Qur’anic Reminder: Acknowledging our Blessings

 

Rajab Reflections: labour of love

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Assalaamu ‘alaykum wa Rahmatullah

There is something so sacred, so precious, about quietly observing people commit a verse of Qur’aan to memory. The cadence, spiritual light & beauty as each word is meticulously repeated, over & over again…the actual process of preserving in one’s memory & heart the Glorious Qur’aan, following in our Beloved ‘s (s) example. There is something so sacred about this labour of love!

A week closer to Ramadhan and my du’aa is that your efforts & mine continue to remain focused and directed towards strengthening, building our relationship with alQur’aan.

Let’s make consistent, conscious efforts to:

• regularly reviewing our intention,
• listening to more tilaawat,
• including additional hifdh  review (muraaja’ah / dhorr) in qiyaam, and
• increasing in our supplications, asking Allah to facilitate our efforts with ease and the attainment of His Pleasure.

Involve your family. Make them a part of the pre-Ramadhan excitement, too! This weekend, try planning the coming weeks and consider activities and projects which, as a family, can reflect your growing love and attachment to alQur’aan.

Feel free to post in the comment box below, and share your Qur’aan-related family-based activities. Share the goodness & multiply the reward!

Stay Inspired!

Rayhaanah

 

Rajab & Ramadhan readiness

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Assalaamu ‘alaykum wa Rahmatullah

AHumdulillah, by the time most of you read this post, the new moon will have heralded the commencement of Rajab and the imminent approach of the esteemed guest, Ramadhan. And by now, the countdown for all huffaadh and students, should have begun!

How are pre-Ramadhan Qur’aan preparations coming along for you?

 A brief checklist:

• Am I consistent in daily revision?
• Am I aware of established errors and making concerted efforts to correct these errors as soon as possible?
• Have I begun incorporating all / most of my older revision into my qiyaam (in salaah) throughout the day?

On a weekly basis,  review your Ramadhan goal outlines with your hifdh teacher or mentor, to ensure that you are consistently performing to achieve your aspirations.

With ongoing review, we are easily able to detect our weaker points in hifdh and work on strengthening and improving before the onset of Ramadhan.

There is one vital question we all need to be asking ourselves during the next 8 weeks, and that is:

What can I do differently this Ramadhan to ensure a stronger connection to alQur’aan?

Stay Inspired!

Rayhaanah

 

Naseeha for the Hifdh Journey: waning enthusiasm

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Assalaamu ‘alaykum wa Rahmatullah

Q: Initially when my 10 year old began hifdh, she was so eager and excited. Now, it seems as though her enthusiasm is waning and there are even days when I feel as though I have to beg her to sit with her mus-haf. Please advise. [Muneera, New Zealand]

A: AlHumdulillah, I would like to reassure you that this is a fairly common occurence amongst young hifdh students. Rest assured, that this ‘phase’ does pass -  however, it is essential for both the parents, siblings & teacher(s) to consistently encourage, moderately praise and support the child. In the initial stages of hifdh, things may seem extraordinarily easy, due to a number of factors, viz: recognition / prior learning of verses, confidence boost & a exposure to a new & heartwarming experience. As the child continues memorising and starts to make sense of the daily & weekly review that is needed, allow him / her space to get a more ‘realistic feel’ of hifdh.

My advise to you:

• Focus on the journey: Refrain from placing undue pressure on hifdh completion. In the same light, do not compare your child to another sibling, friend, classmate. Everyone’s hifdh journey is unique & individual, with both challenges and progress differing greatly from one to another. Let us respect this.
• Networking: Try to make sure that she is  in regular contact with other hifdh girls her age – ideally, in her Qur’aan class. Perhaps arrange a weekend get-together, a trip to the park, or a hijab-tying / henna painting event for them? A healthy combination of leisure & learning time spent together will give her a much needed boost of support and confidence.
• Keys of Communication: As parents, talk to her about your personal experiences of doing hifdh (if applicable). Children love to hear this and relate on a much deeper level once they realise the past /  current challenges and beautiful experiences of their parents’ hifdh journeys. As a family unit, try to read and study one hadeeth each day or alternate day, preferrably from amongst the collection on the virtues & merits of. Guide & provide assistance as she sets out weekly and monthly hifdh goals and, most importantly,  remind her how well she is doing in working towards achieving them. Also, be sure to keep her favourite uncle / aunty/ grandparents, updated of her progress – she will be thrilled for sure, knowing that her favourite people are cheering on her efforts :)
• Developmental Cycles: As your daughter enters her tween years, she will be experiencing many changes, both physical and emotional. (From your query, I am unable to gauge whether she has reached the baaligh stage at yet). However, the haidh cycle is something that takes most hifdh students atleast  6 months to a year to adjust to,wrt the inclusion of their hifdh routine during this time. All they need is our patience, flexibility and empathy, and they will learn to adjust accordingly, in due time.
• Optimism: Use kind, encouraging words and inject positive vocabularly in your discussions on hifdh. Understand that some days will be better hifdh days than others, and that is perfectly fine. You see, hifdh is very much also about character development and personal discipline. Help and guide as best you can, always seeking the Help of The Almighty and His blessings. Unconditional love for our children applies in this context too -  whether our young ones have memorised 5 verses or none, our love for them and support for their dreams continue
• Lastly, find what motivates and made her enthusiastic (initially) about hifdh - and try to use these factors to inspire her. Hmm..look back & reflect..

Ideas: Perhaps an art, craft activity together, a reward chart, scrapbooking hifdh journal, islamic-centered board games or family projects?

Resource: Shaykh Fahad  Saalem al Kandari from Kuwait hosts a seasonal program of enlightening episodes called ‘Musaafer ma ‘al Qur’aan’ 

It is presented in Arabic, but has basic English translations accompanying each episode. Each episode documents the life of a knowledge seeker of alQur’aan.

Personally, the most moving  episode is the interview with Muath, the blind haafidh

I wish your daughter & all of our little stars everything of the best in their hifdh journeys. May it be beautiful, blessed and fulfilling – ameen.

Fee Qalbee’s Naseeha series links:

the mother’s  support,

avoiding ostentation,

mutashaabihaat queries

Stay Inspired!

Rayhaanah

PS: Do you have a hifdh question? Or are you seeking naseeha for your hifdh journey? Email: rayhaanah@gmail.com

Naseeha for the Hifdh Journey is a monthly Q & A series addressing hifdh-related concerns.

 

Spiritual Comfort : reminders for the month ahead

 

Recommended: Twitter accounts for Qur’aan-spiration

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Assalaamu ‘alaykum wa Rahmatullah,

AlHumdulillah, it’s been a while since the last blog post. I hope that you are all keeping well, productive and inspired in living your hifdh goals and journey.

It feels as though there’s so much more that needs to be done in terms of spiritually preparing for The Month of alQur’aan, doesn’t it? List making, task planning, journalling and mentoring play an important role in my daily efforts to reach Ramadhan in a spiritual space that is more sincere, consistent & focused than previous years, bi ithnillah!

How about you?

Are your Ramadhan hifdh goals taking shape?

With busy, fast-paced lifestyles, one of the queries I frequently receive is: Which Twitter accounts could I follow for dosages of ‘Qur’aan-spiration’ (inspiring web-links / verse references / quotes / reminders) ?

Sometimes, all it takes is a simple Tweet to remind and encourage us along the way, alHumdulillah!

A list of (some of) my favourites which, in 140 characters or less, inspires & reminds about a diverse range of Qur’aan-related aspects:

English -

OnIslam

QuranWeekly

19ayataday

Arabic -

Musafir ma ‘alQuran

‘Allim nil Quran

Tafseer alQuran alKareem

Please post your favourite Qur’aan-related Twitter accounts in the comment box, for the benefit of all our readers.

Stay Inspired!

Rayhaanah

 @RayhaanahOmar

 

Monday inspiration: A Smile of Hope :)

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Assalaamu ‘alaykum wa Rahmatullah,

I just have a question for you, how long do you spend in traffic? And how’s your mood during that time?

I’ll tell you a true story about me, and through it I’ll give you a magical formula!

When I was 20 years old, I travelled to London for studying & working for a year, during that year and like any young man in my age,I was worried about myself so I decided to keep Qur’an always by my side and with me in my pocket.

And one day while I was reading, I read a beautiful verse from Surat Yaseen (Yaseen and the wise Qur’an) so I thought to myself, if I have something that wise right by my side,how my life would be? How would it be if I have my Qur’an with me all the time in my life? I was so attached to Qur’an. My work was in the middle of London & due to the high rental cost I rented a place away from London by an hour by underground.

One hour on a daily basis is such a boring and hard thing to do. So I decided to read Qur’an for that whole hour. I got more & more attached to the Qur’an to the extent that I learned Surat AL Nesaa’.

Something I didn’t do before, I did it while I was in the underground, until that longdistance became my favorite part of the day, that I couldn’t wait till the end of the day to start revising what I learned before.

I didn’t feel so depressed any more.

When I got back to Egypt, and with its jammed traffic I started to do the same thing and started to say some prayers (mentioning Allah “tasabeh”), or listen to something valuable and useful in the radio. And as a result, I learned 20 chapters (Juze) of Qur’an during transportation time only!

So this is my story of learning Qur’an, God’s Book. And to help you to know the answer to my previous question, I suggest that you do the same, read Qur’an or a useful book anything useful to help you invest a quality time in that wasted time of traffic. Transform the depressing & boring time into a useful precious time so you can gain a smile of hope.

by: Dr. Amr Khaled