Recently I’ve been feeling more focused than ever.
I find myself reach out out less for my phone when I’m on my own. I find my self bubbling with ideas and energy. I find myself enjoying working more.
Nothing much has changed, except for one thing.
What changed?
Around a week ago, my friend told me that my local city was planning on hosting a Quran revision day for sisters. It’s a day specifically for huffadh or people who are currently memorising to come in and recite as much Quran as we can to one of the teachers present. Some recite the full Quran, some recite 20, 15 or how many ever ajza they would like.
I heard about this event for the first time last year, and ever since, I’ve been waiting for this years date to be released. But then my friend told me that the date was set for less than three months away. Three months?! I thought in shock. That’s too little time.
It’s been a long time since I’ve recited to a teacher face to face. And an even longer time since I’ve recited that much in one sitting. I needed a lot more time to practice to be able to be ready to recite that day.
But I really wanted to take part. I wanted to be able to get my hifdh revision back in order. My hifdh has taken a toll in the past few years as a result of exams, work and more. And I needed a challenge like this to get back on track.
So I decided, this was it. I am going to recite that day. I was ready to throw everything else out of the window and for the next few weeks, my hifdh was going to be my absolute priority.
I drew up a quick hifdh plan for the next 10 weeks and I quickly realised that I would to have to spend more time on my hifdh than I usually do to actually reach my goal. It felt daunting but at the same time I was excited to be able to challenge myself again.
And so day 1 arrived.
And day 1 of the hifdh plan began.
I ended up having to spend a whole hour more with my Quran to reach my goal. I knew I was eating into the time that I’d scheduled for my projects, but I kept at it anyway. I was determined to complete my hifdh portion before I moved onto anything else, since I had decided my hifdh was going to be my priority. It was tough and a part of me was worried that the rest of my other responsibilities would take a hit for the next few weeks. But subhanallah, it was like Allah heard my worry and He wanted to comfort me. Because by the end of the day, I’d got everything I needed done and had an hour to spare too.
Seeing this pushed me forward with more determination. Day 2 ended up being a full day at work. I didnt have enough time in the morning to finish my portion. I left for work, determined to come home in the evening and finish it off. But instead, I somehow managed to find small breaks in between of my workday and so a few pages per break meant I reached the end of my hifdh portion by the end of the day.
I was shocked at how things were working out. The rest of the week continued like this too. Some days either I would spend more time with my Quran and still manage to find time to finish all my tasks. Or I was finding these pockets of time which didn’t seem to exist before.
But it all made sense
Even as I felt the shock, I knew there was nothing to be shocked about. I knew these moments of blessing I was being granted was because of the one big change I’d made — making the Quran my priority.
The Quran is described by Allah in the Quran as ‘mubarak’ — a blessed book, a book full of barakah.
It is not recited in a place or by a person except that place or person draws barakah from it.
By describing the Quran as blessed, Allah is telling us that the Quran is a Book that when you recite it and spend time with it, it will add barakah to your life.
As a result, you will never ‘lose time’ or anything for spending time with the Quran. Every minute you spend with it, it will only add barakah to the minutes and hours after.
I look forward to the weeks ahead, to continue to making the Quran my priority and seeing the barakah placed in my life as a result. And I look forward to continue sharing that journey with you!
For anyone based in the UK, is a hafidha or currently memorising and is interested in taking part in the Quran Revision Day, head to @NoorSistersBlackburn on Instagram to sign up!
And for anyone who is not a Hafidha, please do not assume only the huffadh can be people of the Quran. Most of the most beloved companions of th eProphet (pbuh) were not huffadh and yet we know their relationship with the Quran was beyond this world.
May Allah allow us all to make the Qur’an a priority in our lives and make us all people of the Quran. Ameen.
Thank you for reaching till the end of this reflection.
I hope we get to meet each other in that post. Until then, if you have any thoughts about what you’ve just read let me know (in the comments or any other way). I’d love to start a conversation!
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