Qari Muammar Zainal Asyikin ( ar, معمر زين العاشقين, ''Mu'ammar Zayn-al Ashqeen''; born 14 June 1954) sometimes shortened Muammar ZA or Muammar Za is a popular senior Qari or

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

reciter and Hafiz from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

well known nationally and internationally. He won Qur'an Recitation Contests known as ''" Musabaqah Tilawatil Quran"'' ("MTQ") during the 1980s in Indonesia and abroad. His talent was recognised during childhood in his hometown

Pemalang Pemalang Regency is a regency ( id, kabupaten) on the north coast of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Pemalang. The regency is bordered by the Java Sea in the north, in the east by Pekalongan Regency, by Purbalingg ...

where he participated and won a local children's Quran Competition in 1962 when he was just 7 years of age H. Muammar, a national reciter, was renowned internationally for his breath capacity (the longest in the world, it was said).Anna M. Gade
Perfection Makes Practice: Learning, Emotion, and the Recited Qurʼān in Indonesia
pg. 184.

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

: University of Hawaii Press, 2004. He is known to have a myriad of achievements related to

Qur'an reading The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sin ...

competitions. In 1967 he achieved the first place in the

Reciting Competition ("MTQ") of

Jogjakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

Province, and after that winning in 1972 and 1973 representing

province in the national level of Quran Reciting Competition in

. In 1979 and 1986 he won the International level Quran Reciting Competition, and because of his achievements, he was invited to recite in Istana Nurul Iman of

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

, National Palace of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and until the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. He was invited by

Jamia Binoria Jamia Binoria Aalamia is an Islamic educational institute in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It is regarded as one of the most modern madrassa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational ins ...

to recite the Quran in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 2009. He was also invited to recite in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

(''IGMG Aileler Günü'') in 2004.

Background

Qari Muammar is the seventh child of ten, of which only nine lived to adulthood, of H. Zainal Asykin and Hj. Mu’minatul Afifah who were religious figures of their home village. Qari Muammar was born in Moga district which is approximately 40 km south from the capital city of Pemalang Regency in

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...

. He has a younger brother named Imron Rosyadi Z.A who has followed in his brother's footsteps to become a Qari. Muammar married a woman from

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

named Syarifah Nadiya in 1984 and has a daughter and four sons. In 2002, Muammar established an Islamic Boarding School or "

Pesantren ''Pesantren'', or ''pondok pesantren'', are Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. They consist of pondok, mosque, santri, teaching of classical Islamic texts and Kyai.Zamakhsyari Dhofie''The Pesantren Tradition: A Study of the Role of the Kyai ...

" called "Pesantren Ummul Qura" (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: أم القرى) located in

Cipondoh Cipondoh is a district of Tangerang City, Banten, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including ...

Tangerang Tangerang (Sundanese: , ) is a city in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Located on the western border of Jakarta, it is the third largest urban centre in the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area after Jakarta and Bekasi; the sixth largest city pro ...

to build future professional Qaris from a young age.

References

{{Authority control 1954 births Indonesian Muslims Indonesian Quran reciters Javanese people Quran reciters Living people People from Pemalang Regency Indonesian people of Egyptian descent Universal Music Group artists

Background

See also

References