Listen to Recitation of Verses from Surah Yusuf by Three Legendary Egyptian Qaris
The old file dating back to decades ago contains recitations by Mustafa Ismail, Mohammad Sidiq Minshawi and Abdul Basit Abdul Samad.
They have recited verses 11 and 12 of Surah Yusuf: “They said: 'Father, what is the matter with you, do you not trust us with Joseph? Indeed, we are sincere advisors.”
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.
Sheikh Mustafa Ismail died on December 26, 1978 and was buried in his home.
Born in 1920 in the city of Al Minshah in Sohag Governorate of Egypt, Mohammad Sidiq Minshawi was raised in a family of Quran reciters.
He learned the entire Quran by heart at the age of 8 and a year later began learning Quran recitation.
Minshawi soon become a prominent Qari both in the styles of Tahqiq and Tarteel.
He traveled to many countries, including Indonesia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Sudan, for Quran recitation.
Minshawi died in 1969 at the age of 49.
Abdul Basit Abdul Samad is known as one of the greatest Quran reciters in the world.
He was born in 1927 in the village of Al-Maza’iza, south of Egypt. His grandfather was a pious man, a Quran expert and a memorizer of the Quran.
At 10, Abdul Basit finished learning the entire Quran by heart in his village. He also learned 7 styles of Quran recitation by the age of 12 and the 10 styles by 14.
He started reciting the Quran in mosques and religious centers and soon became very popular.
In 1951, at the age of 19, he went to the capital Cairo for the first time and recited verses from the Quran at Magham Zeynab. Famous Quranic figures and reciters like Abdul Fattah Sha’shaie, Mustafa Esmaeel, Abdul-Azim Zaher, and Abolainain Shoaisha were present at the event. His performance was so outstanding that the crowd requested him to recite for longer than his allotted 10 minutes by his audience, and he continued to recite for over an hour and a half; his listeners were captured by his mastery of pitch, tone and the rules of Tajweed.
In the same year, he started reciting the Quran in Egypt’s national radio.
Abdul Basit travelled to many countries around the world for reciting the Quran. Once in Jakarta, Indonesia, over 250,000 people gathered in a mosque and streets around it to listen to his recitation.
In 1952 he made the Hajj pilgrimage and recited the Quran in the Masjid-al-Haram in Makkah and Masjid-un-Nabi in Medina.
Listening to his inspiring recitations of the Quran, many non-Muslims are said to have embraced Islam, including 6 in Los Angeles and 164 in Uganda.
Master Abdul Basit Abdul Samad died of diabetes and liver disease in November 1988. Thousands of his fans attended his funeral. The funeral was also attended by ambassadors of Islamic countries in Cairo.
