Love for Quran: Illiterate Yemeni Woman Memorizes Quran
Her 21 children and grandchildren, many of whom have university degrees, stood in awe and respect at the miracle of their illiterate grandmother, who had achieved something that even many educated people could not.
According to to a report by al-Mushahid, Hajiya Maryam Al-Rumaymah is still mentally active despite being over 82 years old and leaning on a frail body that has endured decades of suffering and hardship. Her face is calm as she lies on her sickbed, showing that a strong will can overcome the most difficult challenges.
While the details of her motherhood are etched in the memories of her only son and three daughters, the situation is completely different for her 21 grandchildren. Their image of her is inextricably linked to two scenes; first, a grandmother holding a tape recorder and listening intently to verses of the Holy Quran recited by Fares Ebad; and second, she reciting those same verses with mastery and precision.
This rural woman overcame her illiteracy and memorized the entire Quran simply by listening.
In the village of Hadnan, located at the foot of Mount Sabr in Taiz province of Yemen, Hajiya Maryam was born at a time when educational opportunities for girls were virtually nonexistent and their only prospects were farming and taking care of their homes.
Maryam spent decades of her life as all hardworking rural women; a capable housewife and a farmer who worked tirelessly on the land to provide for her family. But behind the daily toil of farming, a great dream lay in her heart, a dream that seemed impossible to those around her: to memorize the entire Quran, despite her illiteracy.
Her son, Sheikh Mukhtar, established a Quran memorization center in the village, which became his mother’s greatest motivation. In 2006, in her sixties, she decided to turn her dream into a tangible reality.
Love for the Quran; Mother’s constant companion
“Love for the Quran was my mother’s constant companion since middle age, an innate attachment that filled her life,” Sheikh Mukhtar told Al-Mushahid. “Her constant prayer and greatest wish was that God would not take her from this world until she had memorized her Holy Book.”
She had no notebook or pen, but she had a listening ear and a strong determination; she began her journey with the help of the village teacher, who taught her the Surahs and divided up the memorization and review sessions for her.
Hajiya Maryam’s daily routine was based on strict discipline. After the afternoon prayer, she would go to the recitation circle to recite what she had memorized before her teacher and receive new verses. Between the evening and night prayers, she began the consolidation phase of her memorization, relying on her constant companion: a tape recorder and cassette tapes. Hours before the morning prayer, she would wake up for prayer and listen to the Quran again, using her pure mind to inscribe the verses in her memory.
Maryam developed a deep emotional connection with the voice of Sheikh Faris Ebad. She had the entire Quran on cassette tapes, and whenever she finished memorizing a tape, her children would rush to help her prepare the next tape so she could continue on her path.
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This path was not easy, as she faced considerable difficulty in identifying similar verses, a challenge that exists even for literate Quran learners. However, constant repetition overcame this obstacle. Her family recalls that Surahs At-Tawbah and Ra’ad were among the most difficult Surahs she encountered, but her passion and enthusiasm were stronger than any hardship.
Success after 10 years of companionship with the Quran
Hajiya Maryam spent 10 long years with the Holy Quran, and that momentous event arrived in 2016; a moment that had absorbed decades of illiteracy and 10 years of daily listening and effort. When she recited the last verse, tears of joy flowed down her weary cheeks, and she performed a long prostration of gratitude, overwhelmed with pride and a sense of victory over her physical limitations. In that extraordinary moment, all the pain and suffering of the years disappeared and a profound peace came over her; a peace that could not be contained within the walls of her small house.
Memorizing the entire Quran deeply affected her family and community. Her twenty-one children and grandchildren – many of whom had university degrees – stood in awe and respect at the miracle of their illiterate grandmother, who had achieved something that even educated people could not.
In the blink of an eye, Hajiya Maryam went from being a frail, elderly woman in need of care to a towering and inspiring figure. The impact of this achievement was not limited to the village of Hadnan; she became an inspiring symbol and a source of pride for the entire Yemeni community, a living example of how determination and willpower can produce the most beautiful results.
She memorized the Quran in a simple and understandable way, adhering to the rules of recitation and correct pronunciation of letters without any linguistic embellishment. She also maintained her authentic Ta’zi dialect. During the decade of memorizing the Quran, she did not give in to despair and ignored the doubts of those around her who questioned her abilities. Of all the Surahs of the Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah holds a special place in her heart. She makes it her daily recitation and finds peace and comfort in its stories.
Today, age weighs heavily on her. Her health is deteriorating due to old age and high blood pressure, which has weakened one of her eyes.
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She has naturally forgotten some verses compared to the golden age of her life. However, her tongue still whispers the remembrance of God, and her soul still longs for those days, amidst the tapes and the memorization ring.
Overcoming the Crisis of the Yemeni War
Most of the years spent memorizing and mastering the Quran were spent amidst the brutal war and the suffocating siege that Taiz endured. Amid the roar of artillery, the lack of resources, and the constant power outages, her small home became a place of peace and an unquenchable source of light.
The Quran became her psychological support and spiritual refuge, giving her the resilience to endure her physical ailments and the hardships of her circumstances.
Instead of succumbing to the darkness of the nights without electricity, her home was illuminated by the radiant glow of her determination and recitation, transforming it into a living, inspiring beacon for her neighbors and community. A testament to the ability of Yemeni rural women to create life out of suffering and start anew.
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