Sheikh Abdul Wahid Radhi: A Prominent Egyptian Qari Known for Humility in Recitation
December 9, 2025, marked the ninth anniversary of the death of Sheikh Radhi, the great qari of Egypt Quran Radio and a native of the village of Shabramant in Abu Al-Nimris, Giza Governorate, according to a report by Al-Watan.
This Egyptian reciter passed away on December 9, 2016, after a lifetime of service to the Quran and left lasting recitations for listeners and devoitees of the Quran.
On this occasion, the Egyptian Quran Radio broadcast his recitations in order to preserve the Quranic path of this late qari.
Sheikh Radhi was born on July 1, 1936 in the village of Shabramant, and his Quranic activities began from the village’s Maktab (traditional Quran school).
With great determination and an unparalleled memory, he memorized the entire Book of God at the age of 9, thus beginning his Quranic journey, a journey that echoed throughout the Islamic world decades later.
He believed that Maktabs were the “mother school” for Quran memorization, due to the spirit of competition among students. He continued to praise these centers until the last days of his life.
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Sheikh Radhi helped his teacher in teaching children, and the number of students he interacted with reached six hundred, and the Sheikh was the last to leave the Maktab every day.
Joining Egyptian Quran Radio
His joining the radio was not planned, but rather he joined this medium because of his talent. In one of the religious gatherings where he was reciting, Mahmoud Hassan Ismail, then head of Egyptian Radio, listened to the recitation and was amazed by his performance.
The head of the radio asked him directly why he had not applied for the radio auditions, so he wrote the application himself, and the Sheikh was approved as a Quran reciter for the Holy Quran Radio in 1975, when he was 45 years old.
Sheikh Radhi traveled to a number of major mosques in Cairo and Giza to recite the Quran.
A few years later, the sound of Sheikh Radhi’s recitations reached the ears of the world, and he accepted invitations to recite in 37 countries from different continents, including North America, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Brazil, and Italy. South Africa was the first international destination for the late Egyptian reciter.
In 1989, Sheikh Abdulwahid Zaki Radhi recorded the Quran recited in Tarteel in collaboration with Sheikh Raghib Mustafa Ghalwash for Abu Dhabi Radio and Television, becoming the first to jointly record the entire Quran in Tarteel for radio and television. These recordings are still broadcast in various circles.
Sheikh Mustafa Ismail; Quranic role model
Sheikh Mustafa Ismail was his first role model in recitation. Sheikh Radhi later decided that his voice was closer to the style of Sheikh Kamil Yusuf Al-Bahtimi; therefore, he followed his school while maintaining his own style and performance; a style known for its humility in recitation, the beauty of vocal positions and pleasant recitation.
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On December 9, 2016, the citizens of Egypt and the Muslim world lost one of the faces of radio Quran recitation. He passed away at the age of 80, leaving behind a lasting legacy of Quranic recitation and circles that narrate the path of his Quranic life.
On the ninth anniversary of Sheikh Abdel Wahid Rady, listeners remember his pleasant voice, which still resonates on the Egyptian Quran Radio; a voice reminiscent of a man who set an example of a distinguished, humble and loving qari of the Quran, and for this reason, the people loved him.
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