Causes of Forgetting Memorized Texts
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Many students suffer from forgetting what they have memorized and losing the benefits of what they have read. What is the best solution in your view, O honorable Shaykh?The Shaykh: There are many causes for the weakness of memory: among them are sins; for sins necessitate forgetting,Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: [Al-Ma'idah: 13] And al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
I complained to Waki' of my poor memory, and he advised me to abandon sins.
And he said: Know that knowledge is light, and the light of Allah is not granted to a sinner.
-Among the causes of forgetting: That a person does not review what he has memorized,Meaning: He does not repeat it. The evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): (Review the Qur'an—for it is truly more likely to slip away than a camel from its tether.)
-Third: Having many distractions. If a person has many occupations, he will forget; because the heart is a vessel, and this vessel has a limit, it has a capacity. If it is filled with one thing, it cannot accommodate another. So if a person is not free and has distractions, these distractions cause him to forget one thing for another.
-And among the causes of forgetting also: Not acting upon knowledge. So if you act upon what you learn, your action is a study—a study of the knowledge—For example: If you know that order is obligatory in ablution, and then you perform your ablution in order, this is undoubtedly a study.
So for their breaking of the covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard. They distort words from their [proper] usages and have forgotten a portion of that of which they were
فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِمْ مِيثَاقَهُمْ لَعَنَّاهُمْ وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَنْ مَوَاضِعِهِ وَنَسُوا حَظّاً مِمَّا ذُكِّرُواI complained to Waki' of my poor memory, and he advised me to abandon sins.
And he said: Know that knowledge is light, and the light of Allah is not granted to a sinner.
-Among the causes of forgetting: That a person does not review what he has memorized,Meaning: He does not repeat it. The evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): (Review the Qur'an—for it is truly more likely to slip away than a camel from its tether.)
-Third: Having many distractions. If a person has many occupations, he will forget; because the heart is a vessel, and this vessel has a limit, it has a capacity. If it is filled with one thing, it cannot accommodate another. So if a person is not free and has distractions, these distractions cause him to forget one thing for another.
-And among the causes of forgetting also: Not acting upon knowledge. So if you act upon what you learn, your action is a study—a study of the knowledge—For example: If you know that order is obligatory in ablution, and then you perform your ablution in order, this is undoubtedly a study.