Old Du'as Die Hard

“Why do you want to memorize the Qur’an?” she asked me.

I looked at her, puzzled. I had asked her to come over and wanted to get some advice from her, since she was a veteran homeschooler. I was feeling guilty about spending less time with the kids and more time on my memorization of the Qur’an during the following year.

The question was valid, because I had a lot on my plate. I was married. I had 3 kids—8, 5 and almost 2 years old. I was homeschooling the elder 2. I lived with my in laws and had a busy social life. My own side of the family lived close by.


Why did I have such an strong desire to memorize the Qur’an for as long as I could remember? I had never stopped to think about. Yes, I knew I wanted to memorize the Qur’an because I wanted the Words of Allah in my heart, mind and actions. But why was this desire so intense—extreme even?

Then it hit me. This unshakable need to memorize the Qur’an was actually a result of my mother’s du’a. Since before my mother had children, before she was even married, my mother has always made du’a for her offspring to be huffadh—those who memorized the Qur’an.

What we sometimes forget, is that the answer to a du’a can come in different forms: 

1) Allah answers the du’a the way we asked.

However, this could happen right away, or after a while. “The du’aa’ of any one of you will be answered so long as he is not impatient and says, ‘I made du’aa’ but it was not answered.’” Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim. We have to remember that Allah knows everything, so He knows the best time for us to get what we asked for.

2) Allah stops something bad from happening to us.

3) The du’a is saved for us for the Hereafter.

If you think about it, these are all amazing scenarios. We can get whatever we asked for, we can be saved from something bad, or we can have our du’as as good deeds in the Hereafter. All of this, just from asking Allah. So make du’a! You have nothing to lose!