Misgivings Regarding Intentions and How to Memorize Qur’an

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: Im always getting doubts about my intentions, how do I know they are sincere? I keep getting shirk thoughts. For memorizing the Quran I basically don’t even tell my family that I want to memorize because I think I will be insincere. And can I memorize on my own without a sheikh? And in what order is it recommend to Memorize Quran which is easiest.
Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.
The basis is that we ignore misgivings.
Sincerity is something we are all striving for. We recognise our shortcomings, repent for the way things are, and then renew our resolve and intention and continue our efforts. The believers are people of action. The devil can easily trick us into making us doubt our intentions in everything such that we are left with nothing. Seek refuge in Allah, repent and renew your resolve regularly, and ask Allah for tawfiq and sincerity.
Please see: POSTS TAGGED ‘SINCERITY’ and: Intention: Validity And Sincerity and: The Reality and Importance of Intention and: Should I Remove the Hijab Because I Am a Bad Example for Others?
And consider taking: Purification of the Heart & Praiseworthy Character (from Ghazali’s 40 Foundations of Religion)
As for your specific questions:
(1) You can begin to memorize, but you should seek out a teacher. It is easy to delude oneself into thinking one has memorized correctly when the reality is otherwise.
(2) One suggestion would be to start with shorter surahs from the 30th Juz’, and then progress to the 29th Juz’, then 28th and so on. Once you are able to memorize quickly and comfortably, and have strong aspiration (himma), you can start from the 1st Juz’.
And Allah alone gives success.
wassalam,
Tabraze Azam
Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani