09/04/2008

Before the Islamic Revolution, there were some people who used to meet in different places and recite the Holy Quran. But the ever increasing attention of our youth and children to the Holy Quran basically started after the Revolution. Prior to the Islamic Revolution, some of the qurra' [those who recite the Quran with the proper rules of recitation] traveled to Iran, but no one ever knew when they arrived or left. One of these famous qurra was Sheik Abul Ainein who had been invited by Owaqaf [an organization responsible for the guardianship of religious endowments] to travel to Mashhad. I had previously listened to a lot of his records, and was very fond of his voice although I was not in close contact with him.

By then, I had broken off all relations with those who had invited him, and although I was truly interested in listening to his voice, I did not take part in any one of the ceremonies they had arranged. They had formed a gathering and were reciting the Holy Quran in the Goharshad Mosque [a famous mosque in Razavi Khorasan province in Iran] under a very graceful iwan [a vaulted hall or space, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open]. The congregation could barely said to be a hundred. They were sitting in a circle, listening to the recitation of the Holy Quran. The weather was very cold then, and my son Mojtaba who was very young then, was also with me.

Since I did not intend to join them, I had to stay out in the cold weather to listen to that qari's voice. As I previously mentioned, the number of the people present was around a hundred. These days, however, almost everyone is interested to listen when you go to a city [to recite the Holy Quran].

* Related by the Supreme Leader in his meeting with a number of Qurra' of the Holy Quran on February 9, 1991.

^{* Source: http://english.khamenei.ir}