WHY THE NEED FOR MORE THAN ONE QUR'AN AS A REFERENCE?
Why does the writer suggest maintaining the four (4 types) of al-Qur'an mentioned above? The reason is, you may later face choosing between a translation that you don't easily understand versus a simple translation that is more suitable according to your understanding. The writer is not sure about Qur'an in other languages but if you were to look at the English versions, for example, the International English Standard version Qur'an and the translation Qur'an by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, where the latter uses a slightly higher English standard, which may be difficult for some to understand. But if you feel only one translated Qur'an is enough for you, continue with the one you feel most comfortable with.
The Arabic language of the Qur'an is unique, you will get one meaning in your own language (the writer saw this in the Malay translation) but there are two or more Arabic words that are different, although the translated meaning (even in English) is the same.
When necessary, to make sure you don't misunderstand the actual translation, do refer to the International Standard English al-Qur'an translation (the most
accurate and simple translation in my opinion) to confirm whether the translated version (e.g. in other than Arabic) matches with the English translations.
B. THE LEARNING PROCESS
Step 1
1. Start with surah al-Fatihah until the end of 30 juz al-Qur'an. Once you completed your 30 juz cycle (604 pages), do not use the same al-Qur'an that has been written by you. If the Qur'an is still in good condition (I doubt it if you finally completed the lesson after more than three years), store it in a "good way".
2. You start your first lesson the most important thing you need to do, is to decide the number of lines you plan to recite daily. It's either one-third (1/3), half (1/2), or one (1) page and stick to that decision. Make it your daily routine, if you want to see the fast result. Nevertheless, the writer recommended that:-
(d) After reciting on your own, to verify your reading and tajwid (if necessary), play the al-Qur'an application (installed on your handphone) and check what you have recited, matches with the application. With all honesty, most are worried about reciting "tajwid" as this is the common trend (to some, continuous learning tajwid from young to old) instead of learning al-Qur'an Arabic.
(e) After listening to the al-Qur'an recitation, revert to the first word and start writing the translation.
(f) Use a sharp edge pencil and make sure you have a good sharpener as you will be using a lot of pencils (would like to suggest that you buy a box of pencils and an eraser) as when you write, you need to ensure, the pencil edge is sharp.
3. Start writing the translation from your chosen "main source" as a reference.
Example 6 (how the writing is done!)
Still, if you find the translation is not very clear (not to your understanding), look at the general (mafhum) Tafseer so you can understand. You can also look at other sources as recommended earlier. Example issues of different translations are as follows:
Translation Difference -1
Please see the word جَبَّارِينَ translated as " very strong and mighty" (in Malay translation), but the English translation is "..tyrannic strength ". The translation of “very strong and mighty ” is different from “tyrannic strength” because the subject in the verse may not be a tyrant or cruel. Ensure correct translation is used, so as to avoid misinterpreting the actual meaning of the ayat. That is one reason why you should refer to the three-worded root word of the al-Qur'an as one of the ways to understand the actual translation of the ayat. The writer recommends you download the Quran Dictionary (asiminux) from the Play Store as a reference too.
Translation Difference-2
(a) Due to limited space between the lines, write as simple as possible (most important you understand what you wrote);
(b) whenever there are "repeated words" that you have already remembered, continue to write their meaning. Every time you write the meaning, it helps to strengthen your memory. Even an al-Hafiz (those who practice memorizing the full verses in the al-Qur'an), normally repeats at least 60 times each line what they need to remember but for this method, there is no need to repeat. Doing the exercise daily and continuously writing the translation, is an automatic repeating process. In shaa' Allah, eventually, the translation will stay in your memory.
Why not go the extra mile?
As you start doing the exercise, you will find "common repeating words" (mostly الحَرْفُ that you want to quickly remember. The writer would suggest you use an exercise book to write these common repeating words so as to further your memory. Some examples
The next day before you commence your next lesson, you need to do another MR session of the previous lesson. Take note this session is important, so you must make an effort to do it.
5. From experience (not everyone is the same), after the 9th surah, you can remember the translation of many words that you
didn't remember before (my estimate, for those of you over 50 years old) maybe
1-3%. Imagine if the Qur'an has 6,236 (common total), 3% is 187 verses. Those
who still have a good memory, maybe more. If not at that level, do not feel despair. Continue with the lesson, the most important learning is encouraged in Islam.
Example-9
6. If you have completed 30 juz, start again from al-Fatiha (Surah 1), until you feel you can translate the whole Qur'an. The writer is not sure how long it will take to do this training, but for sure we must ask for God's help us remain steadfast. Pray more so that God strengthens our memory (refer to "dua" under item 7)
7. Last but not least, do daily dua as you need Allah's help to achieve success.
al-Imran (3:8)
After completing 30 juz, assess yourself..! How much have you achieved in terms of overall percentage? 100%, 80%, or just 50%? Irrespective of the percentage you achieved, repeat the translation process from the beginning, i.e. back to "Surah Al-Fatiha". Continue to do the exercise, as practice make perfect.
After finishing the translation exercise for the day, review the translations before closing your Qur'an for the day. Every time you want to start a new exercise the next day, review what you learned yesterday.
Hope you can take some time to try it..! The writer hopes all Readers can benefit from this Self-Learn Al-Qur'an Arabic Vocab Builder. Perhaps later, you can share your achievement with us and write in the comment session of this blog/page.
If you already using this method before my writing, Alhamdulillah, I believe this is not a new technique because it has been used by many Muslims all over the world.
May Allah guide all of you.
PLEASE...
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