Abdul Basit 'Abd us-Samad

Education

Abdul Basit finished learning the Quran at age of 10 and then requested his grandfather and father to continue his education with the Qira’at (recitations). They both agreed and sent him to the city of Tanta (Lower Egypt) to study the Quranic recitations under the tutelage of Sheikh Muhammad Salim, a well known teacher of recitation of that time.

A day before his departure to Tanta, Sheikh Muhammad Salim arrived to the Religious Institute in Armant in order to settle there as a teacher of Recitations. The people of the city established an association in Asfun Al-Matanah to preserve the Quran, so that Sheikh Muhammad Salim could teach the memorization of the Quran and its recitations. Abdul Basit went to him and reviewed the entire Qur’an with him, and then memorized the Al-Shatibia, a classical text of the science of the seven recitations.

When Abdul Basit reached the age of twelve, he was requested from all the cities and villages of Qena Governorate Egypt, especially Asfun Al-Matanah, with the help of Sheikh Muhammad Salim, who recommended Abdul Basit everywhere he went, as Sheikh Salim's testimony was trusted by all people.

Career

Abdul Basit began his career as a Quran reciter in Cairo at the age of 23, when he was invited to participate in the celebration of the birth of Sayyida Zainab, in Sayyida Zainab Mosque, Cairo. On the final night of the event, several prominent reciters of the time were present, including Sheikh Abdul Fattah Al-Shashaa’i, Sheikh Mustafa Isma’il, Sheikh Abdul Azim Zahir, and Sheikh Abu Al-Aynayn Sha’iisha. During the gathering, Abdul Basit joined the audience to listen to these established reciters and observe their performances.

After midnight at the celebration in the Sayyida Zainab Mosque, Abdul Basit was introduced by a relative who obtained permission for him to recite. He was presented to the audience as a reciter from Upper Egypt and was initially scheduled to read for ten minutes. Reports state that the audience responded enthusiastically to his performance and repeatedly requested that he continue. As a result, his recitation extended to approximately two hours and concluded in the early morning.

Following this event, Abdul Basit considered applying to the national radio station as a Qur’an reciter, though he initially hesitated due to his background in Upper Egypt. He later decided to pursue the opportunity and, in 1951, was appointed as a Qur’an reciter for Egyptian radio. He was among the first huffaz to produce commercial recordings of Qur’anic recitation.

He was appointed the first president of the newly formed Reciters’ Union (Niqābat al-Qurrāʾ) in Egypt.

He served as official Qari in the Imam Shafi'i Mosque in Cairo, between 1951 and 1982, and the same for the Al-Hussein Mosque.

Travels

Abdul Basit travelled to several places, including:

• 1951, Saudi Arabia: He did the Hajj pilgrimage accompanied by his father and recited the Quran in the Masjid-al-Haram in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.
• 1955, Indonesia: Recited at an event in a mosque in Jakarta attended by large crowds. Reports state that the mosque was filled to capacity, with listeners gathered outside for a considerable distance. Estimates suggested that more than a quarter of a million people stood throughout the night to hear his recitation until dawn.
• 1956, Malaysia: Visited during the early years of nation-building, when Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt contributed to shaping an Islamic identity as a core element of the country’s national identity.
• 1960, Moscow: Accompanied President Gamal Abdel Nasser on his visit to the Soviet Union and became the first Qari to recite the Quran in the Kremlin.
• 1961, Morocco: Spent a month during Ramadan visiting at the invitation of King Mohammed V, who offered him Moroccan citizenship and position as a reciter at the royal court, both of which he declined. The visits reflected his close personal relationship with the king, reinforced Egypt–Morocco ties, and were widely celebrated by Egyptian media.
• Pakistan: Made several visits during his career, including 1961 and 1987 recitations at the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, and a 1967 performance in the presence of Sheikh Khalil al-Husary.
• 1963, Algeria: Visited post-independence Algeria, where he was received by President Ahmed Ben Bella at Martyrs’ Square in Algiers and recited at the Ketchaoua Mosque following its rededication from a cathedral.
• 1966, South Africa: Arrived in Johannesburg after a year of preparation by the local Islamic community; his performances included Surah Al-Hujurat (verse 13) which carried a subtle social message, while he maintained an apolitical stance during his one-month visit.
• 1971, United States: Visited during a period when President al-Sadat sought to strengthen ties between Egypt and the U.S.; the visit received extensive media coverage.
• 1980, India: Visited Darul Uloom Deoband during its centenary celebrations, reciting the Quran before audiences including Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
• 1985, Paris, France: Held a one-hour event at the Palais de Congrès Theater attended by approximately 4,000 people, half of whom were non-Muslims and the rest French Muslims, Moroccans, Tunisians, and Egyptians; he noted in interviews that he wore a suit for the first time in his life to move around the city discreetly.
• Syria – Damascus in 1955, and Aleppo in 1956
• He also travelled to Jerusalem, and read in the Al-Aqsa Mosque as well as the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in Palestine and the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and in other famous mosques in Asia, Africa, the United States, France and London.

Private Invitations

From 1970 to 1977, Abd al-Basit Abd al-Samad visited Kuwait during Ramadan at the invitation of Shaykha Badriya Suud al-Sabah. He also made Ramadan visits from 1978 to 1984 to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, and from 1985 to 1987 to Qatar, where he recited the Quran and gained significant recognition and income. As an employee of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Egypt), he required official permission for international trips, even when invited privately; for example, Gamal Abdel Nasser denied his request to visit Iran in the early 1960s due to political tensions between the two countries.

Honours and awards

Through the travels of Sheikh Abdul Basit Abdul Samad around the world, he received a large number of honours and awards:

• Syrian Order of Merit In 1956
• National Order of the Cedar from Lebanon
• The Order of Merit from the Senegalese President in 1975.
• The Order of Scholars from Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq in 1984.
• Order of Merit (Egypt) from the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during the celebration of the Day of Preachers in 1987.
• The Golden Medal from Malaysia.
• A Medal from the Prime Minister of Syria in 1959.
• A Medal from the Prime Minister of Malaysia in 1965.
• The Golden Medal from Pakistan in 1980.
• The Egyptian Radio Medal on its fiftieth anniversary.
• In 1990, he received the last honours after his departure from former President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak in the celebration of Laylat al-Qadr.
• He has won three world Qira'at competitions in the early 1970s.

Illness and death

In his later years, Abdul Basit suffered from complications of diabetes, and over time he also developed liver problems, which made his health more difficult to manage. Less than a month before his death, he contracted hepatitis, which caused his condition to deteriorate further. He was admitted to hospital, but his doctors and family encouraged him to seek medical treatment abroad. Following their advice, he travelled to London for care and stayed there for about a week. His son Tareq accompanied him during this time and was eventually advised to bring him back to Egypt as his health continued to decline.

He died on Wednesday, November 30, 1988. His funeral prayer was held the following day, after Zuhr Prayer. The attendants of his funeral included ambassadors of various countries, as well as kings and heads of state. He was laid to rest in City of the Dead near the Mausoleum Imam Shafi, Egypt.

Children and Legacy

Abdul Basit was survived by his three sons: Yasir, Hisham, and Tareq. Yasir and Tareq pursued careers as Qurrā, following their father’s path in Qur’anic recitation. Tareq Abdul Basit also gave several interviews about his father’s life and career. In 2006, a mosque in his hometown of Armant, in the Luxor Governorate, was inaugurated in his name.