Hifz Journey

When I was five years old, I began memorizing the Quran at home with my mom. Starting with just a few words a day, she slowly helped me increase my capacity to the point where I could memorize multiple lines in one sitting. Slowly but surely, by the time I turned ten, I had memorized twenty-seven out of the thirty juz in the Quran. At this point, we moved to Dallas, Texas. Here, I joined Amatur Rahman Girls Academy (ARGA), an all-girls hifz school where I reviewed the juz I had already finished and memorized the remaining three juz that I had left. I completed my hifz in May of 2023, after approximately 7 years of diligent effort.

Memorizing the Quran was hard work. It required a great deal of patience and perseverance. Multiple times during the process, I felt like I wanted to quit or that I couldn’t do it anymore. However, my teachers and my parents persuaded me to follow through and promised me that I would reap the benefits of my hard work in the future. Eventually, when we moved to Texas and I only had three Juz left, my hifz slowed down slightly due to the shift of schools, neighborhoods, and friends. However, I was able to finish with minimal slowdown with the help of my teachers. 

After finishing my Hifz, I transitioned to the Alimah program, which was offered at the same school where I completed my Hifz. This 6-year program taught students about the different aspects of Islam, how the Prophet Muhammad lived, how his companions lived, and the different guidelines that a Muslim should live by. At the beginning of my first year in this program, I took a test concerning my Hifz. This test was simply a certification that I was a Hafiz. At the end of the year, this certificate was presented to me by the principal. I completed one more year of Alimah, at the end of which I finished middle school online. I had been doing all of my middle school with iUniversityPrep!, a top virtual school in Texas.

With iUniversityPrep!, I was able to keep up with all the work that I would have been doing in a normal public school. I was also given other opportunities, such as participating in NHD (National History Day) every year, along with taking Biology in 8th grade, which freed up space for me to take more classes in high school. After I finished middle school with iUniversityPrep! and took the final exams for my second year of Alimah, I left both schools and switched to my local high school, Wylie High School.

This whole experience taught me a lot. I learned more about patience, how to persevere through situations, and how to create solutions for any problems that may come up during a journey. I’m glad I followed through and finished my Hifz. I’m also happy that I did the two years of Alimah, as they have created a strong base in learning more about Islam, along with the Arabic language. I will cherish this opportunity and what I have gained from it for the rest of my life.