Marife Dini Araştırmalar Dergisi

Öz

There are different approaches of being hafiz comparing the era when the Qur’an was revealed and today. This process has a long-term road map This sacred journey heralded by the Prophet (pbuh) is ideally being undertaken with the expectation of a reward. According to the general tendency, education in official and unofficial institutions has turned into a practice in which young people memorize the Qur’an in one or two years. In the formation of this perception, the commentators’ interpretation of some verses in a style that compels memorization was very effective to have widespread impacts on society in the following years. During the revelation period, in addition to the advices that motivate memorizing, cultural, environmental, and social conditions were also effective. Moreover, there was a dominant understanding and a perception of the Qur'an- which had not yet been collected into a book- based on memory. In this respect, simplifiying the aim of memorizing the Qur’an to a mere reward in the era of the Prophet (pbuh) is a result of an anachronistic approach. Without thoroughly analyzing the background created by the historical, social, and psychological, it will not be possible to determine why people became hafiz at that time and how the Qur’an has been brought to present day preserving its authententicity. Importantly, without analyzing the reasons why people became hafiz in that period, a corrective approach for today’s understanding shaped by literal recitation cannot be developed. In terms of the conditions of that period, hafiz people was in the position having various functions and social responsibilities beyond mere memorization. Although the incentive and cautionary rumours towards the functionality and the provision of becoming hafiz were mentioned partially in various studies, it is necessary to depict the case in all dimensions thoroughly.
Studies on the history of becoming hafiz, on the other hand, generally give the impression of a vertical positioned historical examination by taking the stages from the Prophet (pbuh) to the present. Our study, on the other hand, has a horizontal-looking outline with its unique structure for the revelation period of becoming hafiz. Also, while historical studies have a descriptive structure in terms of content, our study has been designed and categorized according to the causality principle and analytical method.
The article aims to identify, in principle, the agents that lead to memorizing in the period of revelation. A genuine perspective is put forward on the foundations on which memorization was built in the Prophetic period. Then, the perception of memorization in both today and any period of history can be subjected to the true-false criteria. Besides having religious aspects, the case has also cultural, environmental and social dimensions, so this study is required to be handled under two main headings in order to reach a sound result.
There are commentators' approaches to the verses associated with memorizing in the Qur’an, the main source of Islamic sciences. Assuming that there is no Qur’anic reference to enforce direct prescription of becoming hafiz, the relevant evidence has not been presented in a cause-effect relationship. When the hadiths in the context of the subject are evaluated in detail, it is seen that the Prophet (pbuh) exhibited an encouraging approach towards memorization, but criticized those who do not memorize at all. Although there are accuracy problems when examining the hadiths revealing the fate of those who forget their memorization, the existence of hadiths and verses containing approximate notions requires vigilance at all times. The functionality of the Qur'an recitation in the fulfillment of individual prayers such as salah (prayer), which is considered to be the basis of religion, and in a qualified imam, has enabled this phenomenon to remain dynamic in the period of revelation. The admonition of the Qur’an to be recited in certain suras and passages in the narrations is actually a veiled message for the memorization of the before-mentioned chapters.
The recording of the Qur’an in the memories was not an elite choice adopted only by those who had high memory power compared to the others in the period of Sahabe/Companions; It represents an indispensable need driven by the whole of cultural, environmental, and social factors. First of all, the Companions lived in a period based on memories and dominated by oral culture. It was possible to interpret the memorization of the Qur’an by this elite community, who used memory in memorizing, using and channeling knowledge for centuries, as both the attempt to record the acquis of revelation that affected them and the efforts to adapt their accustomed cultural heritage to the Qur’an.
The lack of written materials to record revelation in that period was another factor that made memorization compulsory.