Waheed Zafar Qasmi

Qari Waheed Zafar Qasmi is a Pakistani Qur'an reciter and naat singer, counted among the leading teachers of the art of naat in Pakistan. He won international recitation competitions on three continents, worked for Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television, and received the Pride of Performance in 1984. ¹²

He was born into a family known for recitation of the Qur'an: his father was Muhammad Tahir Qasmi, son of Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad, and his two brothers, Qari Zahir Qasmi and Qari Shakir Qasmi, are also counted among Pakistan's renowned reciters. His birth year is given as 1962 by the Bengali article and Wikidata, though the Urdu article's categories also file him under 1952 births. He began reciting the Qur'an at the age of seven. ¹²³

While still young he entered recitation competitions around the world: he won his first competition in Malaysia in 1969, another in Libya in 1979, and first places in Saudi Arabia in 1980 and Syria in 1981. In the 1970s he joined Radio Pakistan, and he became known on television for his programme Sar Chashma-e-Hidayat; he also served effectively as a judge at recitation and naat competitions. ¹²

He is best known for his naats, among them 'Allah Hu Allah Hu', 'Faslon ko Takalluf' and 'Zahe Muqaddar', and his complete recitation of the Qur'an is also in circulation. In recognition of his standing in recitation and naat he received the Pride of Performance in 1984. He lives in Karachi. ¹