Kabul

- The reciter Barkatullah Salim experienced 7 political eras in Afghanistan and won awards in international competitions. He is the only Afghan who was a student of well-known Egyptian readers such as Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hosari (1980) and Abu Al-Enein Shuaisha (2011) and was a close friend of the owner of the golden-throated Sheikh Abdul Basit Abdul Samad.

The reciter Barakatullah Salim was born in 1950 in the “Haska Minh” district of Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan. His father, Mawlawi Kla Jan, who was one of the most prominent scholars in the fifties of the last century.

Dr. Abdul-Khabeer Kaker, a professor at the Faculty of Sharia at Kabul University, tells Al Jazeera Net, "His father realized that his son had a strong memory, so he decided to send him to a school for memorizing the Holy Qur'an. In fact, he had no other choice because God's blessing lost his sight early and when he completed memorizing the Qur'an, his star shined in home town".

Journey to mastering readings

Then he went to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and studied with a group of Egyptian readers, including the famous Sheikh Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hosari, and Abu Al-Enein Shuaishaa in the late sixties and early seventies of the last century.

The reader, Barakat Allah Selim, says to Al-Jazeera Net, "I went to Egypt with financial support from a businessman who was sending students to Egypt to study the Holy Qur'an. I was lucky and went in 1964 to Cairo and there I met the best readers, including Sheikh Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hosari, and I finished this stage within 6 years." I learned the ten readings.

The reader, Barakat Allah Selim, reads in front of his students (Al-Jazeera)

Reader Selim was able to lay new foundations on the model of the Egyptian school of memorizing the Holy Qur’an, and his method was different from those in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Sheikh Abdul Rahman Samim, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Nangarhar, told Al Jazeera Net, "The Quran memorization schools in Afghanistan follow the Deobandi model (relative to an Islamic university called Dar Al Uloom Deoband, which was established in 1867 in the city of Deoband) and is interested in only one narration, but God's blessing was enabled thanks to His strong memory of the recitation of 14 novels and the establishment of his own school similar to the Egyptian school, and so far no one else has been able to master the Quranic readings" at the same level.

Following the return of the reader, Barakat Allah Salim, to Afghanistan in 1970, his scientific, practical and media career began on Radio Kabul, and Afghans began listening to him on the government channel and radio, and he was appointed as a professor in the most famous Quran memorization house in the capital, Kabul.

Salim told Al Jazeera Net, "After my return from Egypt, I started working at Radio Kabul, in 1987 when I founded the government channel, so I participated in its opening ceremony by reciting the Holy Qur'an during the era of the late Prime Minister Muhammad Daoud Khan."

What distinguishes the reader Salim from other Afghan readers is that he has a long experience in poetry and literature and has published his poetry collection "Nakamah Minh".

Sheikh of the Qur'an

Barakat Allah Salim, he is known as the sheikh of Afghan reciters, and during 52 years he graduated from his school more than 800 memorizers of the Holy Quran and now they are practicing the profession of teaching and imam inside and outside Afghanistan. Later, the Qur'an recorded its 14 readings, a rarity in Afghanistan.

In 1990, he founded the Afghanistan Readers Association and headed it for many years.

What distinguishes the life of the reader, Barakat Allah Salim, is that he preferred to stay in Kabul during the past five decades and did not leave it to live through 7 political eras in the Afghan capital, where he remained busy serving the Holy Qur’an and teaching it and teaching Sharia sciences in its universities, and says that he sought to stay away from any political disputes.

The reciter Salim with his grandchildren at his home (Al-Jazeera)

A few years ago, the reciter Barkat Allah Salim recorded the Qur’an on the 14 Qur’anic readings to broadcast it on the government channel and YouTube platform. He supervises 86 schools for memorizing the Holy Qur’an in the capital, Kabul, and has 13 authors, some of which are taught within the curricula in government schools and universities.

Despite the spread of Quran memorization centers throughout Afghanistan, the country faces a shortage of readers, especially those who are proficient in the seven or 14 Quranic readings.

The reader, Barakat Allah Salim, says to Al-Jazeera Net, "Although the number of memorizers of the Noble Qur’an in Afghanistan exceeds any other country, it suffers from a lack of readers, and the main reason is that the recitation of the Qur'an with its seven readings requires a period of time and a long breath, and this is what we do not find in this time."

During his scientific career, the reader, Barakat Allah Selim, was exposed to major problems and challenges, as he was imprisoned because of his failure to support the positions of previous governments and contentment with teaching the Qur’an, and about this, Sheikh Abdullah Awab, a professor of recitation at the Qur’an memorization school, says, “The reader Barkat Allah Selim was imprisoned for a very short period, but He prefers not to talk about the prison experience because he does not want to get involved in political matters."