WHY TO MEMORIZE QUR\u2019AN
\nIt has been said here and there, \u2018why should we memorize Qur\u2019an?\u2019 Those who address this question differ in their way of thinking and even in their goals.
\nSome of them are earnestly saying, \u2018Qur\u2019an is for understanding and acting, not for memorizing!\u2019. So they think that memorizing Qur\u2019an is useless.
\nOthers ironically say, \u2018A tape recorder can recite Qur\u2019an by heart too, so what urges us to try the difficulty of memorizing Qur\u2019an.\u2019
\nKnowing that some of our blossoms have memorized Qur\u2019an, another group say, \u2018That lays pressure on kids\u2019 minds.\u2019 So this group think that memorizing Qur\u2019an makes children\u2019s minds tired, and hence they object it seriously.
\nHowever, these questions are still addressed and looking for reasonable answers.
\n* It is definite that Qur\u2019an is for understanding and acting, and none of the memorizers can reject that. But reading Qur\u2019an and even looking at its words and lines are recommended in several traditions and have a lot of spiritual effects.
\nHence this question is delivered, \u2018If just looking at the lines of Qur\u2019an is considered a kind of worshiping with a lot of spiritual advantages, so what about those who try to memorize Qur\u2019an with difficulty sometimes?\u2019
\nImam Sadiq (as) says, \u2018Who tries to memorize Qur\u2019an with difficulty and lack of memorizing-ability is going to have double rewards.\u2019 (2)
\nMemorizing Qur\u2019an was honored by the Prophet (sw) and the infallible Imams (as), and memorizers were respected and highly regarded by them to the extent that the Prophet appointed, once, the one who had memorized more verses of the Qur\u2019an as a commander in one of his wars. (3)
\nQur\u2019an memorizer has a very high divine rank that is unconceivable and indescribable.
\nThe Prophet (sw) said, \u201cThe number of the steps of Paradise is equal to the number of the verses of the Qur\u2019an, so when the memorizer of the Qur\u2019an enters Paradise, he will be told, \u2018Go up and read\u2019, as for each verse one step, thus there will never be a step higher than that of the Qur\u2019an memorizer.\u201d
\nConsidering these sayings, we find that although understanding Qur\u2019an and following its teachings, and consequently mounting the highest tops of humanity are the central goals, but religious figures and leaders highly regarded the memorization of the Qur\u2019an due to its infinite advantages.
\n** Comparing Qur\u2019an memorizer to a recorder tape is not correct, because Qur\u2019an memorizers are moving on a learning path in which memorizing Qur\u2019an is just a start and first step on this difficult way.
\nSo having this knowledge is the first step which is going to be followed by understanding, acting, analyzing and so on, and that is what can not be done by a tape or a recorder. Besides a tape recorder or even a computer are not always available and satisfying, but when the Qur\u2019an is inside a creative human mind, then it could be used everywhere and anytime. It is the human being who can process the information in seconds to bring tens of verses to the mind and help the memorizer and the others in the right moment.
\nInformatics scientists have acknowledged that even a developed super computer system cannot be compared to a small piece of the complex structure of the human brain:
\n“\u0641\u062a\u0628\u0627\u0631\u0643 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647 \u0623\u062d\u0633\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u062e\u0627\u0644\u0642\u064a\u0646”
\n\u201cSo blessed be Allah, the best of creators.\u201d (4)
\nBut the most important thing is the feature of the Qur\u2019an itself when it emphasizes on thinking, reasoning and knowledge-importance that prevents the memorizer from staying just like a tape recorder, rather each time the memorizer repeats the verses and finds himself in front of a book calling him to knowing and thinking, he will go on this way far from parrot-mimicking.
\nProfessor Henry Corbon, the French scholar, says:
\nIf the ideas of Muhammad are mythological and his Qur\u2019an is not a divine revelation, then he will never dare to call humanity for knowledge. No man or ideology has ever called to knowledge to the extent Muhammad and the Qur\u2019an have done, to the degree that talking about knowledge, thinking and mind have been repeated in the Qur\u2019an 905 times.
\n*** \u2018Learning in youngness is like engraving on stones\u2019 because it settles and never leaves. This view reflects the importance of learning in childhood. Certainly overloading children\u2019s minds is wrong and no body can approve it. Actually teaching children requires special skills, and every body wants to teach children and youth should have a complete knowledge concerning the correct methods of teaching this age group, along with a complete awareness of the intellectual and mental abilities of these gentle blossoms. Here we emphasize again that in case of using incorrect teaching method and working with the child more than his or her abilities, this will definitely lead to the child\u2019s exhaustion and weariness. In addition we should not compare, here, any child with another in any way.
\nAs for Ali Reza-Zada Jouybari, we should say that his father used the best possible methods in teaching him, and in accordance with Ali\u2019s abilities and intense desire, his father started teaching him while he is playing, and in such a way that in the early days the teaching process was talking place five or six times a day with appropriate intervals and for just few minuets each time.
\nTeaching accompanied by playing and entertainment is a method supported by eminent researchers. John Amos Comenius, the father of modern teaching and educating, says:
\n\u201cI did my best to change the hard work of the school into pleasure and entertainment. The method used before with children, even noble\u2019s children, in the school was as if they are slaves. Teachers were finding their respect in frowning faces, harsh words and beating. What they want is that the students be afraid of them, not liking them. I have said many times, secretly and openly, we have to launch exhibitions, because I have experimentally concluded that there is no way to get rid of laziness and agitating intelligence better than this. But they told me that we have brought you for serious jobs, not for such entertainments and funny exhibitions. My response was it is these entertainments that lead to serious goals.\u201d (5)
\nWithin six months, Ali\u2019s father taught his son the last part of the Qur\u2019an and then the first one, taking into account his ability and doing that gently and gradually. It was word by word with a lot of repetition, then by making use of recorded tapes, until his abilities blossomed after these six months step by step. After learning to read from the Qur\u2019an, Ali was able to memorize each day more than the day before and had better benefits from the recorded tapes and verses-repetition. Certainly, it was the first six months that prepared the grounds of these abilities. Perhaps many people might think that Ali is a genius and extraordinary child that he was able to memorize the Qur\u2019an and Nahj al-Balagha, but Ali and his father deny this idea completely!
\nAli\u2019s father always says, \u2018Ali\u2019s intelligence is medium\u2019 and others can also reach such success by relying on God, having practical method, following that method, timekeeping, hard working, patience and stability on this Holy way. Of course it is clear that having an experienced teacher in memorizing Qur\u2019an who is aware of Qur\u2019anic concepts, along with supporting family, are others reasons for Ali Reza-Zada\u2019s success.
\nMemorizing Qur\u2019an not only did not lead to Ali\u2019s weariness and exhaustion, but it also had a deep affect on his intellectual growth. He passes educational grades by spending just few weeks and taking the final exams only, away from any kind of stress and with more ease and confidence than other students.
\nWhat is attentive here is to know that Ali has never been separated from children. In another words he has never been away from his age group children because of being a Qur\u2019an memorizer. In grade one, he learned with other students in \u2018Nuzdahe Day\u2019 (19th of Day) primary school and end that grade successfully. In grade two, he was not able to go to school regularly because of his Qur\u2019anic travels\u2026 however he passed that year with an average mark of 100. In grade three, he was busy memorizing Nahj al-Balagha which was taking a lot of his time, so he was able to take only the third term exam and passed that grade with an average mark of 100\u2026 in grade five, when final exams were approaching, Ali started studying just few weeks before that and was able to pass that grade with an excellent average. Few weeks before the exams, the mathematics teacher was surprised when he was asked to teach Ali, saying that it is not possible, but later on when he taught him and saw his abilities, he changed his mind.
\nNo doubt that Ali\u2019s ability in understanding mathematics problems is due to his analytic memorization of the Qur\u2019an and Nahj al-Balagha.
\nAt the end of this chapter we should say that memorizing Qur\u2019an and Nahj al-Balagha not only did not make Ali tired, but also gave him an additional energy and increasing activity, so that practicing sports with his fellows became one of his regular and essential activities, to the extent that he plays even during his Qur\u2019anic travels whenever he finds an opportunity to do so.
\nIn one of Ali\u2019s provincial travels with a group of Qur\u2019an young learners, he began playing with other children after having finished his Qur\u2019anic program. So it was interesting for others to see that young master, who holds Qur\u2019an, Nahj al-Balagha and divine knowledge inside him, playing with other children.
\nAli is very interested in intellectual games, football (soccer) and other games, and he plays the game he likes with his younger brother at home.<\/p>\n
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\n(2) Thawab al-aamal, 102
\n(3) Majmaa al-bayan, the virtue of Al-Baqara chapter
\n(4) Al-Mumenoon chapter, verse 14
\n(5) Falsafeye A\u2019moozesh va Parwaresh (The Philosophy of Teaching and Educating), Dr. Mir A\u2019bdil-Husayn Naqib-Zada<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHY TO MEMORIZE QUR\u2019AN It has been said here and there, \u2018why should we memorize Qur\u2019an?\u2019 Those who address this question differ in their way of thinking and even in their goals. Some of them are earnestly saying, \u2018Qur\u2019an is for understanding and acting, not for memorizing!\u2019. So they think that memorizing Qur\u2019an is useless. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,20],"tags":[27,31,28,30,29,26,25],"yoast_head":"\n