Born-blind, Moulvi Hafiz Syed Noorul Haq has not only memorised the Quran,but also leads the Taraweeh prayers with his mesmerising recitation of the Quran as is done at the holy Haram in Makkah.
His face glows-like they say the noor! Moulvi Hafiz Syed Noorul Haq, son of a vegetable exporter was born on July 6, 1980 in Bangalore. He was born-blind, but being handicapped did not become a hurdle for him to achieve his goal. Just when he was three and half years old, he used to go to Madrasah Darul Uloom Shahwaliullah near Tannery Road from S.K Garden in Bangalore. During this time, his father used to lend him support. He used to go to the Madrasa with his play equipments everyday by auto just to play. During this time he was introduced to Noorani Qaeda. The family’s rapport with the rector of the madrasa, Darul-Uloom Shahwaliullah, Maulana Hazrat Zainulabdeen moulded his life. Normally, madrasas do not admit children at this tender age. The family influence on Maulana Zainulabdeen was such that he admitted this blind child to the madrasa as a day-scholar. He was like any other child, he used to cry a lot whenever he was asked to recite.Initially his teachers had a tough time handling him. Maulana Zainulabdeen himself became personally interested in his development. Maulana Zainulabdeen says, “ initially we used to introduce him to the toys that he was bringing such as ball, aeroplane, car and many different kinds of toys, we made him touch the toys, feel the shape and tell him about each toy and this interaction continued and within a span of five to six months, he completed Noorani Qaida.” This was the first step and here his mentor and teachers sowed the seeds for memorization. During this period, he was assisted by Maulana Saleem under whom he completed 30th Para. Later Maulana Hafiz Muneer took him under his fold for revision of the Quran and completed the memorisation. Maulana Hafiz Muneer would accompany Maulana Noorul Haq to his house everyday, teach him the Quranic verses even after the madrasa hours after Isha upto 10.30 pm each day and this practice continued till Syed Noorul Haq became Hafiz Syed Noorul Haq.
During the learning period, Hafiz Noorul Haq devised his own methodology and way of learning. When he was just four years old, he would operate the cassette player and listen to the recitation of the Quran from the audio tapes several times to learn and memorise the same. This technique helped him to a great extent. While he was still a learner, after finishing the 14th Para, he was on an Umra trip in the year 1992. During this time, he had the opportunity to listen to the Qirath of Saud Ibn Ibrahim Shuraim and Sheikh Abdur Rahman Sudais, both Imams at the holy Haram in Makkah and Sheik Ayub at Madinah. This became a key motivating factor in his life. “ I used to recite in their tone with proper tajweed (pronounciation) and my interest grew,” says Hafiz Noorul Haq. He continued to listen to audio tapes of these hufaz several times and through them imbibed the quality of reciting the Quran as is done at Haram-e-Sharif.
While in Makkah during Umra, he happened to recite verses from the Quran before a gathering, during this, few Egyptians witnessed this and this prompted Al-Azhar to invite him through the Egyptian embassy twice.
He is not only dear to his family, but loved by the other students and the teachers alike at Madrasa Shahwaliulllah. Teachers and friends continued to lend him support throughout. Among the madrasa students, he is popular as “Noor Bhai.” When he was asked about the support from his family, Hafiz Noor says “ Alhamdulillah, I received utmost attention being the youngest member in the family.”
After completing the memorisation, he visited several Islamic institutions along with his father, Maulana Zainulabdeen and Maulana Hafiz Muneer to Nadwatul Ulema at Lucknow, Nizamuddin at Delhi and Hardoi and recited Quranic verses before the eminent scholars.
In the year 1993, on the advice of Maulana Abrarul Haq of Hardoi, he visited Hardoi along with his parents and spent one month learning Quran with Tajweed. While he was learning the Alim course, he had a very good friend and batch-mate, Moulvi Mohd Shuaib from Jamat-e-duwam to jamat-e-haftum. Maulana used to accompany him everywhere.
In the year 1994, he led Taraweeh prayers for the first time at his home. He is leading the Taraweeh prayers at Masjid-e-Taqwa from 1995 till date. His recitation of Quran during Taraweeh in this mosque at Williams Town attracts a large turn-out for his beautiful voice.
Maulvi Hafiz Noorul Haq is optimistic about his future. He says,” I will continue to recite the Quran and along with this, I will work for Dawah and Tabligh and will continue to follow the teachings of his teachers.” One can silently whisper Ameen at his vision and mission.
Maulvi Hafiz Syed Noorul Haq can be reached at Al-Ehsan, Door No 11, 16th cross, ITI Layout, S.K. Garden Bangalore-560046. Mobile:9844523033.
 |
November 2004 |