She BeganMemorising Quranat Age 37

she was there to helpme, givingme ideasand tips on how to follow the process ofmemorisation.

Allah Almighty has promised His specialhelp especially in thematters of deen:“And those who strive for Us -Wewillsurely guide them to Our ways. Andindeed, Allah is with the doers of good.”[Al-Quran Surah Al-Ankabut <29>: 69]

How did youmanage your time?Everything will fall into place whenwework towards a goal, which, forbelievers, is seeking Allah’s pleasurein everymoment of our lives. When weare focused on achieving this goal, timemanagement becomes easy.

We will be able to keep track of time,we will realize that there is no room forharam ormakruh things in our lives,and we will only want things that areallowed. Through this, we are also ableto sort out important from unimportant,and that is the key to having the barakah(blessings) in our time.

We need to value our free time andmake themost of it. Time is our life.When wewaste time, we waste our lives.Realisation of the importance of timeis very important. We should alwaysremember that this is one of the firstthings we will be asked about on the Dayof Judgment.

How long did it take you to complete thehifdz?It tookme one year tomemorise the firstten juz. Until then, I had not thought ofmemorising the whole Quran. At thatpoint, I said tomyself, ‘Allah hasmade itso easy for me, how can I stop now?’

Alhamdulillah, I was able to continuewithmore enthusiasm and was able tocomplete the hifzh in two years.

And the challenges facing you during theprocess?I had to fulfill my responsibilities as awife and amother of two, and run thehousehold smoothly. I had tomake themost of my time when I was bymyself.

People do askme about howmany

Rayhanah Omar al-Hafizhah

MRS Iffath Hasan, over 55years old, is originally fromHyderabad, India. She first

moved to Canada with her husbandbefore settling down in Chicago, UnitedStates. This mother of two sons has notjust memorised the Quran, but she alsoteaches young girls memorisation ofthe Quran and the Arabic language atthe Institute for Islamic Education inChicago.

Here she shares her productive tipson how to stay focused on the goal ofmemorising Al-Quran.

Hafidzah Iffath, when and how did youbegin memorising Al-Quran?I began at the age of 37. Generally,during difficult situations in our lives, wehappen to connect with Almighty Allah.So this was one of those situations that Iwas going through, and I really wantedAllah to answermy prayer. I would wakeup for Tahajjud andmakemy heartfeltdoa. With the barakah of Tahajjud, Allahgrantedmemywish.

Then I said tomyself ‘How can I stopperforming Tahajjud, when it wasthrough Tahajjud that Allah grantedmemywish?’ Alhamdulillah I was able tocontinuemy Tahajjud. After a coupleof months, I felt that night after night Iwould only reciting the same few longsurahs that I knew. So I felt I shouldmemorise three or four juz for somevariety inmy Tahajjud, and that is how itall got started.

Allah Almighty says in Al-Quran Surahal-Baqarah verse 216, “But perhaps youhate a thing and it is good for you; andperhaps you love a thing and it is bad foryou. And Allah Knows, while you knownot.”

Inmy case, the disliked situation becamea source two of the greatest blessings:Tahajjud and hifdz.

Who inspired you?I have a friend who is a Hafidzah. Ialways used to admire her, but I hadnever thought of evermemorising theQuranmyself. Then, when I got started

hours I used to spend during the dayfor memorisation. During themorninghours I had a few hours tomyself, buteven in between I used tomake themostof whatever time I got.

And the second challenge wasmymigraine headaches, which used to bequite frequent in those days. And onceI fall sick, there is nothing I can do (i.e. Ican’t memorise).

Yet, that challenge in itself again becameanother blessing for me, because it mademe really valuemy time, so I would try tomake themost of it when I was not sick. Iam sure Allah gave barakah inmy time.

And what motivates you?Mymotivation every single day comes tome through the realization of the greatgift Allah has blessedmewith. Everysingle day I weep, because I am out ofwords to expressmy gratitude for thebest possible gift I am blessed with afteriman.

With this realisation it becomes easy todomy review every single day, becauseI know I can’t afford to lose it. Also, I justlove doing it. In fact, I look forward todoing it everyday as soon as I possiblycan.

Any advice for those striving to memoriseQuran?As we know this is a unique thingin itself, we need tomake a life longcommitment to review a portion of theQuran regularly every single day. Thatportion should be one seventh of theQuran. I call it a “seven day cycle”. Nomatter where we are, this shouldn’t getdisturbed.

And besides that, we should be able torecite a juz or so in our daily Solat. Thesetwo things have really helpedme and Ido emphasize on these when I am askedfor advice.

And to keep on feeling motivated?First we need to fall in love with ourCreator. This can be achieved throughrealizing all the blessings He hasbestowed on us, the greatest of which isiman – the key to Jannah. He didn’t justcreate us, He also gave us a beautiful

manual through which we are guided tolead a safe, secure, and peaceful life inthis world of corruption and confusion.

When Allah’s love becomes intense, itwill be expressed through our connectionwith His Book. We will never have enoughof it. We will recite it with love andreverence for this best possible gift formankind. Then, we will also learn to focuson understanding it, and we will then liveour lives in accordance with its teachings.

When we are constantly living with theQuran in our daily lives, we havemade avery strong connection with our Lord.

We also know that this is the onlybook where, when we read one wordof it, there are ten hasanah (good) forevery letter. How is it then that we willnot want to recite it more andmore?When this happens, the next stage willfollow.Wewill have an urge to at leastmemorise some of it, that will In shaAllah lead us tomemorising all of it. Wewill do it because we want to and notbecause we have to.

My advice to those who want tomemorise but feel that they don’t havethe time, is to get started even if it is justtwo lines a day and be consistent withit. Allah will give them barakah andthey will be amazed on howmuch theyare able to achieve just through beingconsistent with whatever little they areable tomemorise.

The key is doing with sincerity andconsistency.

Being on the state of Wudhu’ (thebeliever’s weapon against Satan) all thetime is a tremendous blessing. Throughthis we have a special connection withAllah Most High, and we don’t becomean easy target for Satan. Also, we are ableto reach out for the Quran whenever wehave any free time. This will Insya-Allahspeed up the process of memorisation.

*The interviewer, Rayhanah Omar, is anaward-winning radio personality andmedia consultant at Fee Qalbee. She iscurrently based in Malaysia.

Productive Muslim

Picture: BT/Md Asdeny Yakub

B6 THE BRUNEI TIMES | Friday, 27 September, 2013

Imam al-Syafiii (Imam al-Syafiii (rahimahullahrahimahullah) said: “If you find out that the content) said: “If you find out that the contentof my books contradict the sunnah of the Prophetof my books contradict the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhisallallahu alayhiwassalamwassalam, then hold on to the sunnah and abandon my opinions.”, then hold on to the sunnah and abandon my opinions.”

(Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah,(Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah, ‘Ilam al-Muwaqqi’in‘Ilam al-Muwaqqi’in))

Imam al-Syafi’i (rahimahullah) said: “If you find out that the contentof my books contradict the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhiwassalam, then hold on to the sunnah and abandon my opinions.”

(Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah, ‘Ilam al-Muwaqqi’in)