Muhammad Ayyub

Childhood and memorisation

He was born in Mecca to a Rohingya family from Arakan in Burma: his father, Muhammad Yusuf, had fled persecution there and settled in Saudi Arabia. As the eldest child he had to help support the family from an early age. He learned the Quran at the Bin Laden Mosque in Mecca's al-Hafa'ir district under Sheikh Khalil ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Qari, whom he followed as far as Taif, and completed his memorisation in 1385 AH (1965), at about twelve. At primary school he also studied recitation with Sheikh Zaki Daghistani; both teachers were masters of the Hijazi style of recitation. It was in these years that he became acquainted with Ali Jaber.

Studies in Medina

Moving to Medina, he graduated from the city's Scholarly Institute in 1392 AH (1972) and from the Faculty of Sharia of the Islamic University in 1396 AH (1976). Specialising in tafsir and the Quranic sciences, he devoted both his master's thesis and his doctorate (1408 AH) to the exegetical reports transmitted from Sa'id ibn Jubayr. Alongside his formal studies he learned from scholars such as Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti, Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad, Abu Bakr al-Jaza'iri and Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi. He received ijazas in the Hafs reading from Hasan ibn Ibrahim al-Sha'ir, the senior reciter of Medina, from Ahmad Abd al-Aziz al-Zayyat and from Khalil al-Qari.

Career

After serving as a teaching assistant, he joined the faculty of the tafsir department at the Islamic University's Faculty of the Quran, and was a member of the scholarly committee of the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran. He was imam of the al-Anabiya Mosque (1394–1403 AH), then for twenty-three years of the Abdullah al-Husayni Mosque, and finally of the Hasan al-Sha'ir Mosque; he also led Tarawih prayers at the Quba Mosque.

In 1410 AH (1990) he became an imam for the Tarawih and qiyam prayers at the Prophet's Mosque, serving until 1417 AH (1997). Nineteen years later King Salman called him back for Ramadan 1436 AH (2015). At the request of the Islamic University he also led Tarawih prayers at a mosque in Birmingham, in the United Kingdom.

Recitation and legacy

By decision of King Fahd, he recorded the entire Quran at the King Fahd Complex in Medina, in the Hijazi style; this recording is broadcast by Saudi Arabia's Quran radio, as are his Tarawih prayers from the Prophet's Mosque. He died before dawn on Saturday 16 April 2016 (9 Rajab 1437 AH); the funeral prayer was held at the Prophet's Mosque and he was buried in the al-Baqi' cemetery.