Salams Folks,

If you’re a Macite like me, you’re gonna love this:

Khutbah: “How to Unlock the iJannah” by Sh. Suhaib Webb from Islamic Institute of Orange Cty on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

In this article you’re about to learn the quickest, most
effective ways to increase your fluency in reading the
Quran in Arabic. By following these methods, over
time you’ll go from stuttering and stammering over
simple words to reciting any page of the Quran as
easily as you can recite Surah al-Fatiha.

But first, let me tell you about the time I realized I
seriously needed to improve my recitation fluency.
I was at an Islamic event with quite a well-known
scholar…

************WHEN I REALIZED MY RECITATION NEEDED WORK************

Back in my university days I was often involved in
organizing events and activities for Muslim students.
In fact, before long people saw me as the ‘I-Soc guy’
because of my activities in university Islamic Societies….

I was busy organizing the event with the big scholar,
running around and looking important, when it came
to my attention that the hafiz we had asked to do the
recitation for the beginning of the event had gone
AWOL.

(Can you see where this is going…?)

My mind immediately ran down a mental list of people
on our team who might be able to step in. As I looked
around the room, none of them were there. I started
looking around the room frantically now, for anyone
who could step in – even people who had nothing to do
with the I-Soc. I even asked a couple of random people,
but they were like “No, my recitation sucks – why don’t
you do it?”

They were about to find out why I didn’t want to do it!
When I completely ran out of options, I stepped up. First
I thought of reciting something I knew off by heart, but
I had only memorized a few of the really short Surahs at
the end of the Quran, and reciting them almost seemed
like it would be cheating.

Fortunately, I had been working on Surah Yasin, and
listened to it a few times recently, so I thought I’d give
it a go…. believe me when I say, I had never been so
relieved to STOP reciting the Quran. I’m usually a
cool customer on stage, but this time I was practically
sweating. I was stuttering and stammering all over the
place. I almost tripped up on the letters ‘ya-seen’.

When it was over, the scholar leaned over and said
“you know, you really should read the Quran more”.
How embarrassing is that?!
By that time he was preaching to the converted. My mission
was clear: I had to sort my recitation out… and after much
trial and error, here’s how to do it.

***********5 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR FLUENCY************

1. Ancient Thai Saying

The ancient Thai people, now famous for their Muay
Thai Kick Boxing style had a saying. “If you want to
be a good kicker… kick!” The same holds true of your
goal of improving you Quran recitation. Follow the
first advice ever given to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
by his Educator… “Recite!”.

Recite as much as you can, as frequently as you can.
Nothing can replace this discipline. The more you do
it, the better you get at it. Before you know it, you’ll be
reading an unfamiliar page in the same amount of time
it used to take you to read a couple of lines.

2. Link New Habit With Old Habit

This is without doubt the single most effective way to
build a new habit. You need to link the habit of reciting
the Quran in Arabic with something you already do every
single day without fail. Something like brushing your teeth,
or putting your clothes on in the morning.

Or how about, linking it with one (or more) of your 5
daily prayers? That way, you’re already in a state of wudu,
so one of the main psychological barriers is out of the
way.

If you’re going to do this, I’d advise that you do it with a
prayer you have been doing consistently over the last few
weeks. I’d also recommend you don’t do it if you think
you’ll be stressed.

For example, if you’re at work, and are taking three 10
minute breaks for prayer during the day, turning them
into three 15 minute breaks might not make your boss too
happy.

Now make the commitment to recite a small amount of
Quran every single day for the next 30 days after the
selected prayer.

3. Intelligent Repetition – The Mother Of All Skill.

Here is a trick that will double or triple your effectiveness
and speed at reading the Quran. Let’s say you’ve decided
to recite two pages of the Quran after Isha every night and
2 pages before you leave for work in the morning.

Instead of reciting the first 2 pages on day one morning and
the next 2 pages on day one night, try this out. On day one
morning, recite page 1, then recite page one again. Then on
day one evening, recite page 1 again, and again.

“But then I’ll only have done one page?!” I hear you
exclaiming. That’s true, but you’ll have done that page four
times, and what’s more important, is that by the 4th recitation,
you will read it about 3 or 4 times quicker that on your first
attempt. Aim for reading the page 5 times each day.

The next day, you can move on to page 2, and so on. At
the end of the week, you might like to do one marathon session
of going through all 7 pages you covered that week.

You may even want to do this with a tajweed teacher, who’ll
correct your recitation. You’ll notice that you can still recite
page 1 about 2 or 3 times faster and more fluently than on your
1st attempt.

600 days later you will have completed the Quran 6 times.
“Eat your heart out, Maulvi Saab!”

If you recite the page 5 times each day, and once at the end
of the week, it’s the equivalent of completing the Quran once
every 100 days – just over 3 months. That’s like reading 4
Qurans a year – but who’s keeping count ;o)

4. Learn Some Vocabulary

In previous emails, I shared with you the quickest, easiest,
most effective way to understand the entire Quran in Arabic.
If you want to get hold of the audio download where I
explain how to do it, visit www.quranforbusypeople.com

The key to the whole process of understanding the Quran
is to learn Quranic vocabulary lists. If you learn around 300
words, that accounts for about 70% of the entire Quran. But
you need to learn the right words.

This links in with your recitation because when you know
these commonly occuring words, you’ll spot them as you recite,
and something magical will happen….

Just as you do in english, you will unconsciously read the
first and lsat lteters in the wrod adn wrok out waht the wrod
syas, without having to read each letter phonetically (cool eh?).
In other words, just by being able to recognize the common
words, your recitation speed will increase exponentially.

HOWEVER, this does not replace numbers 1,2 & 3.
DO NOT wait until you know all of Quranic Arabic, before
you start reciting the Quran. This is a common mistake and it
is a waste of time. You can know all 300 words, but if you never
recite the Quran, you will still be a slow reciter.

If you do manage to learn 5-10 words a day for 1 month,
whilst still doing your daily recitations, you’ll know 70% of
Quranic vocabulary in a month or two. This will give you a
huge boost in motivation, and momentum.

5. Get Your iPod Out.

If you are still struggling, the iPod technique will propel you
forward. Get an online recitation from a famous reciter, whose
voice you love. Listen to the recitation, one page at a time, as
you read along the script with your finger.

Even if the reciter goes way too fast for you to start with,
just finger along the page. Then, rewind back to where the
page started, and do it again, and again. Because the reciter
goes much faster than you, you can go over the same page
several times in one sitting. Eventually, you will be able to
follow with your eyes, and then your lips and tongue.

So, here’s a quick review of the 5 ways to improve your recitation:

1. Practise Quran like a Martial Artist Practices Kicks.
2. Read 1 page of the Quran immediately after a prayer.
3. Repeat the same page several times before moving on.
4. Learn 5 words of Quran vocab per day for 2 months.
5. Get your iPod out and read along with a reciter.

If you found any benefit in this article, by all means
email it forward to your family and friends to spread the
blessings. You never know which tip will transform which
person’s life through the Quran. You can also direct them
to www.quranforbusypeople.com where they’ll get loads
more good stuff.

Warmest Salams,

Mamoon Yusaf
Quran Coach
www.quranforbusypeople.com
+44(0)208.133.4520

Assalamu Alaikum,

As a “thank you” for deciding to visit my blog,
I want to invite you to join our “Quran For Busy People”
online community, and make sure you get this exclusive
audio download and powerpoint presentation.

You can download it here:

http://www.quranforbusypeople.com/

You will learn…

-> The exact formula to follow if you want to
understand the Quran in Arabic (in hours not years)

-> The biggest mistakes the vast majority of Muslims
make when ’studying Arabic’ (I made them too, and
now you can avoid them)

-> How to access the exact vocabulary lists that are
essential if you want to understand the Quran (hint: you
won’t find them in your local Islamic book shop)

Download it now and change your relationship with the
Quran forever…

http://www.quranforbusypeople.com/

Enjoy!

Warmest Salams,

Mamoon
Quran Coach
www.quranforbusypeople.com
0208.133.4520

Just wanted to share with you a quick strategy I learned that could be very helpful for you if you want the Daily Quran Habit…

It’s called the ‘4 Day Win’ strategy. Get a pen & paper, or open a ‘Word’ document and do it right NOW! It goes like this…

Step 1: CREATE A DAILY GOAL
Choose an amount of the Quran or an amount of time that you think is suitable to study the Quran each day. Your goal can be anything from reading 10 pages of translation to reading 1 page of Arabic to spending 5 mins with the Quran each day.

Write your daily goal down NOW!!

Step 2: REALIZE THE OBVIOUS

There is something so blindingly obvious about the daily goal you just set, that you probably overlooked it… this goal is not useful. That’s because if it was useful, you would already be doing it. You’ve probably been trying to force yourself to do this goal for quite some time, and yet you still don’t have the daily habit. If it worked, it would already be a habit – this is all the information you need to know that your daily goal is too big. Solution?

Step 3: PLAY HALVES UNTIL YOUR GOAL IS RIDICULOUSLY EASY

Cut your goal in half. Is it ridiculously easy now? If not, cut your goal in half again. Would you consider it ridiculously easy now? If not… you get the picture.

Keep cutting your daily goal in half until it is ridiculously easy. If you feel you SHOULD be able to do more, but the thought of doing more leaves you cold or even a tiny bit chilly – its still too big, so cut it in half.

Write your ‘Ridiculously Easy’ daily goal right NOW!

Step 4: TELL YOUR NAFS TO ‘SHUT UP’

Your nafs (or ego) is the lazy part of you that doesn’t want you to read the Quran when you could be watching TV. Tell it to SHUT UP.

HOW? Right now, your nafs is probably telling you that your ‘ridiculously easy’ goal is too small, and that if you do that daily goal, your Quran studies will never go anywhere, and you SHOULD have a bigger daily goal… It’s also the part of you will tell you anything you need to hear to STOP you taking action. Ignore it. Even if it tells you that you are such a super intelligent religious bloke/lady that this ‘ridiculously easy’ goal is below you – tell it that inaction is below you, so “SHUT UP!”, and continue with the plan.

STEP 5: IDENTIFY A DAILY REWARD

Your daily reward could be anything. It could be watching a brain-less TV show that you love. It could be going out with your friends for dinner. It could be whatever you would probably do instead of reading the Quran, but now you can do it without feeling bad about it… in fact you can feel great about it, because your giving yourself the gift of a lifetime.

STEP 6: IDENTIFY A 4-DAY REWARD.

This reward should be bigger than the daily reward. It should be something that your really really ****Really**** want but haven’t given yourself for a while. A pedicure, a double chocolate gateaux, a night out with your spouse, a Lad’s Night Out to the cinema & favourite restaurant… do whatever works!

STEP 7: LINK THE ACTION TO THE REWARD & TAKE ACTION NOW!

When you take the ridiculously easy action, make sure you give yourself the reward, and enjoy it!

Take Action Now by getting a piece of A4 Paper and writing out:

Ridiculously Easy Daily Goal:

Daily Reward:

Slightly Larger 4-Day Reward:

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

DAY 4

Stick this sheet of paper in 3 places you will see it everyday – bathroom mirror, bedroom mirror, desk… and place a tick next to each day you take action.

If you don’t take action, go back to day 1, and make the daily goal smaller, and the rewards even bigger until you get yourself to have the daily habit – for at least 4 Days running…

Email me if you did it and it helped at mamoon@myliferesults.com

Also, for a power-packed hour of great Quran strategies, go to this blog post, and get the free audio download from one of the world’s formost experts on behavioural change, James Murphy – and use the techniques today!

This audio download was recorded by one of the world’s foremost experts of behavioural change, Anthony Robbins’ Master Coach James Murphy. To take up coaching with a Robbins Research International coach will normally cost you around £350 per hour – because you read my blog you can get this one hour session with James for a very limited time for FREE!

THIS WILL BE OF HUGE BENEFIT TO YOU IF:

• You don’t tend to achieve all the goals you set

• You don’t have outcomes in each area of your life

• You often have loads of great ideas and plans, but don’t always follow through with action

• Want to know the process of building momentum towards your goals, so that you can consistently follow through on any goal

• Want to know how to take action towards your goals, even when you don’t feel like it.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

• How to define an inspiring purpose for your life

• How to create a ‘code of conduct’ for your life – uncover the values that drive the deepest levels of your behavior

• How to set and achieve goals

• How to get yourself to take action, even when you don’t feel like it

• The “Motivational (American!) Football” technique developed by James to get you the result every time

• How to shift and change your FOCUS to stay motivated long term.

James developed these techniques based on just under 20,000 one-to-one and group coaching sessions that he’s conducted, and he’s used them himself to train for marathons (he’s done 6 and is currently training for an ultra-marathon).

As you learn these techniques I want you to ask yourself “How can I use this to achieve my personal goals in the same way James uses it to achieve his fitness goals?”

HOW TO GET AND USE THE FREE DOWNLOAD:

• Fill in the box below and press the “Subscribe” button:
  

  Your email:
  

   

• Check your email inbox, and follow the instructions to get the download

• It’s a 1-hour session with a lot of information, so listen to it once to allow your mind to absorb it

• The second time you listen to it, have a pen & paper with you, and sit down and DO the exercises James suggests – they are powerful and they work.

• Take Action towards your goals and improve your life results!

Whatever your future Qur’an goals are, and whatever vision you have for how the ideal ‘You’ will interact with the Qur’an, at the most practical level, you will need to develop the daily habit of picking up the Qur’an and studying it every day. One of the reasons I’m such a fan of the Daily Qur’an Habit is that it doesn’t matter where you’re starting, and it doesn’t even matter where you ultimately want to end up – you will only reach your goals with the consistency that comes from daily interaction with the Qur’an.

It really doesn’t matter how ‘religious’ you are either. I know many people who go out of their way to make sure people know how religious they are. They are often making up for a lack of confidence in their faith which is a result of not having daily interaction with, and guidance from, the Qur’an. I also know people who are not from particularly religious backgrounds, and just genuinely want to learn and improve themselves. They are often believers who know that the Qur’an is the source and the main substance of Islam, so they go about building the daily habit. You may even be one of them.

When starting on this journey you may look at the Qur’an and in all honesty see nothing but squiggles and dots. And that’s okay. It doesn’t matter where you are, all the matters is the direction in which you’re heading. You are in the best position to really connect to Allah, because you don’t have the veneer of religiosity.  If people don’t see you as religious, you don’t have to worry about meeting their expectations, which is a stone’s throw away from putting people before Allah – which you probably don’t want to do. If people do see you as religious, that’s fine, as long as you are conscientious of that fact and don’t let it interfere with your Daily Qur’an Habit (which no-body sees).

It’s much easier to give yourself this gift of the Qur’an by making this little addition to your life than it is to start thinking about all the things you may have to stop doing if you become ‘religious’. Frankly, I say don’t be religious.  Just read the Qur’an everyday, benefit from it as much as you can, and go about your business. Everything else will fall into place. If you don’t build this habit first and foremost, the spirit and message of Islam will likely be lost on you as you fumble around joining this group and that, trying to work out the new ‘Islamic’ rules of how life should work – those rules only make sense when the Qur’an is in your heart.

I’m not a religious authority of any sort, and I’m certainly not here to tell you what you ’should’ be doing. I’m just here to give you tips and tools if you happen to want one of the life results I want. On a personal level, the Daily Qur’an Habit is certainly well up there for me.

If you’re already convinced, I would recommend subscribing to this blog which will gradually be filled with ideas, strategies, tools and resources that will help you build the daily habit. I would also recommend joining my new Face-Book group “I Want the Daily Qur’an Habit”. It is my goal to make this FB Group an extremely useful resource to all of its members, by regularly giving everyone valuable content. If we never meet again, let me leave you with a genuine prayer. I pray that you live your vision of how you ultimately want your relationship with the Qur’an to be.

It’s key, in terms of motivation, to have some long term vision to pull you through short-term set-backs and rough times. That’s why it’s key to create your Qur’an vision. You can’t hit a target you can’t see. Creating your vision is as easy as pie. Just grab your Coaching Journal (or a piece of paper) and brainstorm answers to the following questions:

Where do I ultimately want to be in terms of my relationship with the Qur’an?

What is the ideal amount of time I would like to spend each day with the Qur’an?

On a really busy day, what is the minimum amount of time I would like to spend y with the Qur’an?

How much of the Qur’an do I ultimately want to memorize and understand?

Which books about the Qur’an, which Tafsirs, and which interpretations do I want to have been through before I die?

If I could choose how much of the Qur’an I will know before I die, and in how much depth I will know it, what would my ultimate vision be?

How, specifically, will I know when I’ve reached my ultimate Qur’an objectives?

How many ways do I know about how to study the Qur’an, and how many of them do I want to master before I die?