Abū Masʿūd Aḥmad ibn al-Furāt ar-Rāzī (d. 258 AH/872 CE) used to repeat every ḥadīth five hundred times. A man once said to him, “I continually forget the narrations that I have memorised.” Abū Masʿūd replied, “You must revise every single narration five hundred times.” The man exclaimed, “Who is able to do that?” Abū Masʿūd responded, “That is why you are unable to memorise.” (Tahdhīb at-Tahdhīb, 1:58)
Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Abharī al-Mālikī (d. 375 AH/985 CE) said:
“I read Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakīm’s Mukhtaṣar five hundred times, Al-Asadiyyah seventy-five times, Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ and Al-Mabsūṭah thirty times, and Ibn al-Barqī’s Mukhtaṣar seventy times.” (Tartīb al-Madārik wa-Taqrīb al-Masālik)
Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH/1373 CE) said:
“Abū Bakr al-Anṣārī would recount any issue from a lesson when asked, without having to revise it. This was possibly due to the fact that in the early stages of his pursuit of knowledge he would repeat every lesson four hundred times.” (Al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, 12:227)
Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn (d. 233 AH/848 CE) said:
“We do not know a ḥadīth by heart unless we write it down or listen to it fifty times.” (Tārīkh Dimashq, 14:65)
Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī ash-Shīrāzī (d. 476 AH/1083 CE) said:
“I used to repeat every issue of qiyās one thousand times. When I finished, I would do the same with the next issue. I likewise repeated every lesson one thousand times.” (Ṭabaqāt ash-Shāfiʿiyyah al-Kubrā, 4:115)
Ibn al-ʿAjamī used to repeat his lesson fifty times. (Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 23:115)
Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl al-Muzanī (d. 264 AH/878 CE) said:
“I read Ar-Risālah five hundred times, and I would find a new benefit every time I read it.” (Tahdhīb al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Lughāt, 1:59)
ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn ʿAlī Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH/1201 CE) ؒ writes:
وكان أبو إسحاق الشيرازي يعيد الدرس مائة مرة، وإن كان إلكيا يعيد سبعين مرة.
“Abū Isḥāq ash-Shīrāzī used to repeat a lesson one hundred times, while al-Kiyā repeated it seventy times.” (Al-Ḥathth ʿalā Ḥifẓ al-ʿIlm wa-Dhikr Kibār al-Ḥuffāẓ, pp. 14–15)
Al-Ḥasan ibn Abī Bakr an-Naysābūrī said:
لا يحصل الحفظ إليّ حتى يعاد خمسين مرة.
“I do not commit something to memory until it has been repeated fifty times.” (Al-Ḥathth ʿalā Ḥifẓ al-ʿIlm, pp. 14–15)
Ibn al-Jawzī narrated:
وحكى لنا الحسن أن فقيها أعاد الدرس في بيته مرارا كثيرة، فقالت له عجوز في بيته: قد والله حفظته أنا. فقال: أعيديه، فأعادته. فلما كان بعد أيام قال: يا عجوز، أعيدي ذلك الدرس، فقالت: ما أحفظه. قال: إني أكرر عد الحفظ لئلا يصيبني ما أصابك.
“Al-Ḥasan mentioned that a jurist repeated a lesson in his house so frequently that an elderly woman said to him, ‘By Allah, even I have memorised it.’ He asked her to repeat it, and she did so. After a few days, he said to her, ‘Repeat that lesson.’ She replied, ‘I have not memorised it.’ He said, ‘I repeat the lesson so that I am not afflicted by what has afflicted you.’” (Al-Ḥathth ʿalā Ḥifẓ al-ʿIlm, pp. 14–15.)
These narrations illustrate the extraordinary diligence, perseverance, and discipline of the early scholars in memorisation and revision. Their success was not attained through natural ability alone, but through sustained effort, constant repetition, and lifelong commitment.
The Mauritanian Method of Memorisation
Among the most effective methods of memorisation is the traditional Mauritanian approach, which is based upon intensive repetition and gradual consolidation.
Day One
- Write or read the text to a teacher until it can be read perfectly.
- Read the text three hundred times from memory, occasionally referring back to ensure nothing has been omitted.
- Return to the text and read it two hundred times from memory.
- Finally, read it again from memory two hundred times.
Day Two
- Read the previously memorised text one hundred and fifty times from memory.
- Apply the same method used on Day One to the new text.
Day Three
- Read Day One’s text fifty times from memory.
- Read Day Two’s text one hundred and fifty times before beginning a new text.
Day Four
- Read Day Two’s text fifty times.
- Read Day Three’s text one hundred and fifty times before proceeding further.
This systematic method reinforces long-term retention and prevents gradual loss of memorised material.
Nothing, however, is attained except by the will, permission, and power of Allah .
Matters That Aid Memorisation and Those That Weaken It
Shaykh Muqbil ibn Hādī al-Wādiʿī (d. 1422 AH/2001 CE) mentioned several matters that strengthen memorisation:
- Acting upon what has been memorised. Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ (d. 197 AH/812 CE) said: “Whoever wishes to memorise ḥadīth, let him act upon it.”
(as-Suyūṭī, Al-Tadbīr, 1:588) - Mindfulness of Allah (taqwā).
- Abstaining from excessive citrus foods.
- Eating raisins.
- Consuming bitter frankincense in moderation.
- Consuming ginger in moderation.
- Frequent repetition.
- Constant revision.
- Sitting with students who possess strong memorisation.
- Allocating a suitable time and place for study.
Allah says:
وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ اللَّهُ
“Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will teach you.” [Q 2:282] (excerpt)
Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī mentioned in Al-Faqīh wa-l-Mutafaqqih the inappropriateness of memorising near flowing water or scenic trees, as such environments distract the mind.
Additional beneficial practices include:
- Avoiding unnecessary problems.
- Maintaining good physical health.
- Consuming honey and milk.
- Abstaining from sin.
Matters that weaken memorisation include:
- Excessive sleep.
- Sleeping after Fajr.
- Overeating.
- Excessive vinegar.
- Excessive citrus fruits.
These guidelines demonstrate that memorisation is not merely a technical exercise, but a holistic discipline that involves spiritual, physical, intellectual, and ethical dimensions.
References
Qurʾān, 2:282.
Adh-Dhahabī, Shams ad-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (d. 748 AH/1348 CE). Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ, 23:115.
Ibn al-Jawzī, ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn ʿAlī (d. 597 AH/1201 CE). Al-Ḥathth ʿalā Ḥifẓ al-ʿIlm wa-Dhikr Kibār al-Ḥuffāẓ, edited by Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Munʿim, Muʾassasat Shabāb al-Jāmiʿah, Alexandria, second edition, 1412 AH, pp. 14–15 in the electronic transcription.
Ibn ʿAsākir, ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan (d. 571 AH/1176 CE). Tārīkh Dimashq, 14:65.
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī (d. 852 AH/1449 CE). Tahdhīb at-Tahdhīb, 1:58.
Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar (d. 774 AH/1373 CE). Al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, 12:227.
Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī. Al-Faqīh wa-l-Mutafaqqih.
An-Nawawī, Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf (d. 676 AH/1277 CE). Tahdhīb al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Lughāt, 1:59.
Nūr ad-Dīn al-Waṣābī. Al-Fatāwā al-Ḥadīthiyyah, p. 164.
Al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ ibn Mūsā (d. 544 AH/1149 CE). Tartīb al-Madārik wa-Taqrīb al-Masālik, al-Abharī’s biography 1:427.
As-Subkī, Tāj ad-Dīn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (d. 771 AH/1370 CE). Ṭabaqāt ash-Shāfiʿiyyah al-Kubrā, 4:115.
As-Suyūṭī. Al-Tadbīr, 1:588.
