Farida Ahmed
Sweetly and empowered, the voices of women chant reading the Holy Qur’an, which unifies them as Arabs. At one time, "Arab" women were reciting the Qur’an like men, and the Holy Quran Radio in Egypt was broadcasting their recitations until the matter stopped under pressure of opinions and fatwas are still in dispute.
The names of the Arab readers of the Qur’an have ceased to exist, so that the names of “Ajami” readers do not speak Arabic for them, but they are able to improve the Quran and recite it with sweetness and knowledge.
Maria Olfa
in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, most schools adopt Quran recitation programs, and girls from an early age are encouraged to compete with boys for memorization and singing.
In that climate, Maria Olva grew up to become one of the most influential readers of the Qur’an in Southeast Asia. She is an internationally recognized teacher, researcher and lecturer as one of the world's leading reciters and teachers.
Maria lectures at the Institute for the Study of the Qur’an and the National Islamic University of Indonesia, has won two competitions for reciting the Noble Qur’an, and is the first woman to win an international award for reciting the Qur’an in Malaysia in 1980.
Her father was - and thanks to what she became - a well-known Quran reader in his native town in East Java, and found in his young daughter the talent and the sweetness of sound, so he encouraged her to learn public speaking, phonetics and competition in the field of "reciting the Qur’an in public places."
Her father took care of her upbringing despite the large number of his children, as Maria is the ninth daughter among 12 of his sons, and her father chose her name Maria when she was born in 1955, after a Indonesian minister who was impressed by her intelligence and strength of her personality, according to the Washington Post.
Her father, Hajji Muzaffar, had a great influence on the formation of her personality, as she was always telling her that she was equal to any man or woman, which made her hesitate that Islam is not the one that differentiates between the sexes but rather cultures.
Maria started her studies in reciting the Noble Qur’an in the first grade, and she was hesitant at first until she was running away from the lesson to her friend’s house.
She lost her first contest organized by her father, and instead of collapsing, he encouraged her to work hard, and when she became twelve years old she won for the first time a competition in memorizing and reciting the Qur’an, and after six years she was an accomplished reader.
After winning the women's title in an international competition to recite the Qur’an in Malaysia, her voice was regularly broadcast on radio and television, and she was awarded recording contracts and invited to recite throughout the Islamic world and in Western countries.
Maria was also invited to recite the Qur’an in Makkah Al-Mukarramah and became an international court in the competitions of the Noble Qur’an.
Maria follows the "Egyptian style" which is very popular in Indonesia, whether in her recitation or her management of the women's section at the Institute for the Study of the Qur'an, where she supervises about 800 women looking to become teachers of the Noble Qur’an.
And the Egyptian readers - among them Sheikh Abdul Basit Abdul Samad - were credited with introducing the seven recitations and the rules of reciting the Qur’an and intonation to Indonesia, which is known as the Egyptian style followed until today in teaching the Qur’an there, after the recitation of the Qur’an followed one simple and simple method in Indonesia before According to Aramco World.
Jennifer Graut
In 2013, American girl Jennifer Graut surprised the followers of the "Arab Got Talent" competition program, when she sang in Arabic a song by Umm Kulthum that won the admiration of the judges and the public alike.
Jennifer is not fluent in Arabic, but the American girl grew up in Boston for an artistic family, and she was playing violin and piano from a young age. In 2010, she became interested in Arabic music after reading an article about the Lebanese singer Fayrouz, and she was still at the university.
Jennifer was fascinated by Fayrouz, and she started singing and playing the oud in a Syrian café in Montreal. After graduation, she moved to Morocco to immerse herself in the heart of music. She studied maqamat and used translation sites to find out the meaning of each song, according to the Guardian newspaper.
Jennifer held many concerts in Arab countries, and provided Arabic songs for singers such as Leila Murad, Fairouz, Umm Kulthum and Asmahan.
Then, she went away from the artistic scene for years, before returning with a video on her on social media, reciting the verse of Al-Kursi, and commented on him, "When I took interest in Arabic music, my teacher advised me to listen to the Qur’an as an exercise to distinguish between the nuances of Arabic singing, many great singers have roots In reciting the Qur’an. "
Since the advent of Jennifer, she has been known to convert to Islam and marry a young Moroccan, and she has also announced that she can speak the Moroccan dialect a little, but she is not fluent in standard Arabic.
Jennifer reappeared wearing the veil in a number of videos on social media, with clips from recitation of verses from the Holy Qur’an, following the methods of a number of well-known readers, such as Muhammad Siddiq Al-Minshawi and Abdul Basit Abdul Samad, amid praise from followers for their mastery, sweetness of voice and proper recitation.