Sheikh Mohammed Rifa¹at 'Master' of the Holy Qur¹an Reciters
Egypt, Religion, 5/10/2000

Sheikh Mohammed Rifa'at was born in Cairo on May 9, 1882. He completed memorizing the Holy Qur'an at the age of ten , having joined the "Kuttab" to study the Qur'anic recital, demonstrating an early genius. ( Kuttab is the pre-elementary educational unit which prevailed in Egypt and the Orient at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, to give place at present to modern, private and governmental education ; Kattabs used to teach only Qur'an and Arabic language).

He studied phonetic rules of Qur'anic recitation at the hands of Sheikh Mohammed Al-Bughdadi and Sheikh Al-Samalouti. The then prominent Qur'an reciters appreciated his talents and distinction .In fact, the voice of Sheikh Rifa'at was and still is a miraculous one in view of its unique qualities which combined all the heritage of the creative and exceptional vocal tones ; he could perceive the meanings of the Holy Qur'an as related with its wording - along with a deep acquaintance with the matters relative to deterrence and exhortation. Thus, Sheikh Rifa'at overwhelmed his audience by reverence and submissiveness in a voice ranging from a violent cyclone to a soft breeze touching deeply the hearts of believers.

Sheikh Mohammed Rifa'at was nominated reciter of the Holy Qur'an at Mustapha Pacha mosque in Darb Al-Gamamiz street in Cairo for more than 25 years when , in 1943, he was held back from reciting by illness. He was considered the "Master"of all Qur'anic reciters and no one could match him in this particular rank.

Consequently he was the first to recite Qur'an at the inauguration of the Egyptian Cairo Radio on May 31,1934. His records are considered as the most valuable and exceptional; they include the suras of : Yousuf or Joseph, Kahf or the Cave, Rahman or God the Most Gracious, Al-Emran or the family of Emran, Maryam or Mary, Baqara or the Heifer, Muminoun or the Believers and Naml or the Ants.

These records constitute an Islamic heritage bestowing a spiritual delight and divine guidance upon his contemporary, present and future generations.It is worth mentioning that the amateurs of his voice handled some 21-hour records to the Egyptian Radio; the impaired ones were completed by the voice of Sheikh Abul-Enein Shi'eisha whose voice was similar to that of Sheikh Rifa'at . the ordinary audience can not perceive any difference between the two recitals.

Sheikh Mohammed Rifa'at passed away on May 9,1950 (the same May 9 date of his birthday, 68 years before). But the Qura'nic voice of Sheikh Mohammed Rifa'at will remain resounding in the very hearts of his amateurs in Egypt and the Muslim World.

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