Topic: Abdul Basit

Sheikh Qari Abdul Basit 'Abd us-Samad (1927–1988) (عبد الباسط عبد الصمد), was a renowned Qari (reciter of the Qur-an). As such, many modern reciters try to imitate his style. He is the only Qari to have won three world Qirat competitions in the early 1970s. 'Abd us-Samad was one of the first huffaz to make commercial recordings of his recitations, and the first president of the newly formed Reciters' Union in Egypt. He is best known for his recitation of Sura Al-Fatiha, the first chapter of the Qur'an, and a key sura in the five daily Islamic canonical prayers.

His Father was a Kurd (from Hawler)and his Mother was Egyptian. Abdul Basit was born in a village called Armant in the southern part of Egypt in 1927. He memorised the Qur'an (became a hafiz) before he was 10 years old and learned all of its seven readings. He was invited to recite during the Tarawih prayers at local mosques during Ramadan when he was just 14 years old. Abdul Basit was greatly influenced by the famous reciter Muhammad Rifat and used to walk miles to listen to his recitations on the radio.

In 1950, he came to Cairo where Muslims in many mosques were captivated by his recitations. On one occasion, he was reciting verses from Sura al-Ahzab (The Confederates), he was requested to recite for longer than his allotted 10 minutes by his audience, and continued to recite for over an hour and a half; his listeners were captured by his mastery of pitch, tone and the rules of tajwid (Qur'anic recitation).