Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, a Hafiz (; , pl. ''ḥuffāẓ'' , f. ''ḥāfiẓa'' ) is a person who has memorized the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

. Hafiza is the

female An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...

equivalent. A hafiz is highly respected by the community. A hafiz or hafiza are given titles such as "Hafiz Sahb" (Sir Hafiz), "Ustadh" (أُسْتَاذ) (Teacher), and occasionally

Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

(شَيْخ).

Quran

The Quran consists of 114

Surah A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into ayah, verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' (al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while ...

(chapters), 6,666 or 6,236 verses (a topic of scholarly disagreement), and about 77,797 words in the original

Classical Arabic Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...

Importance

''Hifz'' means memorization of the Quran. Hufaz names the Muslim belief that whoever memorizes the Quran and acts upon it will be rewarded and honoured by

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

. Abdullah ibn Amr narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: "It shall be meaning to the one who memorized the 'Recite, and rise up, recite (melodiously) as you would recite in the world. Indeed your rank shall be at the last Āyah you recited" (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2914) This memorization has been important to Muslims ever since. Having memorized the Quran, the ''hafiz'' or ''hafiza'' must not forget it. Ensuring perfect recall of the verses requires constant practice. Yearly, thousands of students master and memorize the Quran. In Pakistan, Qari Hanif Jalandhari, the general secretary of the Wafaq-ul-Madaris, a central board accounting for most religious seminaries in Pakistan that adhere to the Deobandi sect, says that, in its network of madrasas, "one million children have become Hafiz-e-Quran after an exam was introduced in 1982", with more than 78,000 (including 14,000 girls) every year, which he compared to the yearly output of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, at 5,000.

Cultural differences

For Muslims attempting to memorize certain

surah A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into ayah, verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' (al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while ...

but who are unfamiliar with the

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...

, the ''ulema'' have made various elucidations. Opinions are mixed on the

romanization of Arabic The romanization of Arabic is the systematic rendering of Modern Standard Arabic, written and varieties of Arabic, spoken Arabic language, Arabic in the Latin script. Romanized Arabic is used for various purposes, among them transcription of na ...

due to concerns about pronunciation. Writing systems with close consonantal and vocalic equivalents to

classical Arabic Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...

or relevant and effective diacritics, and a preference for Quran tutors or recorded recitations from qurrāʾ or any device with clear audible sound storage technology, such as CDs or cassettes offer alternative approaches. In

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, according to Resolution 573 of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR), at least one specialized examination of the preservation of the Quran takes place each year, according to specific criteria. Dar al-Qur'an al-Karim reviews this evaluation. It is a subsidiary of the Islamic Advertising Organization. According to Article 5 of the Decree, holders of specialized qualifications for memorizing the Quran enjoy the benefits of one to five art degrees, subject to the approval of the 547th session of the SCCR. Therefore, the approval of the Qualification Degrees 1 to 5 of the Quran is in line with the Doctoral, Master's, Bachelor's, Associate's Diploma, and Diploma degrees, respectively.

References

Citations

* {{Authority control Quranic words and phrases Memory in culture Islamic terminology People who memorized the Quran

Quran

Importance

Cultural differences

See also

References

Citations