Egypt's community of gifted reciters of the holy Muslim book of Qur'an is said to be drying up. The nation is also said to be losing its reputation as a fertile land, giving birth to beautiful and moving voices, which have played a major role in conveying the spirituality and divine musicality of the text in the Muslim holy book. The scarcity of gifted voices is worrying veteran reciters, who have real fears that the tremendous reputation they established in Arab and Muslim countries would decline and die out sooner or later. Celebrated Egyptian reciters are also voicing their concerns that the Egyptian reciters of the Qur'an would lose their prestige both at home and abroad. Admittedly, a number of Saudi reciters have successfully invaded (through their CD recordings) the Egyptian market. Sheikh Abul-Enin Sheeisha', the Head of the League of Reciters of the Qur'an in Egypt, underrated voices belonging to the new generations by claiming that they were not distinct, inspiring or influential. Sheeisha', who is widely regarded as celebrated in the history of the recitation of the Holy Qur'an, also regretted that new reciters, who submit themselves and their papers to obtain the official licence, were poor in memorising the full text of the Qur'an. He issued a sharp warning that reciters, who stammer incoherently, would not be tolerated by any means Sheikh Sheeisha' warned that he would slam the door of the league in the face of these people. “I cannot tolerate such an act,” the chief reciter thundered. “No one should expect me to compromise principles,” he added, but he refused to kill the hopes of these allegedly naive colleagues. He advised them to improve their memory and rendering before knocking at the door of the league again. Sheikh Abul-Enin Sheeisha' was endorsed officially by the Radio Board in 1939 when he was barely 17 years old. He was the youngest ever reciter of the Qur'an in Egypt, who achieved this success. The prize-winning reciter toured the countries of the world and was the chief jurist in several international competitions associated with the discovery of new talents in the field of the recitation of the Qur'an. “The reciters of the Qur'an should not parrot their predecessors' voices or try to give sonic renderings,” he advised. Renewing his attack on the new generation of reciters, Sheikh Abul-Enin Sheeisha' also accused them of being “greedy people, who disposed of the divine reward and devoted themselves to collecting money by reciting texts of the Qur'an in ceremonies of mourning”. The new reciters were advised to “energise their emotions and spirituality” to express themselves beautifully and effectively. “Over-embellished renderings will have a negative impact on the audiences,” Sheikh Sheeisha' stated. He condemned colleagues, who insist on being paid exaggeratedly higher fees to recite texts of the Holy Qur'an in the evening. “Far-fetched fees do much injustice to the spirituality and divinity of the Qu'ran,” the chief reciter noted. The major competition that Egyptian reciters of the Holy Qur'an face is that of Saudi colleagues, such as Sheikh Huzayefi and El-Sissy, who have cquired great popularity in Egyptian society. In the meantime, one of the most beautiful voices in the community of reciters of the Qur'an was dismissive of the audiences, suggesting that they were the reasons for the scarcity of beautiful voices in this field. Sheikh Mohamed el- Tablawi said: “There is no longer the kind of audiences, who can inspire the reciter to bring the best of his voice's ualities to his recitation and give a moving rendering.”
