Interview with 82 yr old Grandmother who Memorized the Qur'an
An
Interview with Umm Saalih
A
Grandmother who Became
Hafiz (Memorized the Entire
Qur'an)
at Eighty-Two Years Old
As Read by Dr. Saleh as Saleh
www.alihsaan. org
Al-Hamdulillaah (All-Praise is due to Allah), the One Who said (what means): "And in truth We have made the Qur'an easy to remember; but is there any that remembers?" Surah 54: 32 Many
all over the world memorize the Qur'an, and it is not strange to see
the youth memorizing the Noble Qur'an and an early age. Al-Hamdulillaah, the One who made the Qur'an 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'an after so many years?"
She
said, "I always hoped to memorize the Qur'an from the time I was
young. My father always used to invoke Allaah for me to become one of
the memorizers of the Qur'an, 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'an.
Q2: "Tell us about your journey with the Noble Qur'an."
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
1This is the actual beautiful handwriting of the basmallah by our Shayekh Muhammad bin Saalih Al-'Uthaimeen, rahimahullaah.
interested
in learning the Noble Qur'an, 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 juzââ,¬â,,¢ 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
Qurââ,¬Ëœaan. She has a little left, In Shaa Allaah Taââ,¬Ëœaala.
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'an to their children and learning it themselves.
Q5: "After finishing the Noble Qur'an, 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'n 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'an, 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 Niââ,¬â,,¢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, Al Hamdulillaah, I didnââ,¬â,,¢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'an?"
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'an 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."
Presented on the 1st of Muharram 1426, Feb 10th 2005.
Originally published in Ad-Da'wah Magazine, no. 1552, 17th of Rabee' Al-Awwal 1417.