A teacher is never above getting corrected by his or her student.
Each night at MCC’s Taraweeh, three young men flank *Qari Amar Bellaha. Each has memorized the Quran under his tutelage, and they are unafraid to correct their teacher.
The Quranic text is infallible. Human memory is not.
May Allah bless the parents of (from left) *Hafiz Omar Ali, Hafiz Taha Abdullah, and Hafiz Ahmed Hussayni for rearing these fantastic young men who are being trained to take the sacred mantle as our community reciters and as protectors of the Qur’an.
*A Qari is a person who recites the Quran with the proper rules of recitation. Hafiz, meaning memorizer, depending on the context, is a term used to refer to someone who has memorized the Quran completely. Both terms are associated with the Quran.
*Hifz is the memorization of the Quran. Muslims believe that whoever memorizes the Quran and acts upon it will be rewarded and significantly honored by Allah, as Abdullah ibn Amr narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “It shall be said — meaning to the one who memorized the Qur’an — ‘Recite, and rise up, recite (melodiously) as you would recite in the world. Indeed your rank shall be at the last Ayah you recited” (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2914)
Having memorized the Quran, the hafiz or hafiza must ensure they do not forget it. Ensuring perfect recall of all the learned verses requires constant practice. The memorization of the Quran was necessary for Muslims in the past and present. Yearly, thousands of students master the Quran and complete the book with interpretation and memorization. The Quran is the only religious or secular book millions have entirely memorized.
