Chapter one · Age 12A very different childhood
I began memorizing the Qur'an at twelve, growing up in Saudi Arabia. Alongside regular school, I was spending more than ten hours a day at madrasah. Memorization, revision, manzil, schoolwork, exams. Then the same again the next day.
I won't pretend it always felt noble. Some days I was a kid wondering why I was doing so much while other kids my age seemed to be relaxing and enjoying life. What kept me going was my parents. They supported me heavily through every part of it, and this story is as much theirs as mine.
Chapter two · The strong periodWhen the routine worked
Shortly before COVID, I hit my peak. I was memorizing two pages every day and keeping proper manzil. At that pace, I was on track to finish in about one year and two months.
I had built momentum. I knew exactly what it felt like when the system was working.
Chapter three · May 2020The year everything got heavier
In May 2020, COVID reached my family. My father was sick too. My parents were under very heavy mental pressure, and home became a difficult, heavy place to be.
I was still trying to finish Hifz and manage school. Classes moved online, with less interaction, lower quality and far more distractions. The routine that had carried me at two pages a day became much harder to hold. I see that period as a test from Allah.
I was also growing up, going through puberty, with new distractions pulling at me. My progress slowed heavily. The one year and two months stretched to more than two years, and some portions ended up weaker than I wanted them to be.
Chapter four · Age 14Finishing, with gratitude
Alhamdulillah, I completed my Hifz at fourteen. Around two months before turning fifteen, as I was starting tenth grade, I sat my final Qur'an memorization examination in Saudi Arabia.
It wasn't a flawless journey. It took longer than I expected, the circumstances were hard, and I came out of it knowing exactly where my weak pages were. But I finished, and that taught me the most important lesson of all.
What it taught meMotivation runs out. Structure doesn't.
Progress gets disrupted: by illness, by family stress, by a change in how you learn, by simply growing up. "Just stay motivated" isn't enough when life gets heavy. What carries you is a practical process you can sustain on your worst weeks, not just your best ones.
I also learned that finishing is a milestone, not the end. Memorized Qur'an has to be maintained, and revision and manzil matter as much as anything you learn new. A slower timeline doesn't erase the effort you've already made.
Today · Age 19Why Ayah Journals exists
Now I'm building Ayah Journals to give people what I wish I'd had from day one: a clear system for memorizing new pages, protecting old ones, and understanding the words you carry. Every resource is written from the routine I actually lived, and supports your teacher rather than replacing one.
Whether you're memorizing one surah you love, starting full Hifz, or coming back to pages that slipped, I hope something here makes the journey a little lighter.
— Rayan