Egyptian Qari Says Mostly Inspired by Minshawi
In an interview with Yawm al-Sabi website, Imad said he has been mostly inspired by his fellow-countryman and prominent Qari the late Mahmoud Sidiq Minshawi.
"I acknowledge that I was greatly inspired by (his recitations) and like him even more than I like my father,” he said.
Imad’s father, Sheikh Abdul Rauf Khilaf Jibril, was also a renowned Qari who played a great role in his son’s success as a Quran reciter.
Born in 1977, Imad managed to learn the entire Quran by heart at elementary school.
His father insisted that he and his brothers memorize the Quran and they all did.
Imad later entered al-Azhar University and graduated from the university’s teachers training center.
He then joined al-Azhar’s Qarra’at (Quran recitations) center and has been teaching there since.
As for his recitation, Imad said the first time he recited the Quran before a group of people was at the age of ten.
"Back then I studied at Taha Hussein School in Sohag Governorate and for the first time recited the Quran in a celebration attended by the governor general,” he said.
"At the end of my recitation, they gave me a gift that I still have today.”
He said he learned and improved his Quran recitation by accompanying his father wherever he would go to recite the Quran.
