A lesson learned from .. A Singer?!

About seven decades ago, in 1960, a monumental event took place in Egypt that would forever change how the entire Islamic world interacted with the Quran. For the very first time in history, the Quran was recorded and pressed onto vinyl records.

The vision initially belonged to Dr. Labib Al-Saeed, who spent years advocating for an audio compilation of the Quran to help preserve its exact pronunciation and make it more accessible to non-Arabic speaking Muslims around the globe who might not have access to Quran teachers. With the backing of the Minister of Endowments, Sheikh Ahmed Taima, things were almost ready to move forward. Three reciters were selected to record different Qira’at, among them Sheikh Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary, who agreed to record the entire Quran (in different riwayat) for free. Yes. For $0. There were no royalty deals, no sign-off bonuses. No conditions. Nothing. Exactly $0.

So, everything was set in place. Except one thing. How are we recording this?

Before the era of cassette tapes and digital audio, producing mass recordings wasn’t something that you could simply do at home or as simple as we have it today; it required highly specialized tools and state-of-the-art vinyl record factories. The most prominent factory in Egypt at the time was owned by none other than the famous Egyptian singer and composer, Mohamed Fawzy.

Fawzy wasn’t a Quran scholar. He had no formal role in the religious establishment, no stake in tajweed or recitation chains. But when the ministry came to him needing master copies produced for export and pressing, Fawzy could have treated it as a highly lucrative government contract and make as much money as he wanted. Instead, he made a decision that would outlast his earthly life: he completely waived his profits, refusing to take a single penny of profit from the effort.

In short, not a single person involved in this historic Quran recording accepted a penny of profit.

And so, on the 23rd of July, 1960 (the 28th of Muharram, 1380 H ) the recited Quran was distributed in this form for the first time in Islamic history. It spread through Islamic radio stations across the region. It drew enough international attention that the American ambassador personally requested two copies for the Library of Congress.

Sheikh Al-Hussary’s voice, recorded on those records, is the same voice millions of people have grown up hearing, on cassette tapes in the decades after, then on CDs, then on Ipods, then on the apps and YouTube channels that quietly run in the background of so many homes today, including, very likely, in some corner of your own computer or phone.

There are enough lessons we can learn (and have learned) from Sheikh Al-Hussary, whether related to the Quran recitation or not. But the interesting part is that there is a lesson we can learn from a singer. It is a masterclass in the concept of Sadaqah Jariyah, a continuous, flowing charity, and a living example of ‘tawfeeq’ from Allah to doing a good deed.

Although Mohamed Fawzy was known as a singer and an actor who was primarily indulged in the entertainment business, he used the worldly tools at his disposal to serve his Deen at the first opportunity that came to him. As a result, every time a student anywhere in the world learned how to properly pronounce an ayah by listening to those recordings, and every time a radio station broadcasted that recitation to millions of homes, Fawzy is (in shaa Allah) earning an unseen return on his investment. Even today, the ripple effects of that initial recording continue to benefit the Ummah. One can only imagine how many ‘hasanat’ one can accumulate for a Quran recording that is literally being played every single day, all over the world, since 1960 till 2026, and it is still one of the most important Quran recordings used by learners.

The beautiful thesis of Mohamed Fawzy’s story is that you do not need to be a Quran scholar or have a degree from Al-Azhar to do something that can benefit the Ummah.

Fawzy didn’t say, “I want Sadaqah Jariyah for myself, so I’ll record the Quran with my voice, even without having enough knowledge.” But rather, he tried to serve his deen in the way he was good at and was able to contribute. We can’t all be the Hussary of the story, but we can make a contribution no matter how small it is to serve the deen using what we are good at.

We should all look for that small investment in ourselves, whether it is our time, our unique skills, our business, or our wealth, that can be transformed into a Sadaqah Jariyah. You MUST have something ever so small that can be a passive income of hasanat. Share videos, build an app, write a guide, sponsor a student, or simply use your professional network to facilitate a good deed. If a singer’s record factory could become a vehicle for global Quranic preservation, imagine what your own unique talents could do.

Plant a seed today that will continue to offer shade long after you are gone.