Hijri Month-by-Month Hifz Plan: A 12-Month Roadmap to Finish Juz Tabarak

TL;DR. Juz Tabarak (Juz 29) contains 11 surahs and roughly 431 ayat, which spreads to about 36 ayat per Hijri month or roughly 1.2 ayat per day if you memorize daily. A 12-month plan aligned to the Hijri calendar lets you use Ramadan and the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah as acceleration windows without depending on them for the whole year. The routine we recommend is 15–20 minutes daily: one new ayah, yesterday's ayah, and one older ayah on rotation. A teacher for tajwid remains the most important part of the plan.

As of July 2026, most Hifz plans we see fail for the same two reasons: they front-load Ramadan and collapse in Shawwal, or they use the Gregorian calendar and lose the natural spiritual rhythm of the Islamic year. This article gives you a 12-month plan tied to the Hijri calendar with a concrete monthly target for finishing Juz Tabarak — the 29th juz, from Surah Al-Mulk to Surah Al-Mursalat.

In tracking 4,000+ users in SABR's first month, we observed that people who commit to a small daily block finish more juz than people who commit to a large weekly block. The plan below is designed around that pattern.

Key takeaways

Juz Tabarak (Juz 29) contains 11 surahs and approximately 431 ayat across those surahs.
Spread over 12 Hijri months, that averages about 36 ayat per month or roughly 1.2 ayat per day.
Aligning the plan to the Hijri calendar lets you slot Ramadan and Dhul Hijjah as acceleration windows, not the whole plan.
The daily routine should have three blocks: one new ayah, yesterday's ayah, one older revision — 15 to 20 minutes total.
Post-Ramadan Shawwal is where most Hifz plans die; the plan below reduces new memorization that month on purpose.
For tajwid and pronunciation correction, a qualified teacher is the recommended path — an app is a companion.
This plan finishes Juz Tabarak by the end of the Hijri year with room for weekly and monthly revision cycles.

Why plan Hifz around the Hijri calendar

The Gregorian year and the Islamic year drift about eleven days apart, so Ramadan lands on a different Gregorian date each year. If your Hifz plan is anchored to January, you'll re-plan every Ramadan. Anchoring to the Hijri calendar lets you build a fixed rhythm around:

Ramadan — the natural month of increased worship and Qur'an engagement.
The first ten days of Dhul Hijjah — a period widely recognised in the Sunnah for heightened good deeds [source: authentic hadith on the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah, e.g. Sahih al-Bukhari].
Muharram and Rajab — quieter months that are useful for consolidation rather than pushing new memorization.

This is not about attaching guaranteed reward to a schedule — it's about aligning your energy with the year you actually live.

Key takeaway. A Hijri-anchored plan is repeatable. A Gregorian-anchored plan means re-planning every Ramadan.

The math: how much do you actually need to memorize per month

Juz Tabarak (Juz 29) contains the following 11 surahs. Ayah counts below are the standard counts commonly cited [source: Quran.com surah ayah counts]:

#	Surah	Ayat
67	Al-Mulk	30
68	Al-Qalam	52
69	Al-Haqqah	52
70	Al-Ma'arij	44
71	Nuh	28
72	Al-Jinn	28
73	Al-Muzzammil	20
74	Al-Muddaththir	56
75	Al-Qiyamah	40
76	Al-Insan	31
77	Al-Mursalat	50
Total		431

Spread over 12 Hijri months, that's roughly 36 ayat per month. But you don't want an even distribution — Ramadan can absorb more, Shawwal should absorb less, and the summer months (Sha'ban, Ramadan, Shawwal) usually correspond to holidays or high energy for practising Muslims. So the plan below is uneven on purpose.

The 12-month Hijri Hifz roadmap for Juz Tabarak

This table assumes you start on 1 Muharram. If you start mid-year, shift the surahs but keep the Ramadan and Shawwal logic.

Hijri month	Focus	Target	Cumulative
Muharram	Al-Mulk (start)	30 ayat (finish Al-Mulk)	30
Safar	Al-Qalam (first half)	26 ayat	56
Rabi' al-Awwal	Al-Qalam (finish)	26 ayat	82
Rabi' al-Thani	Al-Haqqah (first half)	26 ayat	108
Jumada al-Ula	Al-Haqqah (finish)	26 ayat	134
Jumada al-Thani	Al-Ma'arij	44 ayat	178
Rajab	Nuh + Al-Jinn (start)	40 ayat	218
Sha'ban	Al-Jinn (finish) + Al-Muzzammil	36 ayat	254
Ramadan	Al-Muddaththir (acceleration)	56 ayat	310
Shawwal	Consolidation + Al-Qiyamah (first half)	20 ayat	330
Dhul Qa'dah	Al-Qiyamah (finish) + Al-Insan	51 ayat	381
Dhul Hijjah	Al-Mursalat (with first-10-days push)	50 ayat	431

A few notes:

Ramadan doubles the normal monthly load. If that isn't realistic for you, cut Al-Muddaththir in half and push the rest to Shawwal.
Shawwal is deliberately light. This is the single change that keeps most Hifz plans alive. The Prophetic guidance to fast six days of Shawwal already suggests a post-Ramadan reset — apply the same idea to memorization.
Dhul Hijjah uses the first ten days as an intensity block for Al-Mursalat.

The realistic 30-day routine (works in every Hijri month)

Regardless of which month you're in, the daily block looks like this. It takes 15–20 minutes.

Block 1 — one new ayah (5–8 minutes). Listen to a clear reciter (Husary and Minshawi are commonly recommended for learners), repeat the ayah 15–20 times, then recite from memory.
Block 2 — yesterday's ayah (3–5 minutes). Recite yesterday's new ayah 10 times. This is where retention is won or lost.
Block 3 — older revision (5–7 minutes). Recite a portion from 7 days ago, then a portion from an earlier surah on a rotating weekly schedule.

Key takeaway. The reason surahs vanish is almost always block 3. If you skip yesterday-plus-older-review, you're memorizing into a bucket with holes.

Weekly revision loop

Day	Older revision focus
Saturday	Two surahs back
Sunday	Three surahs back
Monday	Al-Mulk (permanent anchor)
Tuesday	Yesterday's block only (rest day)
Wednesday	Current surah, first half
Thursday	Current surah, second half
Friday	Full recitation of most recent surah in salah

Surviving the Ramadan-to-Shawwal cliff

The pattern we see repeatedly: strong Ramadan, empty Shawwal, and by Dhul Qa'dah the plan is dead. Three specific rules prevent this:

Reduce new memorization in Shawwal by at least 60% versus Ramadan. Consolidation is progress, not stalling.
Keep the daily anchor identical. If you did Fajr + 20 minutes in Ramadan, do Fajr + 5 minutes in Shawwal. Never zero.
Recite Ramadan's new memorization in your Sunnah prayers throughout Shawwal. This turns revision into salah, not homework.

The first ten days of Dhul Hijjah acceleration

The first ten days of Dhul Hijjah are widely regarded in the Sunnah as a distinguished period for good deeds [source: hadith of Ibn Abbas in Sahih al-Bukhari]. Use them as follows:

Aim for 3 new ayat per day during the first ten days (rather than the usual 1–2).
On the 9th (Day of Arafah), do only revision — no new memorization, so your energy goes to du'a and worship.
Return to the standard routine after Eid al-Adha.

That pattern gets you through the 50 ayat of Al-Mursalat in Dhul Hijjah without cramming.

What to do if you fall behind

Everyone falls behind. The plan is designed for it.

1 week off: don't reschedule. Return with revision only for 3 days, then resume new memorization.
1 month off: collapse the current month's target into the next month. Do not stack.
3+ months off: restart from your last confidently-recalled surah, not from Al-Mulk. Restarting from zero is why people quit.

How SABR helps you run this plan

SABR is a Duolingo-style Qur'an memorization app built around exactly this pattern: small daily blocks, configurable repetition, and a revision schedule that surfaces older ayat before you forget them. The standard learning path — including the whole Qur'an — is free. Premium is for convenience (offline, picking surahs outside the standard path).

If you want the plan above tracked automatically, download SABR and set your daily target to "one ayah" for the first Hijri month. The streak system is designed to be forgiving so a missed day doesn't erase the plan.

Where an app cannot replace a teacher

An app is useful for structure, repetition, and reminders. It cannot correct your tajwid in real time, cannot hear where your makhraj is off, and cannot judge whether you are ready to move to a new surah. For those, a qualified teacher — even one hour a week over voice call — is the recommended path.

If you don't have access to a teacher, at minimum record yourself reciting each new surah once and listen back. Compare it to a trusted reciter. Fix errors before locking them in through repetition.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it realistically take to memorize Juz Tabarak?

At roughly 1.2 ayat per day with consistent revision, Juz Tabarak takes about 12 Hijri months (approximately 354 days). Faster is possible during Ramadan and Dhul Hijjah, but the sustainable long-term rate for most working adults is between 1 and 3 ayat per day.

Can I follow this plan without a teacher?

You can follow the structure without a teacher, but for tajwid and pronunciation correction a qualified teacher remains the recommended path. If a teacher isn't accessible, at least record your recitation of each new surah and compare it to a trusted reciter before locking it in.

What if I start mid-Hijri-year?

Start from the current month's target in the roadmap above and adjust the finishing surah accordingly. You can also start with Al-Mulk regardless of the month — the Hijri alignment matters most for Ramadan and Shawwal, which will still land in their correct places.

Should I start with Juz Amma (Juz 30) instead?

Many learners start with Juz Amma because the surahs are shorter and often already familiar from salah. If you haven't memorized Juz Amma yet, complete it first, then apply this same 12-month structure to Juz Tabarak.

How much revision is enough?

A useful baseline: revise yesterday's ayah daily, this week's surah weekly, and the entire memorized portion monthly. If you can recite the full portion from memory once a month without prompts, your revision load is sufficient.

Does the plan work for children?

The daily block works for children, but reduce the new ayat count to half an ayah per day for under-tens and pair every session with a parent or teacher. Children benefit more from repetition and audio exposure than from adult-style scheduling.

Start with one ayah today

The hardest part of any 12-month Hifz plan is the first Hijri week. If you can get through Muharram doing 1 ayah per day, the rest of the year is repetition of a habit that already exists.

Visit https://get-sabr.com to see how the app is structured.
Download on iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sabr-quran-memorization/id6761574702
Get it on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sabr.app

SABR helps with memorization structure, repetition, and consistency. For tajwid and recitation correction, learning with a qualified teacher remains highly recommended.

About the author

This article was written by the SABR editorial team and reviewed by the founder of SABR (4,000+ active users in month one). SABR is a Duolingo-style Qur'an memorization app available on iOS and Android.

Last updated 2026-07-21.