Remembering

So we know that baby humans don't have much they have to do each day.

In the beginning they don't have to do much more than cry when they are hungry for God to feed them.

But by the time that a few years have passed, life starts to fill up with things they want to do,

and before long it seems like their days are constantly busy.

And it can be hard to find time to learn suras in the midst of a busy life,

which is where the skill of forming regular habits comes in.

The Sala shows us how a fixed daily routine,

a discipline,

can be of benefit to our lives,

and so it is with learning the Qur'an.

If you have a time each day devoted to learning,

however little,

it's easier to notice when you have let a busy schedule come between you and your memorisation.

Of course if you are really committed, you can listen and learn through your earbuds

while you are doing other things that need little concentration,

like sitting on a bus, or going for a run.

As you familiarise yourself with the Qur'an, you will inevitably find favourite verses and suras,

whether because of the beauty of the way they sound, or the way that the meaning affects you.

And for the parts that speak to you, it is good to become a frequent visitor,

draw close to the suras you love, and that way get to know them through affection.

Become friends with the Qur'an.

And surely between The Cow and Humankind you must be able to find a sura of a length that doesn't seem too daunting to attempt.

The Ha Mim Suras between The Believers and The Sand Dunes are fairly short,

or if you want more of a challenge you can head for a longer Sura from earlier in the Reading,

like Mary, or The Bee, or Thunder, or Joseph.

I could tell you my favourites, but they are mine, and you need to find your own.

But there is one Sura that has a special place in the memories of most muslims,

and is considered so important that it is often printed separately from the rest of the text.

Like other Suras it deals with God, and Messengership and the Afterlife,

but there is a special reason for learning this Sura,

which is known by the letters that begin it,

Ya Sin.

The Messenger is said to have said “Everything has a heart, and the heart of the Qur'an is Ya Sin”,

and for many muslims it will be the only Sura of reasonable length they know,

often repeating it after the morning and evening Sala,

reinforcing the memory.

For Ya Sin has a special importance in the community,

as it is also said that the Messenger said “Recite Ya Sin over your dead”.

So its words are traditionally read over those who have just died,

or are close to death,

and at the graves of loved ones,

and as a case in point, its words are inset around the doorway into the Taj Mahal..

But as might be expected in such a crucial Sura,

there is a treasure trove hidden within it for you to discover.

In 'The Jewels of the Qur'an', Al-Ghazzali writes “Perhaps you long to know the meaning of the statement of the Messenger “Ya Sin is the heart of the Qur'an”.

I consider it proper to entrust it to your understanding in order that you may discover it for yourself”.

He does give a hint, naming the jewels in Ya Sin as the 25 verses that are ayats 33-44 and ayats 71-83, but that is all,

saying “Energy and awakening on your own account is greater than the joy achieved by awakening caused by others.

Awareness by one's own effort increases energy more than awakening by others”.

So make the effort and see what it brings.