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Whole Quran
memorised at the age of 82
An Interview with Umm Saalih,A Grandmother Who Completed Memorizing the Qur'aan at Eighty-Two Years Old
Al-Hamdulillaah (All-Praise is due to
Allah), the One Who said (what means): "And in truth We have
made the Qur'aan easy to remember; but is there any that
remembers?" Surah 54: 32
Many all over the world memorize the Qur'aan, and it is not strange
to see the youth memorizing the Noble Qur'aan and an early age. Al-Hamdulillaah,
the One who made the Qur'aan easy for remembrance, had made it easy
for Umm Saalih age 82. In an interview with Umm Saalih,she was asked
the following questions:
Q1: "What was the reason that drove you to memorize the
Qur'aan after so many years?"
She said, "I always hoped to memorize the Qur'aan from the time
I was young. My father always used to invoke Allaah for me to become
one of the memorizers of the Qur'aan, like himself and like the
elder brothers of my family who memorized it. So I memorized in the
beginning about three parts and then after I completed the age of
thirteen, I got married and became busy with the household and the
children. After I had seven children, my husband died. They (the
children) were all young so I took the time to raise them and
educate them, and then after they grew up and got married, I had
more time for myself. Therefore, the first thing I directed myself
to focus upon was the Qur'aan.
Q2: "Tell us about your journey with the Noble Qur'aan."
She said, "My younger daughter was going to high school and she
was the closest of my children to me and the most beloved, because
she stayed with me after her older sisters got married and got busy
with their lives, and because she was a quiet girl,upright, loving,
and good. In addition, she was interested in learning the Noble
Qur'aan, and her teachers encouraged her.
Furthermore, she was very enthusiastic and always told me of many
women who were driven by this great motivation to memorize the
Qur'aan, and this is where I started."
Q3: "Tell me about your way of memorization."
She said, "We assigned ten verses (meaning her and her daughter
who was going to high school). So each day after Asr, we used to sit
together. She reads and I repeat after her three times. Then she
explains the meaning to me, and after a while, she repeats that
three times. On the next morning, she repeats them to me before she
goes to school.
She recorded also the recitations of Ash Shaykh al Husary,
Rahimuhullaah, repeating each verse three times and thus I continued
to listen most of the time. Therefore, the next day we would go to
the next ten verses if my memorization was good.Otherwise, we would
postpone taking additional verses until the day after. Moreover, we
assigned the day of Friday to review the memorizations of the entire
week. And this was the journey from the beginning."
Then she said, "Over four years and a half, I memorized twelve
juz" according to the way I described to you. Then this young
daughter got married. When her husband knew of our task concerning
the memorization, he rented a house close to me, close to my house,
so that he could allow the continuation of the memorization. In
addition, he, May Allah reward him used to encourage us and
sometimes sit with us listening, explaining and teaching.
Then after three years of her marriage, my daughter got busy with
the children and the household and our schedule was interrupted, but
that did not make her give up. To the contrary, she sensed that my
eagerness for the memorization was still established so she looked
for a special good teacher to continue the journey under her
supervision. So, I completed the memorization by the success of
Allaah and my daughter is still working to finish the memorization
of the Glorious Qur'aan. She has a little left, In Shaa Allaah
Ta'aala.
Q4: "This motivation of yours, did it have an effect on
other women around you?"
She said, "It really had a good strong effect. My daughters and
stepdaughters were all encouraged and worked on learning and
teaching the Qur'aan to their children and learning it themselves.
Q5: "After finishing the Noble Qur'aan, don't you think about
working on memorizing hadith?"
She said, "Now I have memorized ninety hadith and In Shaa
Allaah I will continue the journey. I depend,in my memorization,
upon the tapes and upon the Qur'aan radio station. At the end of
each week, my daughter comes and checks for me the memorization of
three hadith, and I am trying now to memorize more.
Q6: "Over this period of memorization of the Qur'aan, did your
life change? Was it affected in one way or another?"
She said, "Yes, I went through a major change and I tried
always, all praise is due to Allaah, to obey Allaah before I started
the memorization. However, after I started the task of memorization,
I began to feel a self-comfort, a great self-comfort and all worries
began to move away from me. I even reached the stage of freeing
myself from all these excessive worries concerning fearing for the
children and their affairs, and my morale was boosted.
I had a noble objective to work for and this is a great Ni'mah
(Favor) from Allaah . upon me, since we know that some women, when
they get old and they do not have a husband, and their children got
married, may be destroyed by the empty time, thoughts, worries, and
so forth. But, AlHamdulillaah, I didn't go through this and I made
myself busy with a great task and a great objective.
Q7: "Didn't you think at one point, to join one of the circles
focusing on teaching the Noble Qur'aan?"
The answer was, "Yes, some of the women suggested this to me,
but I am a woman who got used to staying at home, and I don't like
to go out everyday, and Al Hamdulillaah, my daughter sufficed me
from all difficulty and I was so happy while I was learning from
her. My daughter had set an example in goodness and righteousness
which we rarely find in our days.
She started this task and journey with me while she was an
adolescent and this is a critical age many people complain of. She
used to pressure herself so that she could have spare time to teach
me, and she used to teach me with kindness and wisdom. Her husband
was a good help to her and he exerted a lot of effort. I ask Allaah
. to give them success and to bring their children up on
uprightness."
Q8: "What do you say to a woman of your age who wishes to
learn and memorize the Qur'aan yet she is worried about it and
feeling unable to?"
She said, "I say to her there their shall be no despair with
the firm, sincere and truthful determination. Begin with sincerity,
firm determination and dependence on Allaah at each time. And
remember that at this age you should have the time for yourself.
However, do not use your time to only go out or to sleep and so
forth. Rather, busy yourself with righteous work.
Q9: "Now what would you say to a woman who is still young?
What would you advise her?"
She, may Allaah preserve her, said: "Preserve Allaah and He
will preserve you. Make use of the favor of Allaah bestowed upon you
from health and ways and means of comfort. Use that to memorize the
Book of Allaah. This is the light which enlivens your heart, your
life and your grave after you die.
And if you have a mother then exert the effort to teach her, and
there is no better favor upon a mother than one of her righteous
children aiding her to be close to Allaah."
Source: Ad-Da'wah Magazine, no.1552, 1st August1996 |
