The hidden Olympians: the role of huffaz in the English Muslim community

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a recent research project which sought to answer the question, ‘in what ways does being a Muslim hafiz/a affect the everyday work, life and perceptions of a representative sample of being huffaz?’ The project was itself a sequel to a previous piece of fieldwork which examined the dynamics of a boys’ hifz class in a north-east London mosque. Following, by way of background, a commentary on each of the four terms used in the article title—‘hifz’, ‘English Muslim community’, ‘hidden’ and ‘Olympians’—the value and methodology of the research project is explained. Four aspects of the research findings are then outlined: implications for the quality and style of daily living, keeping the Qur’ān fixed in memory, the central importance of Ramadan in the lives of huffaz and points of difference and contestation. The study ends with some concluding remarks concerning how the research already carried out in this field might be developed further, both more specifically (relating to the life and work of English huffaz) and more generally (relating to the place of textual memorisation and recitation both across religious traditions and within western and other cultural practice).