A Listening Plan for Memorising Juz Amma

Juz Amma is the Quran's 30th and final juz, running from Surah An-Naba (78) to Surah An-Nas (114): 37 surahs, 564 ayat, and about 46 minutes of audio start to finish in Maher Al-Muaiqly's recitation. It is also the usual starting point for memorising the Quran, since most of its surahs are short enough to hold in a single sitting. Below is the full Juz Amma surahs list in order, with ayah counts and listening times, followed by a practical order to actually work through them in, shortest first rather than front to back.

What "Juz Amma" means and where it starts

A juz is one of thirty roughly equal portions the Quran is divided into for reading it over a month, most commonly in Ramadan. Juz Amma takes its name from the first word of its opening surah, An-Naba, whose first ayah asks:

"About what are they asking one another? About the great news"

An-Naba 78:1-2, Saheeh International

"Amma" is a contraction of "an ma", meaning "about what". Ibn Kathir explains that this is God's response to the disbelievers of Makkah, who argued among themselves over the coming Day of Judgement, "the great news", some accepting it and some denying it; the surah goes on to warn that they will come to know the truth of it. That theme, the Hereafter, resurrection and the signs of God's power, runs through most of Juz Amma, which is why the juz reads so differently from the long legal and narrative surahs earlier in the mushaf.

Almost the whole juz was revealed in Makkah. The two exceptions are Al-Bayyina (98) and Az-Zalzala (99), which are Madinan.

The 37 surahs of Juz Amma, in order

Listening times are Quran Orb's recordings of Maher Al-Muaiqly, Hafs an Asim. The whole juz runs 45 minutes 43 seconds start to finish.

Why the mushaf order is not the best order to memorise in

The mushaf orders surahs roughly from longest to shortest, which means Juz Amma opens with its longest surahs and ends with its shortest. That is a sensible order to read in, but a poor order to start memorising in: An-Naba alone has 40 ayat and runs 3:35, while the last six surahs together, An-Nas back through Al-Kawthar, total under two minutes of audio and well under thirty ayat combined.

Starting from the short end gives a new memoriser something achievable in a single sitting, and a habit before the material gets harder. Three of those short surahs already have a place in daily practice: it is authentically reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, would join his hands and blow into them after reciting Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq and An-Nas every night before sleep, then wipe as much of his body as he could reach, starting with his head and face, doing this three times (Sahih al-Bukhari 5017). Many people already have these three surahs half-memorised from hearing them said aloud at bedtime, which makes them a natural place to begin.

A five-stage order through Juz Amma

Working from the shortest surahs toward the longest, in five stages:

• Stage 1 (An-Nas to Al-Kawthar, surahs 114-108): 7 surahs, about 3:02 of audio.
• Stage 2 (Al-Maa'un to Al-Aadiyaat, surahs 107-100): 8 surahs, about 4:42.
• Stage 3 (Az-Zalzala to Ad-Dhuhaa, surahs 99-93): 7 surahs, about 7:11.
• Stage 4 (Al-Lail to Al-Burooj, surahs 92-85): 8 surahs, about 12:39.
• Stage 5 (Al-Inshiqaaq to An-Naba, surahs 84-78): 7 surahs, about 18:09.

There is nothing fixed about how long to spend on a stage; some people move through Stage 1 in a week, others take a month over Stage 5's longer surahs. What matters is finishing a stage before starting the next, so the earlier, shorter surahs stay fresh through review while the newer, longer ones are being built.

Applying the listening loop to each surah

The core method for memorising by listening works the same way here: read the surah in the mushaf first, listen to it repeatedly without trying to memorise, then close the audio and recite it aloud from memory before checking yourself against the recording. Short surahs just need fewer passes through that loop. An-Nas at six ayat might be solid after a dozen listens; An-Naba at forty will need the loop repeated section by section over several sessions.

Stay with one reciter and one transmission for the whole juz, since switching mid-project makes review harder than it needs to be. Our guide to well known reciters covers who to choose and why pace matters more than anything else for this kind of work.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to listen to all of Juz Amma?

About 45 minutes 43 seconds in Maher Al-Muaiqly's recitation, from An-Naba through An-Nas. Memorising it takes far longer than listening to it once, since each surah needs many repeated listens before recitation from memory becomes reliable.

Which surah should I memorise first in Juz Amma?

Most people start from the short end: An-Nas, Al-Falaq and Al-Ikhlas are the shortest surahs in the Quran and already familiar to many from nightly recitation. Working backward from Surah 114 toward Surah 78 gives quick, early wins before the longer surahs near the front of the juz.

Is Juz Amma the same as "Surah Amma"?

"Surah Amma" is a common informal name for An-Naba, the juz's opening surah, borrowed because Juz Amma itself is named after it. Juz Amma is the whole 30th juz, all 37 surahs from An-Naba to An-Nas; Surah Amma refers to An-Naba alone.

Do I have to memorise Juz Amma in mushaf order?

No. The mushaf orders surahs from longest to shortest, which is fine for reading but not the easiest order to start memorising in. Many people memorise from the shortest surahs at the back of the juz toward the longer ones at the front, which is the order this article follows.

Which surahs in Juz Amma are Madinan rather than Makkan?

Only two: Al-Bayyina (surah 98) and Az-Zalzala (surah 99). Every other surah in the juz was revealed in Makkah.

Sources

• Saheeh International, English translation of the Quran
• Tafsir Ibn Kathir
• Sahih al-Bukhari 5017