Rubina Khalid (1959 - 23 December 2017) was a Pakistani Quran reciter.[1]
In 1996, she received the Pride of Performance Award in Qirat by the President of Pakistan.[2] [1]
She was born in 1959.[1] Her father's name was Chaudhry Khushi Mohammad who was a 'close associate' of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan. Her father also owned a business called Punjab Press that used to print many newspapers.[1] She did her master's degree in Arabic from the University of the Punjab in 1987.[1] [3] She had memorized the Qura'n and achieved proficiency in Qirat by the time she was nine years old.[3] [1]
Rubina taught as Assistant Professor of Arabic at Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore and Government Islamia College, Lahore for 37 years.[3] She first started appearing on the PTV in 1971 to recite the Quran.[1] She was married to a college professor Khalid Mahmood Hashmi and had two daughters, Namrah and Arooba.[3] [1]
Qari Abdul Basit 'Abd us-Samad (1927 - 1988) of Egypt, (an international Quran reciting celebrity) had heard her reciting the Quran at the historic Badshahi Masjid, Lahore, "and affectionately called the 12-year-old Rubina as 'Chhota Basit' (the second Basit)".[1] [3]
Rubina Khalid died on 23 December 2017 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 58.[3] Among the survivors were her husband and two daughters. She was buried at the Miani Sahib Graveyard in Lahore.[3] [4]