Intention
Memorizing Qur'an is an extremely honourable act when done the right way. One hadith states that the reward of learning a single verse of Qur'an is better than praying 100 rakaat! It is, however, very easy for these precious rewards to never reach the one who memorizes the Qur'an. It's all about intention.
When reading, memorizing, or learning the meaning of Qur'an, an extreme amount of attention has to be given to keeping one's intention pure. The best intention is of that person who does a deed solely because he wants Allah to be pleased with him. Then comes the one who performs a deed because of their love for Islam and it's propagation. Then the one who seeks Jannah and the various rewards associated with a certain act. All of the above three intentions are pure and none of them are blameworthy. After that, if someone does an act for a wordly purpose, such as seeking recognition, praise, money, or favours, the only reward the individual receives is in this world. Even if they have a split intention, seeking Allah and something worldly, the only reward is in this life, and the deed is actually considered shirk, because Allah states that He is not in need of partners.
In his book Ad-Daa’ Wad-Dawaa’, Ibn Al-Qayyim explains the hadith of the first three to be thrown into Hell on the Day of Resurrection. He says: “from Abu Hurayrah, who said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah say, ‘ Verily, the first to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who had died as a martyr. He will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him: `What did you do to express gratitude for it?’ The man will reply: `I fought for Your Cause till I was martyred.’ Allah will say: `You have lied. You fought so that people might call you courageous; and they have done so.’ Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. Next a man who had acquired and imparted knowledge and read the Qur’an will be brought forward, Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him: `What did you do to express gratitude for it?’ The man will reply: `I acquired knowledge and taught it, and read the Qur’an for Your sake.’ Allah will say to him: `You have lied. You acquired knowledge so that people might call you a learned (man), and you read the Qur’an so that they might call you a reciter, and they have done so.’ Command will then be issued about him, and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. Next a man whom Allah had made affluent and to whom Allah had given plenty of wealth, will be brought forward, Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. He will ask him: `What did you do to express gratitude for it?’ The man will reply: `I did not neglect any of the ways You liked wealth to be spend liberally for Your sake’. Allah will say to him: `You have lied. You did it so that people might call you generous, and they have done so.’ Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.”
And the wording, “So these are the first of Allah’s creation the Fire will be kindled with on the Day of Resurrection“
And thus, when such a sublime reward is associated with memorizing Qur'an, it should never be undertaken in order to show off or attain status in the eyes of others. In fact, it is common for people to memorize Qur'an, or do any good deed, without any intention at all. When doing this, a great amount of potential reward is lost, and the action will often not achieve the soul-cleansing benefits that make them so desired.
When reading, memorizing, or learning the meaning of Qur'an, an extreme amount of attention has to be given to keeping one's intention pure. The best intention is of that person who does a deed solely because he wants Allah to be pleased with him. Then comes the one who performs a deed because of their love for Islam and it's propagation. Then the one who seeks Jannah and the various rewards associated with a certain act. All of the above three intentions are pure and none of them are blameworthy. After that, if someone does an act for a wordly purpose, such as seeking recognition, praise, money, or favours, the only reward the individual receives is in this world. Even if they have a split intention, seeking Allah and something worldly, the only reward is in this life, and the deed is actually considered shirk, because Allah states that He is not in need of partners.
In his book Ad-Daa’ Wad-Dawaa’, Ibn Al-Qayyim explains the hadith of the first three to be thrown into Hell on the Day of Resurrection. He says: “from Abu Hurayrah, who said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah say, ‘ Verily, the first to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who had died as a martyr. He will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him: `What did you do to express gratitude for it?’ The man will reply: `I fought for Your Cause till I was martyred.’ Allah will say: `You have lied. You fought so that people might call you courageous; and they have done so.’ Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. Next a man who had acquired and imparted knowledge and read the Qur’an will be brought forward, Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him: `What did you do to express gratitude for it?’ The man will reply: `I acquired knowledge and taught it, and read the Qur’an for Your sake.’ Allah will say to him: `You have lied. You acquired knowledge so that people might call you a learned (man), and you read the Qur’an so that they might call you a reciter, and they have done so.’ Command will then be issued about him, and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. Next a man whom Allah had made affluent and to whom Allah had given plenty of wealth, will be brought forward, Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. He will ask him: `What did you do to express gratitude for it?’ The man will reply: `I did not neglect any of the ways You liked wealth to be spend liberally for Your sake’. Allah will say to him: `You have lied. You did it so that people might call you generous, and they have done so.’ Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.”
And the wording, “So these are the first of Allah’s creation the Fire will be kindled with on the Day of Resurrection“
And thus, when such a sublime reward is associated with memorizing Qur'an, it should never be undertaken in order to show off or attain status in the eyes of others. In fact, it is common for people to memorize Qur'an, or do any good deed, without any intention at all. When doing this, a great amount of potential reward is lost, and the action will often not achieve the soul-cleansing benefits that make them so desired.
What to Expect
While memorizing Qur'an at one's own pace, it is normal experience a loss of zeal and desire to continue to memorize more. Schedules might start to fill up and the pleasure of memorizing might fade. Perhaps there no longer seems like a need to memorize more. Whatever the situation may be, it is natural and to be expected. However, the loss of motivation should not be taken as a free ticket to abandon all previous effort and give up.
To take a break and relax; enjoy what Allah has blessed us with is not selfish or detrimental. As a matter of fact, when the intention is right, it is considered worship. Sometimes these breaks are needed to recharge. We are all human and our bodies have a right over us. If someone has a very open schedule with too much spare time (over 5 or 6 hours), then the likely reason for slacking is because of a lack of commitments. Developing a loose schedule and filling it with various activities will give a big increase in the productivity of everything one does, rather than having the entire day to finish anything, which breeds procrastination.
Once memorizing starts to take off, a plan will have to be made to recite whatever is memorized consistently. It is seen too often that full time Qur'an students memorize large amounts of Qur'an, but can only recall a scattered tenth of what they have learnt. If proper etiquette isn't followed to remember what has already been memorized and one ends up forgetting, it is considered sinful.
Finally, since memorizing casually does not involve a strict 5-hour schedule, it is highly recommended to invest time in studying the approximate translation and deeper meaning of whatever is being memorized. The purpose of memorizing the Qur'an is to have this incomparable guide stored in one's heart at all times. To not be able to derive admonition and advice from the Qur'an would then be missing out on a great benefit.
May Allah make the memorizing of His book easy for you and increase you in guidance and taqwa.
To take a break and relax; enjoy what Allah has blessed us with is not selfish or detrimental. As a matter of fact, when the intention is right, it is considered worship. Sometimes these breaks are needed to recharge. We are all human and our bodies have a right over us. If someone has a very open schedule with too much spare time (over 5 or 6 hours), then the likely reason for slacking is because of a lack of commitments. Developing a loose schedule and filling it with various activities will give a big increase in the productivity of everything one does, rather than having the entire day to finish anything, which breeds procrastination.
Once memorizing starts to take off, a plan will have to be made to recite whatever is memorized consistently. It is seen too often that full time Qur'an students memorize large amounts of Qur'an, but can only recall a scattered tenth of what they have learnt. If proper etiquette isn't followed to remember what has already been memorized and one ends up forgetting, it is considered sinful.
Finally, since memorizing casually does not involve a strict 5-hour schedule, it is highly recommended to invest time in studying the approximate translation and deeper meaning of whatever is being memorized. The purpose of memorizing the Qur'an is to have this incomparable guide stored in one's heart at all times. To not be able to derive admonition and advice from the Qur'an would then be missing out on a great benefit.
May Allah make the memorizing of His book easy for you and increase you in guidance and taqwa.
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