Top Qari Highlights Sheikh Mustafa Ismail’s Humbleness, Tireless Recitation
Speaking to an Egyptian TV network, Nuaina said Sheikh Mustafa Ismail was the last qari of the golden generation of Egyptian reciters, Egypt Today reported.
He was a unique role model in both Quran recitation and in ethical and moral aspects, the Egyptian qari added.
The late qari was very humble, humorous, friendly and always smiling, according to Nuaina.
He said he learned many technical points and lessons in Quran recitation from Sheikh Ismail. “I would listen to his recitation with all my heart, seeing how fluently he recites the Quran and goes from one verse to the next and from one Maqam (scale of tunes) to another.”
Nuiana added that Sheikh Ismail was capable of reciting the Quran for three hours nonstop without feeling tired.
Sheikh Ismail recited the Quran with a special touch of spirituality and had a feeling that was different from other qaris, Nuaina went on to say.
Mustafa Ismail was born in June 1905 in a village called Mit Gazal near the city of Tanta in Egypt’s Gharbia Governorate.
His parents named him Mustafa Muhammad Mursi Ismail. His father, who was a farmer, sent him to a Quran school headed by Sheikh Abdul Rahman Abulainain to memorize the Quran.
Mustafa Ismail managed to learn the entire Quran by heart at the age of 10.
He then started learning Quran recitation and Tajweed principles with Sheikh Idris Fakhir.
He first recited the Quran before a crowd at the age of 14. Those who heard his recitation at the Atif Mosque in Tanta were amazed by his beautiful performance and encouraged him to continue on the path of Quran recitation.
He did so by going to Cairo and learning more in the field from prominent Qari Sheikh Muhammad Rafa’at.
Soon he became a well-known Qari all over Egypt and travelled to many other countries, including Iraq, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Germany, Palestine, Britain and France to recite the Quran.
He also received many medals of honor in his own country and elsewhere.
They included two given to him by Egypt’s presidents, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Hosni Mubarak.
Another president, Anwar Sadat was also fond of the eminent qari’s recitations and imitated him in his own recitation.
Sheikh Mustafa Ismail died on December 26, 1978 and was buried in his home.
4128117
