Maria Ulfah ( ar, ماريا أولفا; born 21 December 1955) is an Indonesian
qāriʾah (reciter of the
Quran
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.: , ...
) and manager of the Central Institute for the Development of Quranic Recitation. She is the winner of two Indonesian national Qur'an recitation contests and is internationally recognized as one of the world's master reciters and teachers of recitation.
[Kathryn M. Coughlin]
Muslim Cultures Today: A Reference Guide
pg. 87. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group
Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher ( middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as G ...
, 2006. She is also a lecturer at the Institute for the Study of Qur'an and at the National Islamic University in
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 Gui ...
,
as well as the first woman to win an international Qur'an recitation award in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
in 1980.
[ She's considered an internationally significant figure in the field, and has been referred to as ]Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
's premier female reciter of the Qur'an.
Personal life
Ulfah was born in Lamongan Regency
Lamongan Regency is a regency ''(kabupaten)'' of East Java, Indonesia. It has a total land area of approximately or + 3.78% of the area of East Java Province. With a length of along the coastline, the sea area of Lamongan Regency is about , i ...
, East Java
East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern and ...
, on December 21, 1955, to Haji Mudhoffar and Hajjah Ruminah.University of Indonesia
The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the D ...
. She has three children: Ahmad Nabries, Mohammad Labib, and Rifky Mubarak.[
]
Career
Ulfah was introduced to Qur'an recitation by her father, Haji Mudhoffar, who taught her that she was equal to any man or woman. He staged Qur'an reciting competitions in their hometown to give his daughter experience.[ Ulfah is a scholar of the history of Qur'anic recitation in the ]Indonesian archipelago
The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago ( id, Kepulauan Indonesia) or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands comprising the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands.
History ...
, as well as a lecturer at the Institute for Qur'anic Studies in Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...
.[
Ulfah's recitation was featured on the companion CD to ''Approaching the Qur'an'' by ]Michael Sells
Michael Anthony Sells (born May 8, 1949) is John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic History and Literature in the Divinity School and in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago.
Michael Sells studies and teaches in t ...
,[Anna M. Gade]
Perfection Makes Practice: Learning, Emotion, and the Recited Qurʼān in Indonesia
pg. 279. 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 isla ...
: University of Hawaii Press
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
, 2004. Canada, and several European countries.[ her trip was hosted by the Middle East Studies Association of North America.]Jane Dammen McAuliffe
Jane Dammen McAuliffe (born 1944) is an American educator, scholar of Islam and the inaugural director of national and international outreach at the Library of Congress. She is a president emeritus of Bryn Mawr College and former dean of Georget ...
Disparity and Context: Teaching Quranic Studies in North America
pg. 106. Taken from ''Teaching Islam''. Ed. Brannon M. Wheeler. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
See also
* Muammar Z.A.
* Mu'min Ainul Mubarak
External links
Personal website
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulfah, Maria
1955 births
Indonesian Muslims
Indonesian Quran reciters
Javanese people
Living people
People from Lamongan Regency
Women scholars of Islam
Indonesian women
Indonesian people of Egyptian descent