Sayyiduna Sa’eed Bin ‘Amr رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه asked Imam Abu Zur’ah رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه: ‘O Abu Zur’ah! Is your memory stronger or Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal’s رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه?’

He replied: ‘Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal’s رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه memory is stronger than mine.’

Sayyiduna Sa’eed رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه then asked: ‘How do you know?’

He replied: ‘I have seen his books. The Ahadees that he رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه has mentioned at the start of his books have no mention of the names of narrators in them. The reason for this is that whichever portion of Hadees        he would hear, he رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه would remember it, and this is beyond me.’         (Siyar A’laam-un-Nubala, Raqm 1876; Ahmad Bin Hanbal, vol. 9, pp. 440)

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                 صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Would remember thousands of Ahadees

Imam Abu Zur’ah رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه one day told Sayyiduna Abdullah رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه, the son of Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه: ‘Your father, Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه, would memorise thousands of Ahadees.’ (Siyar A’laam-un-Nubala, Raqm 1876; Ahmad Bin Hanbal, vol. 9, pp. 440)

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                 صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

سُـبْحٰـنَ الـلّٰــه! You heard how excellent the memory of Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal
رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه was. He رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه memorised thousands of Ahadees at a young age, rather, he even memorised the names of many of the narrators of those Ahadees too. No doubt, this was the special grace and favour of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ and the excellence of the blessing of the Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم that people would praise his strong memory.

Whereas today, our memory is getting weaker and weaker. We cannot even remember what happened yesterday. We do remember the Gregorian months and dates but alas! We are unaware of the Islamic months and dates. We often struggle to account for our own things. We forget how many Rak’aat (units) of Salah we have offered and how many Rak’aat (units) are left. Despite reading a book or booklet many times, we are unable to remember the topics and rulings mentioned in them.

Nevertheless, if we want to strengthen our memory, remove the illness of forgetting, want to know the methods of strengthening our memory and want to learn about the reasons that weaken our memory, then read the booklet of Maktaba-tul-Madinah titled ‘Haafizah Kaysay Mazboot Ho?’

This booklet can be read online on the website of Dawat-e-Islami, www.dawateislami.net. It can also be downloaded and printed out.