HD 6: Stop With the Negative Influence!

Bismillah walhamdulillah

Have you ever dealt with someone who would say things like:

Oh! You’re memorizing that surah next?! That’s awesome, but you know, I remember when I was memorizing it, it was soo difficult!

Or how about this:

Ahh…you’re memorizing Surah X? Yeah, the surah is easy, I just found this page here difficult. *Turns to that page*

What exactly do they think, that by telling you this that it will somehow make things better for you? No, they just end up worrying you. Then when you get to that page or that surah that they were talking about, you have their voice playing in your head.

Rather, we should always give good news and much encouragement to the one who is memorizing. If you feel the urge to “warn” others about how difficult a page is going to be for them, control it. Whatever happened to: “Let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day speak good or remain silent?”

Allah SWT has said that: “And We have certainly made the Qur’an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?” Suratul Qamar, ayah 17

He SWT has said this, multiple times in one surah. Are you going to challenge the truthfulness of this ayah with your “warnings?”

One thing I noticed about my teacher, she never told me that something was going to be difficult for me, until after I already experienced that I had trouble memorizing it or something similar to it. Even then, she never actually called it difficult. All she really said was “This ruba here, is going to be so easy for you, by Allah. This other one, it may be slightly more challenging based on the trouble you had reciting a similar ruba.*” (please see footnote).

And when I once made the mistake of being ungrateful (I had recited 2 ruba, and because of my lack of review, they didn’t sink in well. And instead of blaming myself, when she asked me if it was “good” — her way of saying ‘easy’ — I said no) I saw the annoyance on her face. She rolled her eyes slightly (which I never saw her do before) as if to say “Don’t say that.” And then she said “Alhamdulillah.”

I realized why she was annoyed and then I felt so bad…How could I have said that. I sought Allah’s forgiveness and repented, I just pray that it was a sincere repentance.

In short, I would say that 9 times out of 10, it’s better not to say anything (in regard to this particular topic). If you feel like you want to give your friend a “heads up,” maybe you should word it in a more appropriate way like:

You know this page that is coming up? InshaAllah it will be very easy for you, as with every page, if you feel you need to really solidify it, just make sure you give it a few more reps (repetitions). :)

It’s true sometimes there is a page or a set of pages that is slightly more challenging, maybe because the ayaat are similar to each other or another reason. But it does seem, from my limited experience, and Allah knows Best, that the better thing to do is to not initiate this kind of talk, and if someone else experiences slight difficulty, just advise them with good manners. “Remember, the Qur’an is easy to understand and remember. Keep trudging forward, I know you can do it, inshaAllah.”

wasalaam

Footnote:

*My teacher speaks Arabic with very little English, but I translate what she says through the very little Arabic that I understand and through her very helpful gestures, which she utilizes in order to speak to me. May Allah swt bless her and preserve her and protect her. Ameen