Qaris Ought to Act Upon Quran Verses They Recite
In an interview with al-Yawm al-Sabi website, Sheikh Siddiq Minshawi, the son of Mohamed Siddiq Minshawi, talked about his Quranic activities and his father’s role in his success.
"I started learning the Quran by heart at an early age and finished memorizing the entire Holy Book while in elementary school. My father would invite Quran masters to our home in Cairo and we would memorize the Quran with their help,” he said.
"There was a rule in our house that children should listen to the Quran as much as they could before going out to play.”
Siddiq said he took part in his father’s recitation sessions and listened to his recitations carefully.
"When I grow up, I learned the seven styles of reciting the Quran from Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Hafiz in Cairo.”
Asked why he did not go to the Qaraat Teaching Center, an academic Quranic center, he said he wanted to learn the Quran from a veteran master instead of only seeking an academic certificate.
Remembering his first recitation, Siddiq said it was at the age of 11 when he and his father went to the town of al-Nawahiz in Qena governorate.
It was a perfect experience, he said, as it gave him the confidence to recite the Quran in front of crowds of people.
At first, he would go to different places for recitations along with his father, but since the age of 13, he would be officially invited for reciting the Quran. The first invitation was for recitation in a religious event in the city of Sohaj.
The prominent Qari has also been invited to several countries for Quran recitation. They include Iran, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Algeria and Sweden.
He further highlighted his father’s insistence that he, as a reciter, should pay more attention to the teachings of the Holy Quran.
"My father would always tell me if a Qari does not properly act upon the content of what he recites, he might as well not recite the Quran.”
Asked about other Qaris he likes to listen to, he said he is fond of Quran recitation styles of prominent Qaris like Abdul Basit Abdul Samad, Mustafa Ismail, Kamil Yusuf al-Bahtimi, Hamdi al-Zamil, Mohamed Omran and Sheikh Ali Mahmoud.
Siddiq has five children who are all memorizers of the Quran or are learning the Quran by heart.\
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