The Quran Between Literal Memorization and Practical Adaptation!

First of all, we have two types of, let us say, memorizing the Qur'an. There is the literal memorization, where you sit and you just memorize page after page. You literally memorize the verses and you know them by heart, which is highly recommended. Islam recommends us to memorize the Word of God.

There is a second more important type of memorization, where you memorize the concepts of the Qur'an, the beliefs of the Qur'an, the meanings of the Qur'an, the message of the Qur'an. You could have someone who will memorize the Qur'an like a parrot, but does not understand it, does not practice it, does not enact it.

Indeed there is many people, especially in the Middle East, who are like that. In fact, some of these terrorists who blow themselves up, they have memorized some parts of the Qur'an. You could hear them reciting it, but these people have, they internalized the Qur'an? Have they understood the Qur'an? No!

And in fact, there is hadith, a narration by the Prophet, peace be upon him, in which he says: 'there are some people who will recite the Qur'an. They might even know it by heart. But the Qur'an curses them.' Why? Because they just do lip service. They read the Qur'an, but the minute they are done, they spread violence, they spread corruption, they kill, they encroach on the rights of others. They are making a joke out of the Qur'an. You read it now, the next day you violate the laws of the Qur'an? So the Prophet says, there are some people who will read the Qur'an and they read it very well, but the Qur'an curses them.

So a second type of memorization of the Qur'an is learning the concepts of the Qur'an, the teachings of the Qur'an, the values of the Qur'an, internalizing them and practicing them in your everyday life. This is more important than just to memorize the verses, not knowing what they are, or not practicing them.

So when it comes to memorizing the Qur'an, if you memorized a few verses and you forgot them word for word, you forgot the Ayat word for word. This is not considered as you forgetting the word of God. As long as you still remember the concepts, the values, the teachings of the Qur'an, and you are trying to implement them, then God will consider you as someone who is mindful of his word. Even if you have forgotten some verses word for word, that is fine.

Yes, it is always good to keep practicing so you don't forget. But Allah will not consider you among those people who caused his words to be forgotten. Who are those who caused God's words to be forgotten? Those who read the Qur'an and they understood it, but they chose not to practice it.

God will tell them on the Day of Judgment, you forgot my book. He says, No, God, I memorize it. I will read you the whole chapter now. God says, No! Look at your life on earth, look at your life, look at your deeds, your sins, your evil deeds. Through your evil deeds, you practically left the Qur'an, through your misdeeds, you neglected my book by not practicing it.

Because the Qur'an is like a prescription. When you go to a doctor and he gives you a prescription, what do you do with it? Do you memorize it, and that's it? No. You go and you take that medicine and you take it. The Qur'an is medicine for the heart, medicine for the soul, medicine for the spirit. God wants you to use this to better yourselves.

So if I am not using the Qur'an to better myself, then I am forgetting the Book of God. These are the people whom God says on the Day of Judgment, you have forgotten My Book. And today I will forget you and abandon you. Those who did not practice the teachings of the Qur'an.

One last point here is that we have a beautiful narration from the Prophet in which he says, 'The levels of paradise are according to the verses of the Qur'an.' There are 6666 verses in the Qur'an according to one way of counting the verses. Another way of counting them is 6236 verses. Let us say 6000. There are 6000 verses in the Qur'an. The levels of paradise are according to the verses of the Qur'an. So how many levels in paradise? 6000. So imagine you have this nice building with 6000 levels. The levels in paradise are 6000.

Now the Prophet says: on the Day of Judgment, God will tell you, read the Qur'an. Every verse that you know will earn you to achieve a new level. So if I know 100 verses, I achieve 100 levels in paradise. But here is the point. When the Prophet says that the levels of paradise are according to the verses of the Qur'an, he does not mean that if you only memorize it by heart, that is it! You memorize 6000 verses and that is it, you are automatically going to the highest level in paradise. You get all the 6000. No!

On the Day of Judgment, God will examine your life. How many verses of the Qur'an did you implement in your life? I implemented ten verses, I get ten degrees, ten levels. I implemented 100 verses of God in which He commands us to uphold social justice, to give charity, to help one another out, to worship Him, all the teachings of the Qur'an. If I upheld a thousand verses, I get a thousand degrees.

So God, on the Day of Judgment, He is not going to see what am I going to recite with my tongue? That anybody could do, a criminal could do. Memorize some verses from the Qur'an. Okay, free ticket to paradise. No, that is not how it works. God will examine my deeds, my behavior in this life. My behavior in this life, how much of it is consistent with the Qur'an, it is compatible with the Qur'an. So if I applied 6000 verses yeah. Yes. If I internalized 6000 verses in my life, and my life reflects it, then Yes.

One of the wives of the Prophet, she was asked, 'Tell us about the behavior of the Prophet, his attitude.' You know what she said? She said, 'Kana khuluquhu al-Qur'an'- 'You want to know the attitude of the Prophet, his attitude was the Qur'an.' The Qur'an is a silent book. The Prophet was a walking Qur'an. Someone who would demonstrate to you the Qur'an practically through his actions, he would embody the Qur'an for you.

And all Prophets of God. Jesus, peace be upon him. He embodied the Gospels, The Bible. His life, when you look at it, reflects the Bible. The life of Moses reflects the Old Testament, the Towah.