Memorization, Review, and Preserving the Quran

Al-Nawawi begins this concluding chapter with the arresting hadith narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar in which the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: 'The likeness of the one who has memorized the Quran is that of a man who has a hobbled camel: if he tends to it, he keeps it, and if he releases it, it goes away.' This image captures perfectly al-Nawawi's concern in this chapter. The Quran is not memorized once and possessed permanently; it is a living trust that must be actively maintained through regular review. To memorize the Quran and then allow it to fade through neglect is described in another narration as a serious spiritual loss, and some scholars have discussed whether it approaches sinfulness for those who had memorized it completely and then allowed it to disappear through deliberate neglect.

Al-Nawawi presents the recommended schedule for reviewing the Quran based on the practice of the early Muslims. The minimum that should be maintained is a complete recitation of the entire Quran within a forty-day cycle, though many of the pious predecessors completed it in a week or less. The specific schedule should be adapted to the individual's circumstances, responsibilities, and capacity, but the important principle is regularity: the hafiz should establish a consistent daily amount for revision and maintain it without exception. Al-Nawawi notes that the times most conducive to Quran review are the pre-dawn hours after tahajjud prayer and the period between Fajr and sunrise, when the mind is fresh, the world is quiet, and the heart is nearest to Allah. Reviewing during these times is both spiritually superior and practically more effective for retention.

The spiritual dimensions of maintaining memorization are given careful attention. Al-Nawawi sees the daily review of the Quran as one of the most excellent forms of dhikr available to a person, since it combines the remembrance of Allah with the recitation of His actual words. The hafiz who reviews his memorization faithfully is in a continuous state of communication with the divine revelation, and this sustained engagement transforms him gradually in ways that the person who only occasionally opens the Quran cannot experience. Al-Nawawi warns against the hafiz who abandons his review citing worldly busyness, noting that the companions and the early Muslims found time for Quran despite carrying the responsibilities of warfare, governance, trade, and family, and that prioritizing the Quran is itself an act of trust in Allah's management of one's affairs.

Al-Nawawi closes the treatise by connecting the individual obligation of preservation to the collective mission of the Muslim community. The Quran has been preserved through a continuous chain of human memory from the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to the present day, with each generation transmitting it precisely to the next. Every hafiz who maintains his memorization and teaches it to others is a link in this unbroken chain, participating in the fulfillment of Allah's promise: 'Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder, and indeed, it is We who are its guardian.' The divine preservation of the Quran operates through the dedication of individual human beings who commit to this trust, and al-Nawawi calls every carrier of the Quran to understand the magnitude of the role they play in this sacred transmission.