The Shaykh’s remarks on the blessing of memory that aids in memorizing the Noble Qur’an.

The Shaykh : Memorization, O Abu 'Adnan, truly requires certain conditions for a person, among which is a strong, retentive memory, like a magnet. Some people, may Allah be exalted and glorified, have been blessed with a memory resembling a magnet. I mentioned an example to you before: in the early days of Islam, the five daily prayers were made obligatory, but congregational prayer was not prescribed alongside them at that time. It was prescribed before the Prophet (peace be upon him) migrated from Makkah to Madinah. During the period when the Prophet (peace be upon him) was in Makkah, those who had embraced Islam in Madinah, and perhaps in other lands, would visit the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to receive the legal rulings that were being revealed to him successively. A delegation from the Ansar in Madinah al-Munawwarah went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Makkah, and they returned with a new ruling: congregational prayer, and that the one who leads the people in prayer should be the one among them who is most proficient in reciting the Book of Allah. The narrator of this hadith, whose name is 'Amr ibn Abi Salamah, I believe, said: "They looked around and found no one more proficient in recitation than me, and I was seven or nine years old, no more. That is how the narration came: either he was seven, or at most nine." Why? He said about himself: "Whenever a delegation came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Makkah, I would ask them what had been revealed to him of the Qur'an, and I would memorize it. Every time a delegation came, I would ask them and memorize." When the last delegation arrived, and his father was among them in this last delegation, he said: "They looked around and found no one more proficient in recitation than me, so they put me forward to lead them in prayer." Why? Because they had heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: So here, there is no age requirement, no maturity, no piety, or whatever some people stipulate. We must know clearly that these are conditions for perfection, not conditions for validity. For example, if you have two mosques, one on the right and one on the left, and the mosque on the right has an innovator as imam, while the mosque on the left has an imam who follows the Sunnah, and you pray here because that one is a bit far from you or you didn't feel like going there, is my prayer valid? Yes, your prayer is valid; because it is not a condition that your imam be the Prophet, the Messenger, a Companion, a pious person, or a scrupulous person; rather, the one who leads the people in prayer is the one among them who is most proficient in reciting the Book of Allah, in case of difference. So they put forward this 'Amr, and he prayed with them.

The questioner : You reminded me of a question.

The Shaykh : Not yet, he prayed with them. The man had barely finished the taslim when they heard a voice from behind the rows from a woman saying: "Do you not cover your imam's backside from us?!" Meaning his rear end - he laughsThe Shaykh : He said: Because he was wearing a shamlah or an izar.

The questioner : Short.

The Shaykh : It is not a matter of being short, but of what we call a "jinnifis" - may Allah know what you call it here? - the thick one, meaning the one that is not soft. So when he prostrates, what do you do? You do this - the Shaykh of the Sunnah (may Allah have mercy on him) and the students laugh - So it appears that one of the women saw the 'awrah of this boy, so she called out at the top of her voice: "Do you not cover your imam's backside from us," and he was a small child, until we are sure of his youth. He said: "So they bought me a shamlah, and I was not pleased with anything as much as I was pleased with it" - he laughsThe Shaykh : May Allah have mercy on him.

The questioner : He is the one who narrates the hadith.

The Shaykh : He is the narrator of the hadith. The point is that the one who is given such a memory finds it easy to do what? Memorize the Qur'an. This is a cause, but it is not the whole cause. You cannot imagine your situation, or rather my situation, when I was measuring myself as a carpenter or blacksmith; because this is not like you and me. For example, I at that time was behind the counter in the shop, I would put the mushaf down and memorize as much as I could, even though I was not given a memorable memory. So I would memorize, may Allah be pleased, but every time I delved deeper into knowledge and hadith, I was left with only a little of the memorization I had done. I mean by all this that memorizing the Qur'an requires two basic things: the first is a strong memory, the second is free time, the free time that enables a person to memorize, as Abu 'Adnan, may Allah reward him with good, gave the example of himself, and a simple example from me, and I did not persist in that - unfortunately - so we cannot say to every person, memorize two hundred verses for yourself. This is not easy except for a few. So happy are the memorizers of the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but on the condition that the intention behind it is seeking the Face of Allah, otherwise their efforts will be in vain.