Roots
Sheikh Abdel Fattah Al-Shaasha'i, may Allah have mercy on him, was born in 1890 in a small village in the province of Al-Minufiyya in Egypt's Nile Delta; his family name recalls that home. Like most reciters of his time, he memorised the Qur'an as a child in the kuttab and later deepened his knowledge of tajweed and the readings with the scholars of his region.
The road to Cairo
As a young man he moved to Cairo, then the undisputed centre of Qur'an recitation. There he gradually made his name, reciting in mosques and at solemn occasions, and became one of the most respected reciters of the city. When Egyptian radio began broadcasting in the 1930s, he belonged to the generation of reciters whose voices carried the Qur'an over the airwaves into people's homes for the very first time.
His son, Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Shaasha'i, later followed in his footsteps as a reciter – a beautiful example of how the Qur'an is passed down within families from one generation to the next.
His style
Al-Shaasha'i recited in the classical Egyptian mujawwad style. His voice is strong, deep and full of dignity; it carries far without ever sounding harsh. He took his time with the verses, gave the long elongations room to breathe and used melody deliberately to bring out the meaning. Listening to his recordings, you sense a certain grandeur – an older, very earnest manner of recitation that belongs to the founding generation of Egyptian radio reciters.
What you can learn from him
The surviving recordings of Al-Shaasha'i are old and not perfect in sound. For anyone who loves the history of recitation, though, they are a treasure. They show how the Egyptian school sounded in its early days, the foundation that later masters built upon, and how naturally seriousness and beauty can come together in reciting the Qur'an.
As a learner, pay special attention to his calm: he never rushes, and every word carries weight. That is a good reminder for all of us who sometimes read too quickly.
He passed away in 1962. May Allah reward him and his family for their service to the Qur'an.