Ayoob Essack

Ayyūb Essack, full name Ayyūb ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Sulaymān Ishāq, was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa in 1381 A.H./1961 C.E. Qāri Ayyūb’s initial studies in Qurʾānic recital, fiqh, ʿaqīdah, amongst other Islamic sciences, were completed under the auspices of Sheikh Muhammad Yūsuf Mulla. It was also at his hands that, at the age of fourteen, he memorized the Qurʾān. During this time, he completed his tertiary education. Thereafter, he spent a year with Sheikh Ismāʿīl Katrada revising the Qurʾān. In 1978 C.E., he enrolled at Dār al-ʿUlūm Falāh al-Dārayn in Gujarat, India. Here, he gained proficiency in the Arabic language, fiqh, tafsīr, hadith, philosophy, and other sciences. Under the expert tutelage of Qāri Anīs Ahmad Khān at this madrasah, he studied tajwīd and qirāʾāt. The books studied by him comprise Urdu as well as Arabic works. They include Miftāḥ al-Qurʾān, Fawāʾid Makkiyyah, Khulāsah al-Bayān, the Muqaddimah al-Jazariyyah, and al-Fawāʾid al-Tajwīdiyyah. Some of these books of tajwīd he also read and studied with Sheikh Muhammad ʿAbbās Dharamfūri. To both Qāri Anīs Ahmad and Sheikh ʿAbbās, he read the Qurʾān in the narration of Ḥafṣ via the Shāṭibiyyah. Subsequently, he completed the study of the Shāṭibiyyah, the Durrah, and the Ṭayyibah, as well as reading the Qurʾān combining all the qirāʾāt contained in these works to Qāri Anīs Ahmad Khan. He also read all the works of Qāri Anīs Ahmad in tajwīd and qirāʾāt. **Teachers:** – Qāri Anīs Ahmad Khan – He read to him the seven qirāʾāt via the Shāṭibiyyah, and the ten qirāʾāt via the Durrah and the Ṭayyibah. He also read many books to him including Nihāyah al-Qawl al-Mufīd of Makkī Naṣr Juraysī, Ghayth al-Nafʿ of Ṣafāqusī, Ithāf Fuḍalāʾ al-Bashar of Aḥmad al-Bannāʾ, the ʿAqīlah of Imām Shāṭibī, al-Nashr of Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Wujūh al-Musfarrah of Mutawallī and many others. Qāri Ayyūb spent eight years under the skilled training of Qāri Anīs, receiving ijāzah in these qirāʾāt, his written works, and all the books read to him. – Sheikh Muhammad ʿAbbās Dharamfūri – Read Miftāḥ al-Qurʾān, Fawāʾid Makkiyyah, Khulāsah al-Bayān, and the Muqaddimah al-Jazariyyah. He also read the Qurʾān to him in the narration of Ḥafṣ via the Shāṭibiyyah. – Sheikh Muhammad Yūsuf Mulla – Learned how to recite Qurʾān as well as completed its memorization by him. He also learned initial teachings of fiqh, Islamic history, and more by him. – Sheikh Ismāʿīl Katrada – Revised the Qurʾān with him. – Sheikh Ahmad Bemat – Studied hadith and read the Ṣaḥīḥ of Bukhārī to him. – Sheikh Abrār Ahmad – Studied hadith and read the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim to him. He also read the first half of Tafsīr al-Jalālayn to him. – Sheikh Shabīr ʿAli al-Afghānī – Studied hadith, and read the Jāmiʿ of Tirmidhī as well as portions of Ibn Mājah and fiqh by him. – Sheikh Dhū al-Fiqār Ahmad – Studied hadith, fiqh, the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd, and the second half of Tafsīr al-Jalālayn to him. – Sheikh Muhammad Ayyūb Surti – Studied Arabic, fiqh, and hadith by him. He also read the Shamāʾil of Tirmidhī and sections of Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ to him. – Sheikh ʿAbd Allah Patel – Studied hadith and fiqh by him. He also read sections of Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ to him. – Sheikh Muhammad Yaʿqūb Desai – Studied Arabic grammar, ṣarf, hadith, fiqh, uṣūl, and tafsīr by him. He also read both Muwattāʾs to him. – Sheikh ʿAbd Allah Ismāʿīl Patel – Studied Arabic by him. He also read sections of Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār to him. Qāri Ayyūb received ijāzah and sanad from his teachers in all these books studied. **Current Duties:** – Head of the Faculty of Tajwīd and Qirāʾāt at Dār al-ʿUlūm Zakariyyah in South Africa since 1408 A.H. / 1988 C.E. – Travels extensively to many countries across the world, including India, Pakistan, Britain, Brazil, Chile, America, Canada, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mauritius, Reunion, United Arab Emirates, and others, in service of the Qurʾān. – Director of Madrasah Tartīl al-Qurʾān in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. **Students:** Qāri Ayyūb has taught hundreds of students, not only in South Africa but across the globe.