A Qari Who Was Popular with Egypt’s Political Figures
His recitations were so attractive that he was even popular with Egypt’s top political figures.
Taha Musa Hassan, known as Taha al-Fashni, was born in 1900 in the town of Fashn in the Arab country’s Beni Suef Governorate.
He followed in the footsteps of Sheikh Ali Mahmoud in Ibtihal (recitation of supplications). In Quran recitation, he was very keen on following the style of Sheikh Mustafa Ismail.
Among his main Ibtihal works are Hubb al-Hussein (AS), Ya Ayuhha al-Mukhtar, and Milad Taha. He died in 1971.
There had been great Ibtihal reciters before Taha al-Fashni, such as Ali Mahmoud and Syed Darwish, but during his lifetime, advancements in production of audio recording instruments allowed for his performances to reach more audiences with greater quality.
Taha al-Fashni’s powerful performance affected everyone. Even high-ranking officials in Egypt presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat liked his works.
One of his most outstanding works was Hubb al-Hussein (AS) that attracted Christians to the art of Ibtihal and made them keen on learning about Islamic characters.
Al-Fashni had the opportunity to get active in the field of music and signing and earn a lot of money but he chose the field of Ibtihal and reciting eulogies in praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and Ahl-ul-Bayt (AS).
What follows is an old footage which shows the prominent qari reciting verses 185-200 of Surah Al-Imran:
