Every year during Ramadan, various communities invite hafiz to come and recite Qur’an throughout the month during taraweeh so that the recitation is fluid and enacted by people who are specially trained in precise recitation from memory of the entire Qur’an. For people who have not memorized large sections of the Qur’an, the very concept of being a qǡri’ is daunting and amazing all at the same time.
Carolina Muslims took some time to sit down with the five individual qǡri’ whom we knew were visiting from out of state to lead Charlotte in taraweeh and get a picture of what makes these people so unique in our community.
Sheikh Mohamed Yousef Hussain Younis became hafiz at the age of 15, while in Amman, Jordan. He learned from the Musa’ab Bin Omier Quran Center which is one of the leading Islamic organizations for Quran memorization, recitation and tafsir. He chose to become a hafiz because his grandfather was an imam in Palestine and led taraweeh prayers at Masjid Al-Aqsa from 1915-1925 so when he announced his intentions, his parents gladly helped him to achieve this honorable goal. Now 28 years old, he reflects that he is always reviewing Qur’an since memorization is an ongoing and difficult process. Mohamed loves to lead people in taraweeh so that he may fulfil his duties as an Imam and he considers it an honor to do so and enjoys the blessing of Allah to have such responsibilities.
Mohamed’s favorite part of the Qur’an is the reflections of Jannah that we are given and the details of the great rewards awaiting the faithful as they are described in Surah Ar-Rahman.
While visiting the Charlotte, NC community, Mohamed says that he loves the weather here and the respectful, kind and friendly nature of the people. He further says that he enjoys seeing the relationships between Muslims in Charlotte and the love that we all have toward each other alongside the generosity and high morals.
What’s next for Imam Mohamed? He plans to continue pursuing Islamic knowledge as he prepares a comprehensive Islamic education program that will teach without compromising any issues. His goal is to have it explain Islam in a broader and easier way to prepare Muslims for the propagation of Islam to the masses. His primary guiding principles of wisdom and good character would permeate the categories of: Arabic language, Qur’anic education including tajweed and tafsir, Qur’an memorization, the science of the Qur’an and aqeedah alongside the ways of the Prophet (SAWS) and finally he would teach how to be accepting of the differences of opinions among the Muslims and our many societies.
Mohammed Hassan completed his memorization of Qur’an at only age 14 after a mere two years of study, now at age 18 he travels to different communities with his friends and fellow hafiz (also listed here) to lead taraweeh. His parents immigrated to the USA from Pakistan and Mohammed was born in Minnesota and currently lives in Dallas where he studies Qur’an. Mohammed’s parents happily paid for his lessons after he asked to take the Hifz course because he had been so inspired by hearing the recitations from Makkah. Mohammed says that Surah Nisa was the hardest to memorize but overall the most difficult aspect of memorization was keeping up with what he’d memorized in order so he has to review it over and over.
Mohammed loves to lead people in taraweeh because he feels that it boosts his imaan and brings him closer to Allah (SWT) as he gains more reward for leading people in prayer. The best of all is reciting Surah Ar-Rahman as that’s his favorite. While he visits NC to lead the community, he enjoys the peace and quiet compared to the busy city of Dallas.
Future plans for Mohammed include going into the medical field and spending more time studying the Qur’an in tafsir and the multiple methods of recitation.
Ifdal Yousuf was born in Indonesia and moved to the USA when he was 2 years old. Ifdal was classmates with Mohammed as they are the same age and they learned Qur’an together but originally Ifdal had only planned to go to a summer class. He became hafiz just because he found out he was good at it and decided to keep going along. His mother had always wanted him to become a hafiz but never told him until after he’d finished at age 14. The hardest part about becoming a hafiz, according to Ifdal, is being persistent and self-motivating to push through the memorization process.
For Ifdal, the best part of the Qur’an are the sections that talk about Jannah and the best part about leading taraweeh is meeting new people and new communities. He takes every night’s taraweeh as an opportunity to keep practicing and perfecting what he’s memorized. Ifdal loves the peacefulness about NC and loves getting to be around Imam John at MAS while he’s visiting
His future plans are to become a computer or environmental engineer and Ifdal wants to study the tafsir of the Qur’an and teach others.
Abdulmuizz, the 15 year old hafiz, learned Qur’an at the young age of 8; he started at age 6 under the guidance of his parents and spent a year just working on it on his own and then he was able to be tutored by an Egyptian Imam for the second year. He completed all of this on his own while living in Columbus, OH and the education was reinforced when he moved to Dallas, TX. Abdulmuizz says that he had difficulty in focusing on the memorization because he was so young and the Qur’an terms are so complex.
He has been leading people in taraweeh since the age of 11 and loves to do it because it gives Abdulmuizz a chance to continue practicing community leadership and Qur’an recitation. His favorite parts to read and recite are the stories of the prophets found within the Qur’an.
Abdulmuizz plans to enter the medical field and to look deeper into the translation of Qur’an and study all aspects of the Qur’an more deeply.
Rabiul Islam, memorized the Qur’an at age 15 and started at 11, he decided to become a hafiz because his father promoted the idea and then helped him to go to madrasah to learn while they were still living in Bangladesh. While studying the Qur’an, Rabiul Islam had to move in with his Uncle who lived just next door to the madrasah. After spending several years in studying Qur’an and becoming hafiz, Rabiul Islam moved to the USA in 2010.
While memorizing the Qur’an, Rabiul Islam says that Surah Nissah was the hardest part of Qur’an to memorize but that he loves Surah Yousef the most because of the story of the prophet. He loves spending time with the Charlotte community and leading the people in taraweeh because the people are so kind and he feels closer to Allah while doing so.
Right now Rabiul Islam is in the 4th year of a 6-year Alim course and he plans on teaching the Qur’an and guiding the next generation of Alims all the way from memorization of the Qur’an through the full six years of the Alim course.