Towards a Sustainable Self-Regulated Quranic Murajaah

Abstract

Murajaah is the systematic process of reviewing memorised verses of the Quran and serves as a foundational mechanism for the lifelong retention and fluency required of huffaz. At the tertiary level, this practice undergoes a critical transition as students move from the structured and externally supervised systems of traditional tahfiz institutions to a learning environment that demands greater autonomy and self-direction. This shift presents a significant challenge since the absence of imposed schedules and direct oversight often leads to inconsistency in murajaah, which in turn affects long-term memorisation. This paper provides a theoretical exploration of how principles of self-regulated learning can transform murajaah into a sustainable and systematic practice for tertiary-level huffaz. It integrates insights from metacognition and cognitive learning theories to construct a coherent framework for understanding the internal processes involved in Quranic memorisation. The discussion argues that self-regulation—operationalised through the cyclical phases of planning, monitoring and evaluation—elevates murajaah from a repetitive routine to a conscious, reflective and strategic process of learning. By internalising this self-regulatory cycle, tertiary huffaz can cultivate essential attributes such as autonomy, persistence and adaptive learning, which are crucial for sustaining Quranic retention amid the cognitive and academic demands of university life.