Hafiz

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This section has been extracted from THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. By H.H. RISLEY, INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE, OFFICIER D'ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE. Ethnographic Glossary. CALCUTTA: Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. .

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Hafiz

A reciter of the Koran.

A Hafiz, or one who can repeat the Koran by heart, is employed in the public mosques to recite it during the Ramazan. Throughout the month of fasting, the congregation assembles every evening in the mosque at 8 p.m., for the 'Isha-namaz, or night prayers, and, at the conclusion, the "Khatm-tarawi" consisting of twenty supplementary prayers and genuflexions, being gone through, the Hafiz recites one or more of the thirty sections (Sipara) of the Koran.

Two men are generally engaged in each mosque, one officiating during the first fifteen days, the other during the remainder of the month, and on the Id-ul-fitr each member of the congregation subscribes something towards their remuneration. A Hafiz may belong to any trade or profession, but the most respected are usually teachers, or Munshis.

All classes of Muhammadans look up to a Hafiz, although it is not unusual for him to yield to the temptations of a town life, drinking spirits, and leading a life in no respect better than that of individuals less conversant with the Koran.

According to the Sunnis, no Shiah can become a Hafiz, and one of the ordinary arguments in favour of their Mazhab, or creed, is grounded on this allegation.