The One to whom our soul will return upon its inevitable departure from this temporal world?
In this submission is the true “secret of success” that our noble predecessors understood and inculcated in their lives so well. It is this “prioritizing” of Allah in their lives and in all their affairs, that enabled them to reach the heights of achievement and honor that seem so distant to us today – both as individuals and as a community.
Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has said:
“Verily, Allah the Exalted has people from among mankind, and the people of the Quran are the People of Allah, and His Chosen Ones.” { Abu Dawood}
“It will be said to the person who memorized the Quran, ‘Read, ascend and recite with slow, rhythmic chanting just as you used to recite in the worldly life. For verily, your position in Paradise will be at the place of the last verse that you recite.’ ”
{Abu Dawood & Tirmidhi}
“Recite the Quran, for verily it will come on the Day of Judgment as an intercessor for those who recited it.” {Muslim}
“The Quran will be brought on the Day of Judgment, along with its people who acted according to it. They will be preceded by surahs, ‘Al Baqarah’ and ‘ Aal Imran’ and these two (surahs) will plead the case of whoever recited them.” {Muslim}”
“The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it.”{Bukhari}
“The one who recites the Quran proficiently will be with the honorable and obedient scribes (the angels)…” {Muslim}
“No people gather in a house of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy covers them, the angels surround them, and Allah mentions them to those who are with Him (the lofty gathering of angels).” {Muslim}
“Whoever recites a letter of the Book of Allah, then he will get a good deed for it, and the good deed will be equal to ten good deeds like it. I am not saying that ‘Alif-Lam-Meem’ is a letter. Rather, ‘Alif’ is a letter, ‘Lam’ is a letter and ‘Meem’ is a letter.” {Tirmidhi}
“If the Quran is gathered in a body (i.e. a person), Allah will not burn him with the Fire.” {Al-Baihaqi}
“Verily, he who does not have anything inside of him of the Quran, is like a demolished house.” {Tirmidhi}
“Indeed, Allah will elevate some people with this book and He will degrade others with it.” {Muslim}
“The people should be lead (in prayer) by the best of them in the recitation of the Book of Allah, the Most High.” {Muslim}
“Whoever goes to the masjid in the morning having no intention except to learn something good or teach it, will have the reward like the person who performs a perfect Hajj.” {Al-Tabaranee}
“Whoever recites the Quran, learns it and acts according to it, will be given a crown of light to wear on the Day of Judgment whose light will be like the sun. His parents will be clothed in two garments that did not exist in this worldly life. So they will say, ‘What has caused us to be clothed (in these garments)?’ It will be said, ‘Your child taking hold of (memorizing) the Quran has caused this.” {Al-Haakim}
“The Quran will come on the Day of Judgment and say, ‘Oh Lord! Adorn him.’ So the person will be made to wear the crown of honor. Then it (the Quran) will say, ‘Oh Lord! Increase him.’ So the person will be made to wear the garment of honor. Then it will say, ‘Oh Lord! Be pleased with him.’ So Allah will be pleased with him. Then it will be said, ‘Recite and ascend.’ And the person will receive an extra good deed for every verse (that he recites of the Quran).” {Tirmidhi}
Khabaab bin Al-Arat (may Allah be pleased with him) said to a man, ” Draw near to Allah as mush as you are able, and know that you will never draw near to Him with anything more beloved to Him than His words (i.e. the Quran).”
Ibn Masood (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ” Whoever loves the Quran, then he loves Allah and His Messenger.” And he also said, “Indeed, this Quran is the banquet of Allah, so take from it as much as you can. For verily, I do not know of anything smaller than a house that does not contain anything of the book of Allah. And verily, the heart that does not contain anything of the Book of Allah is dilapidated just like the rooms of the house in which no one lives.”
As-Suyuti said, “Teaching the children the Quran is a fundamental from the fundamentals of Islam. By it, the child will grow up upon the “fitrah”, and the lights of wisdom will rush to their hearts before the desires are able to settle in them and darken them with the cloudiness of disobedience and misguidance.”
http://studentofthequran.com/why-memorize/
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