{And We have certainly made the Qur'ān

easy for remembrance, so is there any

who will remember?} (54:17)
Copyright © 2016 by Suleiman Hani

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ISBN 978-1533048639
Second Edition
Imam Suleiman Hani is a lecturer, researcher, and author hailing
from Michigan, USA. At the age of 14, Suleiman completed a 10-
month memorization program in the USA and subsequently began
leading prayers and teaching Qur'ān across the nation. Shortly
thereafter, he began his intensive studies under local and global
scholars, completing hundreds of classical and modern texts and
gaining ijāzāt (licenses) in the six books of ḥadīth from multiple
scholars, as well as a Master of Arts degree from the College of
Shariʿah, University of Jordan. Suleiman has served as an Imam and
Youth Director since the age of 19, lectured at conferences and
workshops around the world, and has been featured several times on
the largest Islamic TV channels worldwide.

Currently, Imam Suleiman works as an instructor and advocate for

various national and international religious, educational, civil rights,
and humanitarian organizations. He also serves as an Imam and
Religious Director in the state of Michigan. His most recent hobbies
include mixed martial arts, skydiving, traveling, and writing.
This book is dedicated to every sincere believer who is
eager to understand, memorize, and apply the Noble
Qur'ān. I ask Allah by His Beautiful Names &
Attributes to make it purely for His sake.
ʿ
Consonants

‫ء‬ ' ‫ض‬ ḍ

‫ب‬ b ‫ط‬ ṭ
‫ت‬ t ‫ظ‬
‫ث‬ th ‫ع‬ ʿ
‫ج‬ j ‫غ‬ gh
‫ح‬ ḥ ‫ف‬ f
‫خ‬ kh ‫ق‬ q
‫د‬ d ‫ك‬ k
‫ذ‬ dh ‫ل‬ l
‫ر‬ r ‫م‬ m
‫ز‬ z ‫ن‬ n
‫س‬ s ‫ه‬ h
‫ش‬ sh ‫و‬ w
‫ص‬ ṣ ‫ي‬ y

Vowels

‫ا‬ ā َ a
‫و‬ ū َ u
‫ي‬ ī َ i
All praise is due to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be
upon His noble servant and final Messenger, his family and
companions, and those who follow him correctly until the Day
of Resurrection.

By the grace of Allah, I have experienced over the past ten

years an ease in helping individuals from all walks of life
accomplish a feat that they believed impossible: memorizing
the Qur'ān. The excuses vary, the reasons are many, but the
possibility is undoubtedly real. It may not be a priority in the
lives of many, nor is it even an objective, but the rewards,
virtues, and benefits of memorizing as much of the Qur'ān as
possible in this limited life are unparalleled by anything else.

When it comes to memorizing the Qur'ān, it is very common

to hear a variety of excuses, such as old age, inability, language,
or time, but I firmly believe that anyone who retains the
blessing of memory has the potential to memorize the Qur'ān,
by the grace of Allah. However, these commonly-heard
excuses must be deconstructed, genuinely eliminated, and
replaced with complete sincerity and dedication.

Furthermore, there is oftentimes no motivation to memorize

the Qur'ān due to a lack of experience, previous success, and
pragmatic guidance. Thus, building on my previous writings,
workshops, scholarly interactions, classical texts, and personal
experiences, I have attempted in this book to simplify 114
essential advices to the sincere individual embarking on the
journey of memorizing the Book of Allah, eliminating the
common and uncommon excuses, and producing a book for
readers that leaves after it no excuse.

As you progress through the book, renew your intention, read

carefully, and take note of the advice that benefits you most.
Note that every prophetic narration mentioned in this book is
either authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) or acceptable (ḥasan) and no weak
prophetic narration has been used unless stated otherwise.

Finally, I want to thank Allah, the Unimaginably Generous, for

facilitating the input of countless scholars, teachers, family, and
friends in the publication of this book. I ask Allah to reward
each of them generously for their priceless contributions.

O Allah, bless us and our loved ones to be People of the

Qur'ān, and accept this book and magnify its reach across the
globe, everywhere Your Name is mentioned.

Suleiman b. Hani
May 10, 2016/3 Shaʿbān, 1437
There is nothing more essential to begin with than the conditions
and prerequisites required of the one who wants to memorize
and retain the Qur'ān. The following section contains three major
conditions and one minor condition. If you are not fulfilling a
condition, do not be discouraged or give up on your memorization
journey; instead, continue your memorization progress while
genuinely rectifying the condition that needs improvement.

1. Sincere intentions
Before all other reminders, the most significant one to
continuously reflect on is the importance of complete sincerity in
reciting and memorizing the Qur'ān. In fact, this is the most
crucial aspect of memorizing the Qur'ān and will determine your
progress and success. There is no doubt that performing a good
deed with the intention of showing off is a major sin and nullifies
the deed. As is well known, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (ra)1 reported
that the Messenger of Allah ‫ ﷺ‬said:

“Verily, actions are only *rewarded] according to intentions, and

each person will have *of reward+ what he intended…”2

1
(ra): radiAllaahu ʿanhu/ʿanha (may Allah be pleased with him/her).
2
Recorded by al-Bukhāri and Muslim.
2 | Suleiman Hani

This ḥadīth3 serves as one of the foundations of Islam and a

frequent reminder to purify one’s intentions for the sake of Allah
alone.

Imām al-Bukhāri begins his collection, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri, with this

ḥadīth, reminding us that any deed through which Allah’s
pleasure is not sought is wasted; it will bear no fruits in this life or
the hereafter.

It is reported from Imām Aḥmad that he said:

“The foundations of Islam are upon three ḥadīth: the one

reported by ʿUmar – ‘Actions are by intentions’, the one reported
by ʿĀ’ishah – ‘Whoever does a deed that does not conform to our
commands will have it rejected,’ and the one reported by an-
Nuʿmān – ‘The ḥalāl and ḥarām are clear…”4

Al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyaḍ stated:

“Allah the Exalted accepts only those deeds which are both
correct and sincere (pure). If the deed is done correctly but not
sincerely, it will not be accepted. And if it is sincere but not
correct, it will not be accepted.” He was asked, “Abu ʿAli! What is
the sincere and correct deed?” He replied, “The sincere deed is

3
Ḥadīth: a statement or action of Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬that was
remembered and recorded by his Companions and followers.
4
Ibn Rajab, Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wal-Ḥikam.
 114 Tips to Help You Finally Memorize the Qur'ān | 3

one that is done only for Allah the Exalted. And the correct deed is
one done according to the Sunnah.”5

Acknowledge, constantly, that all humans will die and be judged,

but Allah is Eternal and will judge us alone. Any deed not
performed purely for His sake is rejected, and any correct deed
performed purely for His sake will be a source of rejoice and
reward. Thus, how sad would it be to pin your hopes on deeds
that were done for the sake of people and appear on the Day of
Judgment with hollow deeds?

Abu Hurayrah (ra) heard the Messenger of Allah ‫ ﷺ‬say:

“Verily, the first to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a

man who had died as a martyr. He will be brought forward. Allah
will remind him of the favors He had bestowed upon him and the
man will acknowledge them.

Then He will ask him: What did you do to express gratitude for it?

The man will reply: I fought for Your cause until I was martyred.

Allah will respond: You have lied. You fought so that people might
call you courageous; and they have done so.

5
Abu Nuʿaym, Ḥilyat al-Awliyā, 8/95.
4 | Suleiman Hani

A command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged

on his face and thrown into hell.

Next, a man who had memorized and imparted knowledge and

read the Qur'ān will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of
the favors He had bestowed upon him and the man will
acknowledge them. Then He will ask him: What did you do to
express gratitude for it?

The man will reply: I acquired knowledge and taught it, and read
the Qur'ān for Your sake.

Allah will respond: You have lied. You acquired knowledge so that
people might call you a learned (man), and you read the Qur'ān so
that they might call you a reciter, and they have done so.

A command will then be issued about him, and he will be dragged

on his face and thrown into hell.

Next, a man whom Allah had made affluent and to whom Allah
had given plenty of wealth, will be brought forward. Allah will
remind him of the favors He had bestowed upon him and the man
will acknowledge them. He will ask him: What did you do to
express gratitude for it?

The man will reply: I did not neglect any of the ways You liked
wealth to be spent liberally for Your sake.
 114 Tips to Help You Finally Memorize the Qur'ān | 5

Allah will state: You have lied. You did it so that people might call
you generous, and they have done so.

A command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged

on his face and thrown into hell.”6

On the subject of intentions, it is important to be aware of the

traps that many reciters and students of memorization fall into,
such as the desire to show off or for worldly gains.

Several years ago in the month of Ramaḍān, I met a reciter with a

beautiful, heart-softening recitation, who was invited to a
particular mosque from a different country. His voice captured
the hearts of the masses and brought more people to the mosque
for prayers. One day, he asked how much a famous reciter was
being paid in another region of the country, and upon realizing he
wasn’t being offered as much in terms of finances, he became
furious and began to actually steal from the very mosque that
invited him and agreed with him contractually. While the amount
he was being paid was admittedly average, the corruption that
ensued due to his desire for more wealth in exchange for his
recitation was an unfortunate trap of the devil and a reflection of
the state of one’s intentions.

It isn’t uncommon to hear of people with beautiful voices

requesting outrageous payments for several nights of prayers, and

6
Recorded by Muslim.
6 | Suleiman Hani

rejecting others who are unable to afford such amounts. It’s also
not uncommon to hear of students in their early memorization
stages discussing how much money they could potentially earn by
memorizing and reciting the Qur'ān beautifully, and aspiring to do
so. Beware of memorizing and reciting for the wrong reasons and
always reflect on the aforementioned ḥadīth of the first types of
people to be punished on the Day of Judgment. One can only
imagine how much regret there is in pinning one’s hopes on a
massive apparent deed and coming to find its clear rejection on
the Final Day due to one’s insincerity.

According to most scholars, there is no issue with receiving

payment to officially lead prayers,7 but one should continuously
reflect on pure sincerity and dedication for the sake of Allah
alone.

For this reason, those who recite the Qur'ān in public, such as
Imāms8, are regularly reminded to increase their private good
deeds in order to be more pious in private than what people
perceive in public.

7
Although there is a difference of opinion on the issue, most scholars
permitted it with valid evidence and reasoning.
8
Imām (pl. Imāms): one who leads the prayer.
 114 Tips to Help You Finally Memorize the Qur'ān | 7

The Messenger of Allah ‫ ﷺ‬said:

“Whoever among you is able to carry out a good deed in private,

he should do so.”9

There are countless statements and examples from the noble

companions and righteous predecessors that illustrate the
importance of sincerity and inspire those who reflect on their
words and actions.

It was reported that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (ra) said:

“We were once in a time when we did not think that anyone
learned the Qur'ān seeking anything but Allah the Exalted, but
now I fear that there are men who learn it (the Qur'ān) for the
sake of the people and what they can get from them. So seek
Allah with your recitation and deeds (by means of sincerity).
Verily, we used to know you when Allah’s Messenger ‫ ﷺ‬was
amongst us, when revelation would descend and Allah would tell
us about you. As for today, Allah’s Messenger ‫ ﷺ‬has passed on,
and the revelation has stopped; and I only know you as I say:
whoever shows what is good, we love him for it and think good of
him, and whoever shows what is evil, we hate him for it (the
action) and suspect him. Your secret and private matters are
between you and your Lord the Mighty and Majestic.”10

9
as-Silsilah as-Ṣaḥīḥah.
10
al-‘Ājuri, Akhlāq Ḥamalat al-Qur'ān, p. 79.
8 | Suleiman Hani

Harim b. Hayyān, one of the righteous successors who was

deputized by ʿUmar, famously stated: “Never does the servant
turn wholeheartedly to Allah except that Allah turns the hearts of
the believers to him, providing him their love.”11

Ibrahīm b. Adham (ra) said:

“Whoever seeks knowledge sincerely, for the servants of Allah to

benefit by and to benefit himself, then being hidden (from fame)
is more beloved to him than seeking loftiness. He is the one who
becomes more lowly to himself, strives more in worship, fears
Allah more, yearns for Allah more, and becomes more humble
amongst people. He cares not what he has of this world night or
day.”12

Abū al-ʿĀliyah said, “I learned writing and the Qur'ān without my

family noticing, and not a drop of ink was ever seen on my
garment.”13

Lastly, be careful not to allow your heart to become infected with

the ailment of seeking out the mistakes of other reciters; many
young, passionate new students of Qur'ān start to focus only the
mistakes of others and this is undoubtedly an issue of intentions
and requires immediate rectification.

11
adh-Dhahabi, Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalā’, 4/49.
12
al-Bayhaqi, Shuʿab al-Īmān, 1653.
13
Abu Nuʿaym, Ḥilyat al-Awliyā, 2/217.