An online hifz class is a live one-to-one video lesson in which the student recites from memory and the teacher listens, corrects and sets the next portion. Each lesson has three parts: the new portion (sabaq), recent revision of the last few days (sabqi), and older revision (manzil). Lessons usually last 30 to 60 minutes, 3 to 5 days a week, and the student memorizes between lessons with a daily home routine. The teacher keeps a record of every page, every mistake and every revision cycle, and parents get regular updates. That is how our online hifz course runs, for children and adults.
Parents who have only seen hifz in a mosque often ask whether a screen can replace a teacher sitting in front of the child. For hifz, what matters is that the teacher hears every word. Online, the teacher hears the student alone, with no class noise, and gives the whole lesson to one student.
Many of my students have memorized the Quran online, ma sha Allah. One of them, Atif, started with me at 10 years old and stayed with me until he completed his hifz. Today he leads Taraweeh prayers at a mosque in West London.
Key Takeaways
- Online hifz is live, one-to-one and by video. The student recites from memory. The teacher corrects every mistake.
- Every lesson has 3 parts: new portion (sabaq), recent revision (sabqi) and old revision (manzil).
- Most students take 30-minute lessons 3 to 5 days a week, plus 20 to 60 minutes of practice at home every day.
- Good classes track progress in writing and send parents regular reports.
- At Quran Ayat, 30-minute plans start at $40 (£35) a month, and every student gets a free trial class first.
What happens in one online hifz lesson
Here is a typical 30-minute lesson for a child memorizing Juz Amma, 3 days a week.
| Minutes | Part | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 2 | Start | Greeting, du’a, quick check that the student is ready with the mushaf closed |
| 2 to 12 | Sabaq (new portion) | The student recites the new lines they prepared. The teacher stops every mistake and makes them repeat. |
| 12 to 20 | Sabqi (recent revision) | The student recites the last few lessons, usually the past 5 to 7 days |
| 20 to 27 | Manzil (old revision) | A part of what they memorized earlier, on a rotating schedule |
| 27 to 30 | Next step | The teacher reads the next portion aloud, points out hard words and sets home practice |
Adults on 45 or 60-minute lessons follow the same shape with longer portions.
Sabaq: the new portion
The teacher sets the size by age and level: 3 to 5 lines for a young child, half a page to a page for an older student, more on an intensive plan. The student prepares it at home and recites it from memory in the lesson.
Sabqi: recent revision
New memorization fades fast. Sabqi keeps the last week strong until it settles. If sabqi is weak, a good teacher reduces the new portion. Speed without revision is how students lose what they memorized.
Manzil: old revision
Manzil goes back over everything memorized earlier, in a cycle. A student with 2 juz may revise all of it every week. A student with 10 juz may need a two-week cycle. Our hifz revision timetable shows sample cycles, and our guide on how to revise the memorized Quran explains the method.
How I split the lesson changes as the student grows. At the start, the student has little memorized, so new memorization takes about half the lesson and revision the other half. Once they have a good amount memorized, I move to one third new and two thirds revision. When the memorized portion gets heavy, I sometimes stop new lessons completely until I am sure the old portion is 100% solid. After the student passes half the Quran, I start reducing the daily new portion to protect what they already know. Lesson length grows too: we start with 30 minutes, then move to 45 minutes and up to an hour or an hour and a half, depending on what the student can handle.
A typical week
| Day | Lesson | Home practice |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | Sabaq + sabqi + manzil | Prepare next portion, revise last 5 lessons |
| Tue | No lesson | Revise, listen to next portion |
| Wed | Sabaq + sabqi + manzil | Same |
| Thu | No lesson | Same |
| Fri | No lesson | Light revision |
| Sat | Sabaq + sabqi + manzil | Prepare next portion |
| Sun | No lesson | Read manzil to a parent |
Students on 5 days a week move faster. Children usually do best with short lessons on more days, rather than one long lesson.
How progress is tracked
Hifz is easy to measure: pages memorized, mistakes per page, and how long revision stays strong. Good online hifz classes record:
- The exact portion memorized each lesson.
- Mistakes in recitation and tajweed, so the same errors get extra practice.
- Where the student is in the manzil cycle.
- Attendance and missed lessons.
At Quran Ayat, students get weekly reports on progress and mistakes. For younger children, our free Quran memorization tracker for kids lets parents mark each surah of Juz Amma at home.
What you need at home
- A laptop or tablet with a camera. A phone works but a bigger screen is easier.
- Headphones with a microphone, so the teacher hears every letter clearly.
- A quiet corner and the same mushaf every day. Memorizing from one print helps the student remember where each verse sits on the page.
- For children under about 10, a parent nearby during the lesson.
Is online hifz as good as hifz in a mosque?
For the core of hifz, recitation and correction, online one-to-one is at least as strong, because the teacher listens to one student only. What online lessons cannot give is the group setting of a madrasa: friends memorizing together, a full day’s schedule. Some families combine both. Others choose online because the nearest hifz class is far away, or because their child needs a patient teacher who can go at the child’s pace.
If you are choosing between plans, our comparison of full-time vs part-time hifz shows how many hours each takes and how long it lasts. For children, see the best age to start hifz.
How much do online hifz classes cost?
At Quran Ayat, hifz is priced like our other Quran classes:
| Lesson length | Weekends (8 classes a month) | 3 days a week (12) | 4 days a week (16) | 5 days a week (20) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | $40 / £35 | $50 / £45 | $70 / £55 | $80 / £65 |
| 45 minutes | $57 / £52 | $75 / £68 | $98 / £83 | $113 / £98 |
| 60 minutes | $80 / £70 | $100 / £90 | $130 / £110 | $150 / £130 |
New students get 25% off the first month, and families with more than one student get 15% off. Full details are on our fees and plans page, and our guide on what online Quran classes cost compares typical prices.
Starting online hifz with Quran Ayat
Our teachers hold an ijazah, and lessons are one-to-one with male or female teachers. Children can join our hifz classes for kids, and working adults usually choose hifz classes for adults or the part-time hifz program. Every student starts with a free trial class, where the teacher checks the student’s reading and suggests a starting plan in our online Quran memorization course.
Frequently asked questions
How do online hifz classes work? The student and teacher meet live on video. The student recites the new portion and revision from memory, and the teacher corrects every mistake and sets the next portion.
What are sabaq, sabqi and manzil? Sabaq is the new portion. Sabqi is revision of the last few days. Manzil is revision of everything memorized earlier, in a cycle.
How many days a week should my child do hifz online? Three to five short lessons a week work best for most children.
How much should a student practise at home? About 20 to 30 minutes a day for young children and 45 to 60 minutes for older students and adults, split between the new portion and revision.
Can a child memorize the Quran fully online? Yes. The method is the same as in a madrasa: daily recitation to a teacher and steady revision.
Do online hifz students get a certificate? At Quran Ayat, students receive a hifz certificate for what they complete. Students who want to go further can prepare for an ijazah.
Written by Sheikh Adel Rizk (Abu Ahmad), Quran teacher at Quran Ayat.
