I need some advise specially from those who have planned and made dedicated efforts to have your child learn Quran ..
What steps did you take to ensure that it went smoothly for the you and the child?
At what age did you start the process?
How did the child react to the challenge and how do you prepare your child for it?
How did you manage regular schooling + Hifz , specially being based in a western Country?
I have heard that a mother needs to plan well ahead of time if she wants to make it easy for the child , perhaps it all starts with the intention and preparation right from when the child is in the womb.
Some of the tips someone shared was : listening to and loudly reciting the Quran from the start of the 7th month of pregnancy sort of gets the baby accustomed to the words and when baby is born , regularly reciting or listening to Quran near them , helps them unconsciously pick up the language and eventually makes it easier for them to learn it ..
What is the truth in the above and what can I do to ensure 100% success in this project?
your advise will be highly appreciated ..
I think it's very difficult with school but depends on the child. I couldn't manage and ended up leaving hifz which I am very sad abt. My friend on the other hand didn't have any problems. Other friends took a year out of school and did it with no detriment to their academics in the end.
I know about Lahore only. it's either taking them off school for 2 years in class 5 and then get them back in class 7 after a test in English,Urdu and mathematics OR there are schools like Dar-e-Arqam or SCIL that provide hifz facilities alongwith regular school course so you won't need to get the child out of school at all for the programme.
I plan on doing it for my sons too iA. may Allah guide us to choose the best for our kids.
Maazrat for not replying earlier, my daughter was ill, she is fine alhumdolilah. There are alhumdolilah good number of huffaz in my family, so i will be sharing my experiences with you.
This is in addition to what Prototype wrote.
First and foremost is that keep kid motivated and secondly keep your self motivated as during this time many time shaytan will come to you and say it is not fardh, no need for this pain etc.
Do not confuse child about deen, a hybrid kid, with songs in home and quran in madrassa may not be a good receipe for hifz.
Normal age is 7/8 Years, my kids have a different route, admitted at 3 years , will learn arabic for 3 years then hifz(2 years inshallah) then ahadith hifz (2 years inshallah) then for allim 10 Years.
It depends on the environment given to child and the madrassa, ther are madaris where beating kids is strictly prohibited , my nephews go to a similar madressa and they love being there.
My cousins went to a common madressa and out of three brothers only one completed the hifz.
There are different types of people
Those who went on to complete religious education after hifz. There are multiple programs for scholars to complete regular educations, I have friends who have done takhasus (post aalim course-mufti) and have MBAs from IBA or Ms /MPhil in economics.
Those who change route and complete regular education. There are multiple huffaz catch up courses/crash courses for these kids. Welcome to SSS is one of such school in Karachi.
This is very good tip, my children picked many of 30[SUP]th[/SUP] para because my wife used to recite them a lot. Also we try that the kids hear tilawat last thing they do at night. Tanzil - Quran Navigator | is a very good website for this.
EDIT-Keep playing certain surah, say last 10 ayah every day, kids will pick inshallah
Few more things like change your life style to suite the kids. Wake up early, tahajud preferred and sleep early.
And make a lot of duas for kids.
May ALLAH subhanwatallah make your kids practical muslims/muslimahs and make them source of benefit for the whole ummah.
NOTE- Sorry for being brief as had to write up the reply again ( google chrome crashed) .
Bao bihari, Thanks so much for the detailed response. It has helped me to some extent , I particularly like the idea of playing the Quranic verses at night , coz repetition does have very positive effects and it becomes a whole lot more easier for kids to pick up and learn things ..
I still have questions though if anyone can help :
Schooling in the west is a very competitive business .. hence taking years off their education might seem like a tough call. Legally as well I dont think its a viable solution .. So in particular those who have lived in the west , how do you get around to achieving the Quran Hifz project without getting the schooling affected ..
We dont have such high class madrassas or islamic schools here .. and due to business and property reasons it will be a huge challenge to move out of this region .. what options can I consider to get the kid best possible Hifz training while living within my boundaries ..
Bao , you mentioned the process to begin at 7 years , I have actually heard that kids are the brightest and their minds the hungriest for knowledge when they are between 4-5 years of age .. that is when they can also be moulded very easily to learn multiple things .. by age 7-8 they are sort of more moody and difficult to handle and motivate at times .. plus studies at school become hectic too ... Am I being unreasonably ambitious in thinking that kids Quran and hifz can go along well from the age of 4 when they start their preschool? and may be get done by the age of 7 , after which time it will be regular Quran classes and the pressure will be off considerably ..
Bao bihari, Thanks so much for the detailed response. It has helped me to some extent , I particularly like the idea of playing the Quranic verses at night , coz repetition does have very positive effects and it becomes a whole lot more easier for kids to pick up and learn things ..
I still have questions though if anyone can help :
Schooling in the west is a very competitive business .. hence taking years off their education might seem like a tough call. Legally as well I dont think its a viable solution .. So in particular those who have lived in the west , how do you get around to achieving the Quran Hifz project without getting the schooling affected ..
We dont have such high class madrassas or islamic schools here .. and due to business and property reasons it will be a huge challenge to move out of this region .. what options can I consider to get the kid best possible Hifz training while living within my boundaries ..
PMed you for this. :) , please update us here with your findings.
Bao , you mentioned the process to begin at 7 years , I have actually heard that kids are the brightest and their minds the hungriest for knowledge when they are between 4-5 years of age .. that is when they can also be moulded very easily to learn multiple things .. by age 7-8 they are sort of more moody and difficult to handle and motivate at times .. plus studies at school become hectic too ... Am I being unreasonably ambitious in thinking that kids Quran and hifz can go along well from the age of 4 when they start their preschool? and may be get done by the age of 7 , after which time it will be regular Quran classes and the pressure will be off considerably ..
Many thanks in advance for all your kind help
Yes the best age is 4/5 years. I just mentioned what is common among people.Dont know much about western schooling so some one else may give you better answer.
I read an online book with amazing tips and advice from a mother in Texas who taught her two children to memorize the Quran by the age of 7 and she was even teaching them the meaning of the Quran, so they read with understanding. It was very inspirational. I will try looking for it, it was really helpful
One thing I also heard from a shaykh was that for many children who memorize Quran at a young age, something they often have in common is that their parents pray Tahajud
yes certainly .. I will PM you the link now .. please can you also ensure that once you have collected some knowledge please do share it here for many others to benefit
children from ages birth to 4/5 have brains like sponges, they have the ability to learn many languages during this time period and retain that information. i would sugest play tilawat repeatedly along with teaching them the arabic language. just think of it this way...kids can sing twinkle twinkle little star before they even learn to read it. that only happens with repetition. i would say, set a time when the child will listen to the tilawat in sequence for example, every morning your child will listen to the tilawat for 15 minutes starting from the first parah, next day you you play from where you left the day before. you make this a morning routine. then for the afternoons and/or evenings, you select a certain number of small surats and play them everyday for few months, after few months, add one new surah by replacing one from the list, again play the new list everyday for few months. the surah the you have taken off the new list can be recited or played at any other time, maybe once during the week or month. i guess consistency and repetitin is the key. we use this kind of method when teaching children various songs, poems, etc.
thanks