Muftī Ismail Moosa (may Allāh Ta’ālā preserve him)
Together with having a great fervor for knowledge and spending one’s time correctly, a seeker of knowledge needs a sharp mind and an excellent memory. A student can attain more knowledge in a shorter period if he can understand quicker and memorize in less time. Imām Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) said: “This knowledge of ours cannot be attained except with three qualities: 1) Burning desire, 2) Intellectual strength, 3) Being content (with one’s wealth and possessions)” (Faḍāil Abī Hanīfah, pg 360)
Whilst some people have been naturally gifted with great mental acumen and good retentive abilities, Allāh Ta’ālā made it such that every person can enhance his/her intellect and improve his memory.
Imām Rabī’ ‘ibn Sulaymān al-Murādī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) was known to have a weak understanding initially. He had so much difficulty in understanding that Imām Shāfi’i (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) once had to explain to him something 40 times, yet he was unable to grasp what the Imām was saying. (Ṭabāqat ash-Shāfi’iyyah, 2 / 134)
However, this same person (Imām Rabī’) then advanced to such an extent that he became one of the greatest students of Imām Shāfi’ī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him).
Ways to Enhance the Memory
Studying the lives of the leading narrators of Aḥādītḥ and the advanced scholars of the past, we derived a few practices which they inculcated to strengthen their memories:
1) Remaining on an empty stomach. When the stomach is empty, the mind gets filled. This is a common quality that we find in all academics of the past; irrespective of whether they were Muslim or not. It is the secret to intellectual brilliance. Keeping a fast helps a person to learn fast.
If we cannot bear hunger, at the very least, we should ensure not to overeat.
2) Eating healthy foods. In general, the belly should not be filled. But when we do eat, we should consume such food that boosts the powers of one’s brains. Imām Bukhārī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him), for example, made it his practice to eat 21 almonds daily. A healthy diet fortifies one’s wit.
If we cannot eat healthy food, then we should at least cut down on foods that harm our mental strength. We should minimize consuming processed and fried food, sugary drinks, carbohydrates and other such foods that are detrimental to one’s intelligence and health in general. We should also avoid eating Ḥarām, for that causes the most mental harm.
3) Constant revising boosts the memory of an individual. When asked if there is any medicine for increasing one’s memory, Imām Bukhārī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) responded: “I do not know of anything more beneficial for memorizing than: Extreme Passion and Constant Repetition.” There are numerous incidents of scholars reading books multiple times. For example, Imām Nawawī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) read the book al-Wasīt 400 (yes: four hundred!) times. Abū Ishāq ash-Shīrāzī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) said: I repeat every lesson 1000 times! (Ṭabaqāt ash-Shāfi’iyya al-Kubrā, 4 / 218)
The brain is like a muscle; the more we use it, the stronger it becomes. But if we neglect our brains and stop memorizing, the brains will become weaker.
Other Methods
Together with these apparent means, Allāh Ta’ālā divinely assists a person to understand and remember, and Allāh Ta’ālā also deprives people from attaining knowledge. There are a few methods to attain the divine help of Allāh Ta’ālā and attract blessings directly from the Almighty. These are:
1) Being pious and adopting Taqwā. For knowledge to be earned, a person should practice on all that he learnt. Imām Aḥmad (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) quoted from ‘Isā (alayhi as-Salām): “A person who practices on what he knows, Allah will bless him with the knowledge of what he does not know.” (Ḥilya al-Awliyā, 10 / 14-15)
2) Staying away from sin. Knowledge is light and sins are darkness. When the darkness of sin fills one’s heart and mind, then the person will be deprived of knowledge. As such, he will have abandon sin. It is claimed that Imām Shāfi’ī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) experienced minor forgetfulness because of an unintentional first gaze of the opposite gender. If that is the result of something that is permissible, imagine how much more harmful it is to intentionally engage in sin!
3) Respecting everything related to knowledge and serving one’s teachers. Imām Shāfi’ī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) mentioned with regards to ‘Allāmah Rabī’ (who we mentioned about above): “No one served me like how Rabi’i served me.” Allāh Ta’ālā then blessed him and made him such an advanced scholar.
If we cannot respect ‘Ilm and honour our teachers, then at the very least, we should not show any disrespect.
4) Imploring Allāh Ta’ālā and asking Him. Allah Ta’ālā has power over everything, and Allāh Ta’ālā can also work in contrast to means and against means. It therefore goes without saying that if we ask from Him, then He will bless us.
Together with asking in our own languages and begging from Allāh Ta’ālā, many scholars adopted various practices. For example, Ibn Ḥajar (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) would recite Surah al-‘A’lā as a means of remembering what to say in his lessons.
TWO SUPPLICATIONS
- A very potent practice is reciting the following between Maghrib and ‘Ishā:
اللّٰهُمّ صَلّ وَ سَلِّمْ وَ بارِكْ عَلىٰ سَيِّدِنا مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ كَما لا نِهايَةَ لِكَمالِكَ وَ عَدَدَ كَمالِهِ
Allāhumma ṣalli wa sallim wa bārik ‘alā sayyidinā Muḥammad, wa ālihi kamā lā nihāyata likamālika wa ‘adada kamālihi.
Shaykh Muḥammad ‘Awwāmah (may Allāh Ta’ālā preserve him) really encourages students of Ḥadītḥ to be habitual with reciting this. Mawlānā Hārūn Abbās’ūmar (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him), a great teacher of Ḥadīth, made sure to recite this daily. A student of his said: “This Du’ā is so powerful that when one recites it between Maghrib and ‘Ishā, in a very short period he will notice that he can memorize Aḥādītḥ at a much quicker pace and shorter period. The Aḥādītḥ also become firmly embedded within his mind.”
- Shaykh Muḥammad ‘Awwāmah (may Allāh Ta’ālā preserve him) advises that the following should be recited after reading any book:
سُبْحانَ اللّٰهِ وَ الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ وَ لا إِلٰهَ إِلّا اللّٰهُ وَ اللّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ وَ لا حَوْلَ وَ لا قُوَّةَ إِلّا بِاللّٰهِ الْعَلِيِّ الْعَظِيمِ عَدَدَ كُلِّ حَرْفٍ كُتِبَ وَ عَدَدَ كُلِّ حَرْفٍ يُّكْتَبُ إِلىٰ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
Subḥānallāhi wal ḥamdulillāhi wa lā ilāha illallāhu wallāhu akbar, wa lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāhil ‘aliyyil ‘aḍīm ‘adada kulli ḥarfin kutiba wa ‘adada kulli ḥarfin yuktabu ilā yawmid Dīn.
We pray that Allāh Ta’ālā strengthens our memory and may He bless us with beneficial knowledge.