A sister recently sent me an email and May ALLAH make things easy for her (AMEEN) and may she be rewarded for her question (AMEEN).

She asks: “I was just wondering after reading your blog how you are able to teach your kids all those surahs as you are a convert like me. Do you know all those surahs? Have you studied arabic? Or do they learn from someone else? Or are you learning together? I don’t feel confident to teach my kids too many surahs as I can barely even read arabic and I only know 5 surahs myself. I have no one to teach me quran.”

To her and those who are wondering:

Wa ‘alaikum as salaam wa RahmatULLAHI wa Barakatuhu,

I have taken three Arabic classes so I can read Arabic and I’ve memorized some of the surahs and I learned Ayatul Kursi on my own by listening to audio online. I don’t know Suratul Balad yet so my husband is working with my daughter on that one until I catch up. I taught her the beginning surahs and he taught her the longer surahs. I am a revert but my husband isn’t – he knows quite a bit more Arabic and Qur’an than I do.

Go to the link for Hussary that I put on the blog and listen to the shorter surahs for five minutes each day and do half an hour of Arabic study every day. You must be consistent.

Also, get a book with the transliteration and use it to follow along if you need to – but don’t make it a crutch.

The one I received when I took shahada has Juz Amma,
ISBN 1-881963-56-X

It takes a great amount of patience but don’t be discouraged. When I took my first Arabic course, I didn’t even know the Arabic alphabet and I sat nervously and quietly (it was online through shariahprogram.ca) until I could keep up.

Under that pressure, AlhamduLILLAH, I learned the alphabet quickly, even though my husband tried to teach me before I started. You can do it! InshaALLAH, do like my daughter is doing, write the letters down over and over and they will sink in.

You can buy the dvd Alif is for Asad – that is excellent. My son learned the alphabet just by listening to that a few times (there’s a catchy little song and the brother sings it fast but you catch on quickly). Even when you learn to read Arabic or learn the grammar rules like I did, there’s still all of the vocabulary to learn.

Take your time and don’t be discouraged, Ukhti. Also, go to Talibiddeen Jr. and look around. She has things on her site that I haven’t even thought of yet. She’s been homeschooling since 1998!

If your children see you doing it, it encourages them to jump in and get involved. My daughter teaches me what she knows and I memorize it that way because she’s competitive and it gets me going, lol. Then, we perfect the tajweed and away we go!

Another thing I wish to point out, is that learning and memorization of Qur-an is THE foundational science for Islam. You cannot pursue any other field in the Islamic Sciences, if you do not have Qur-an under your belt. It’s that simple.

In the past, classical scholars would not even allow you to sit in their study circles if you had not memorized the Qur-an. Think of this as your ABC’s for this religion.

Also, scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah regretted delving into fields of study like debating the greek philosophers, and felt that they should have spent more time instead on tafsir.

From Aisha (May ALLAH be pleased with her) who said, “The Messenger of ALLAH SAW said: ‘The one who recites the Qur-an and is proficient in it, will be with the noble scribes (the angels). And the one who stutters when reciting the Qur-an due to difficulty, then he will have two rewards.’ ” Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, An-Nasa’i in Al-Sughra, Ibn Hibban, and Saheeh At-Targheeb.

The Messenger of ALLAH SAW said, “Whoever recites a letter from the Book of ALLAH – The Most High – then it will be considered as a good deed he did. And a good deed is qual to ten good deeds like it. I do not mean that Alif Laam Meem is a letter; rather Alif is considered a letter, Laam is considered a letter, and Meem is considered a letter.” Related by Tirmidhi, Al-Bayhaqq in Shu’b al-Eeman, authenticated by Imaam Al-Albaanee.

Take care and don’t give up – I’m almost 35 and it’s not too late.
Wa salaam,
Nakia