# Mustafa Ismail

Mustafa Ismail (Arabic: مصطفى محمد مرسي اسماعيل‎; 17 June 1905 – 26 December 1978) was an Egyptian Quran reciter. The quadrumvirate of Al-Minshawy, Abdul Basit, Al-Hussary and Mustafa Ismail are generally considered the most important and famous reciters of modern times to have had an outsized impact on the Islamic world.

## Early life

Mustafa Muhammad Mursi Ismail was born in a village called Mit Gazal, near Tanta in Egypt on 17 June 1905. He was raised by his grandfather. Ismail focused on the Quran from an early age, when he reached the age of 10 he completed his hifdh (memorization of the entire Quran). He went to an institution in Tanta and was instructed in the science of tafsir (exegesis), qira'at (methods of recitation) and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). After completing his formal studies, Ismail devoted his life to the service of the Quran.

## Notable moments

His son Wahid Mustafa said:
   Somebody pointed at my father and said that this young man recites the Quran well. My father was originally scheduled to recite for 10 minutes with Shaykh Rifat. Sheikh Rifat enjoyed the recitation so much, my father recited for an hour and a half.

### Egyptian radio

The reciter who recited the Quran on Egypt radio became ill, Mustafa Ismail was given the opportunity to recite in his place. King Farouk of Egypt was listening in the audience, and enjoyed Ismail's recitation so much that he requested Ismail recite Quran during the Islamic month of Ramadan for himself. He was now the King's reciter.
By the 1940s he was recognized and respected by almost the whole of Egypt. One particular quality of note is that Ismail's personality never changed.
Ismail recited at a special program to celebrate the birth of the prophet Muhammad. Abdul Fattah Shashi was originally scheduled to recite, but due to illness was replaced by Ismail. Ismail was concerned about the 30 minute duration, as he was accustomed to reciting for several hours at a time and would now have to achieve the same quality recitation in only thirty minutes. With practice, he was able to achieve this, marking a turning point in his life.

### Visits to Turkey

Ismail arrived in Turkey in the year 1969, scheduled to stay in Ankara for 15 days, 15 days in Istanbul and then to visit the other major cities. Not happy with his initial reception, especially the number of people in the audience, he decided to shorten his stay in Ankara and set off for Istanbul. When he arrived in Istanbul, he was mesmerized. President Cevdet Sunay gifted him a golden lettered Quran. Ismail stayed in Turkey for the entire month of Ramadan. In this month he developed a special connection with Turkey, saying that "the people of Turkey are very respectful towards the Quran and they are very quiet and respectful during recitations." Dr. Emin Isık of the University of Marmara said that "when we heard that he was going to recite in the Suleymaniye Mosque we rushed to listen to him. He recited the Quran for thirty minutes after the tarawih prayers. Unlike the people of Ankara, we had known Shaikh Mustafa Ismail very well. The mosque was completely full, Sheikh Mustafa Ismail said 'I have travelled around the world but I have never seen anything like the audience of Istanbul.'" He was very impressed by the audience's love for the Quran and the beauty of the mosque. According to his son Wahid, Ismail was delighted to be in Turkey. When they asked him "would you recite Quran to us?" He never refused. Even when they asked him to recite Quran outside of a mosque, he never said no.

## Style

Ismail had a unique style, he would recite the Quran in a particular fashion, employing the Arabic maqamat to illustrate the words of Allah to the listener.
Dr. Ahmed Nuaina, an Egyptian Qur'an reader, once told noted composer Ammar El-Shereii:
   Mustafa Ismail is not just one sheikh. He is several methods and sheikhs in one. You can find all musical forms in his recitation. Whenever I hear a sheikh say something, I remember that Sheikh [Ismail] had said it before. Reciters have failed to come up with anything new after him. He moves easily between maqamat, and never went off tune. The listener’s ear never feels tired of him, because he always intrigues his listeners. He is creative in his qafalat [endings]. I can often predict qafalat, but his are always unexpected.
The composer Abdel-Wahab was of much the same opinion: "He was big in his art, he was big in his management of his voice, and was the only reciter who surprised listeners with unexpected maqam routes," he once declared.
In his Dream TV program two years ago, El-Shereii tried to analyze the sheikh's musical approach by replaying a few short recitations. "His recitation was miraculous, and he was a musical miracle as well. He was unique."
Analyzing a different verse, the composer says:
   He would go up to the very highest notes of the maqam, and he would do it with ease, enjoying himself. It is enough to drive you crazy. This man must have understood music very well, and must have meant what he was doing. He uses saba maqam at first to demonstrate huzn [sadness], then moves to the C, or agam, and then he takes his voice high up the notes when he says al-samaa (the sky) If this were not a musician, then we the musicians know nothing, and must go home. He knew what he was doing and did it depending on his knowledge of the [seven] qira'at [readings] and his very special expressive ability.

## Chronology

* 1905 Mustafa Muhammad Al-Mursi Ismail born on June 17 in Mit Ghazal, a Gharbeya governorate village.
* 1911 The young Mustafa started learning the Qur'an in the kuttab of Abdul Rahman Abu al-Aynayn
* 1913 Mustafa moved to the kuttab of Abdullah Shahata
* 1915 The 10-year-old became a celebrity reciter in his village, as his voice started to draw listeners.
* 1917 Ismail finished studying the art of tilawa and tajwid with Idris Fakhir. He later moved to Tanta to study at a religious institute, after an Azhar sheikh heard him recite in 'Utayf mosque. The young shaykh embarked on his career as a reciter.
* 1920 He received 70 pt for his first official three-night 'aza [mourning] event.
* 1925 He recited during the 'aza of one of Tanta's richest men, Hussayn Al-Qasabi, and soon became a celebrity all over rural Egypt.
* 1927 He recited at the 'aza of national leader Saad Zaghloul in Damietta. Meets his wife, the mother of his six children, and is also heard by all of Egypt's pashas. He has to open an office in Tanta to organize his schedule.
* 1943 He recited in Cairo for the first time. He became a radio star.
* 1944 He became King Farouk's favorite reciter. His famous recitations from the King's palace every Ramadan were heard by radio listeners all over the Arab world. Mustafa travels all over the Arab world.
* 1947 He became Al-Azhar's reciter, a prestigious post.
* 1965 Received the Distinction Medal from Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had also made him his official reciter. Umm Kulthum and Mohamed Abdel Wahab received their medals on the same night as Mustafa.
* 1977 Mustafa travelled to Jerusalem with President Anwar Sadat. He recited the Qur'an inside the Al-Aqsa mosque.
* 1978 On 22 December, he recited the Qur'an for the last time in Damietta, dying on the 26th.