Innovative Recitation Style of Shahat Muhammad Anwar
He was one of the most prominent Quran reciters of Egypt who gained fame at an early age because of his talent in this field.
Shahat was born in July 1950 in Kafr el-Wazir village in Egypt’s Dakahlia Governorate. He lost his father when he was three months old.
Anwar started learning the Quran at a young age and memorized the entire Holy Book at 8. When he was ten, his uncle took him to Kafr el-Maqam village to learn Tajweed recitation with Master Seyed Ahmed Fararahi.
He learned Quran recitation and soon became a famous qari.
Quran masters like Said Abdul Samad al-Zanani and Hamdi Zamil were among those who began the path of Quran recitation after attending Quran recitation circles of Shahat.
“By memorizing the Quran (in childhood), I felt I had reached an indescribable happiness,” he said. “After that, because I had a beautiful voice and my Lahn was like that of great masters, … I became known as “little master”.
Then he was invited to recite the Quran at a program which was also attended by Kamil al-Balouhi, the head of Egypt’s Quran Radio at the time.
Al-Balouhi invited him to recite the Quran at the Radio and he entered the Quran Radio in 1979.
Shahat Muhammad Anwar traveled to many countries like Iran, Spain, France, the US, Nigeria, Cameroon, Argentina, and Britain, for Quran recitation.
His strength in recitation was his beautiful and pleasant voice and his efforts to learn the music of Lahns (melodies).
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Of course he believed that Quran recitation is unrelated to music and would always advise reciters to recite the Quran based on Taqwa (God-fearing).
Thanks to his beautiful vice and benefiting from the styles of his masters, Anwar managed to introduce a new and innovative style in Quran recitation.
Unlike some other top Egyptian qaris such as Abdul Basit Abdul Samad and Muhammad Sidiq Minshawi who had Mahzun (sad) recitations, Anwar used happy Lahns in his performances.
That was one of the factors that distinguished him from previous Egyptian reciters.
Following is one of the recitations of Shahat Muhammad Anwar during a trip to Iran:
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