Many of us who try to follow Islam, even a little, want to memorise new duas, verses of the Quran and surahs. Many of us have probably tried. Some have succeeded and are still succeeding; others have failed and given up. One of the main reasons for failing to memorise is the belief that our memory has weakened.

So how can memory be improved? Here are some techniques.

Memory essentially means the process of retaining information and retrieving it later. Scientists divide memory mainly into two kinds: 1. short-term memory and 2. long-term memory. Memories our brain holds for only a very short time are short-term memories; those stored in our brain for a long time are long-term memories. This article mainly discusses techniques to improve long-term memory.

The foundation of success in any work is ikhlas, or sincerity, and the core of ikhlas is a pure intention. On the importance of a pure intention, Ustad Khurram Murad says: "Intention is like our soul, or like the life force inside a seed. Most seeds look more or less the same, but once they are planted and grow into saplings and begin to bear fruit, the real difference becomes clear to us. In the same way, the purer our intention, the better the fruit of our work."

On this, Allah the Exalted says: "And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, sincere to Him in religion, to establish prayer and to give zakat. And that is the correct religion." [Surah Al-Bayyinah: 5]

So our intention should be that Allah increases our memory solely for the good of Islam.

We all know that no work can succeed without Allah's help. So we should always pray to Allah to increase our memory and grant us beneficial knowledge. We can recite this dua: "My Lord, increase me in knowledge." [Surah Ta-Ha: 114]

Dhikr, or remembrance of Allah, also helps improve memory. Allah the Exalted says: "...And remember your Lord when you forget..." [Surah Al-Kahf: 24] So we should constantly remember Allah through dhikr, tasbih (Subhan Allah), tahmid (Alhamdulillah), tahlil (La ilaha illallah) and takbir (Allahu Akbar).

One effect of sinning constantly is a weak memory. The darkness of sin and the light of knowledge can never stay together. Imam Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "I complained to (my shaikh) Waki about my poor memory, and he taught me to keep myself away from sinful deeds. He said that the knowledge of Allah is a light, and the light of Allah is not given to a sinner."

Source: Banglanews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.