Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

29 Questions

This requires a special understanding and cognition of the reality and continuous presence and grace of God in our lives and the nature of our connection with Him as well as our utter dependence on Him.

You may find useful to watch this recently concluded series of lectures by Sh. Javad Shomali.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QYGGxWb_Cg

In addition to praying for assistance in learning, I would suggest that perhaps you can try different techniques for learning. For instance, some people memorize well if they memorize to a fixed set of sounds (such as copying someone's recitation from a recording and always reciting it the same way until it is fully memorized). Others memorize well if they visualize the contents of the text well. Some people even use hand gestures with meanings to help with memorizing.

Personally, I find that knowing more about the tafsir of ayat helps me to remember them better, since I am able to put them in place better and understand how they relate to each other.

I heard of someone once who memorized the whole Qur'an during advertisements on TV. He used to sit and watch the news and then, every day during the advertisements, memorize an ayah or two. So sometimes having small habits during the day to practice can also be helpful, in addition to longer sessions. 

I also find that if I wish to remember something, repeating it while I am doing something else (walking, cooking, etc) helps me to review it in such a way that it is remembered better, because it needs to come out while I am distracted and not focusing on it. Inshallah this is not disrespectful to the Qur'an, but just suggesting it as a possibility.

I am sure there are also other techniques.

I am sure you will get more suggestions from others, but I just thought I would share those.

Also to repeat what you already know daily or as often as possible helps.

Sometimes the challenge with remembering is just due to age, since children are blessed to remember almost everything they see and hear, alas, this capacity sometimes wanes with age while at the same time we grow more busy and our minds full of many other things. So this is another reason to try new techniques. Inshallah Allah will help.

Bismillah

Evil thoughts especially when they are not within a person's control are not considered sins. The best way to rid yourself of these thoughts is to absolutely ignore them. They will become less and less until they fade away completely. They are not really what you think but something that just crosses your mind and they should be treated as such. If it has reached the stage when you cannot help making yourself think these things then again the best remedy is not to punish yourself at all, but to completely ignore them as if they did not even occur. Over time it will pass.

May you always be successful

Maybe it is good to talk to someone wise and trustworthy since the believers are encouraged to take advice from each other, so that this can help you make the best decision and figure out why your heart and mind are having different opinions.

If it is possible to explore or further investigate the option you are thinking about, without committing anything haraam or causing any harm to yourself or others, perhaps that might also shed some light on it. 

For some things in life of course we don't know about them until we do them.