

The methodology adopted by Qāri Anīs in teaching these works were that a student read a portion of the book to him after which Qāri Anīs would explain all matters pertaining to the portion read regarding those issues upon which the qurrā` agree, those issues in which they disagree, the grammar of the verses, the opinions of various commentators and so forth. He also read to him many books including Nihāyah al-Qoul al-Mufīd of Makkī Nasr Juraysī, Ghayth al-Naf˘ of Safāqusī, Ithāf Fudalā` al-Bashr of Ahmad al-Bannā`, the ˘Aqīlah of Imam Shātibī, al-Nashr of Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Wujūh al-Musfarrah of Mutawallī and many others.

Qāri Anīs Ahmad Khan – he read to him the seven qirā`āt via the Shātibiyyah, and the ten qirā`āt via the Durrah and the Tayyibah.He also read all the works of Qāri Anīs Ahmad in tajwīd and qirā`āt. Subsequently, he completed the study of the Shātibiyyah, the Durrah, and the Tayyibah, as well as reading the Qur`ān combining all the qirā`āt contained in these works to Qāri Anīs Ahmad Khan. To both, Qāri Anīs Ahmad and Sheikh ˘Abbās, he read the Qur`ān in the narration of Hafs via the Shātibiyyah. Some of these books of tajwīd he also read and studied by Sheikh Muhammad ˘Abbās Dharamfūri. They include Miftāh al-Qur`ān, Fawā`ide Makkiyyah, Khulāsah al-Bayān, the Muqaddimah al-Jazariyyah, al-Fawā`id al-Tajwīdiyyah. The books studied by him comprise of Urdu as well as Arabic works. Under the expert tutelage of Qāri Anīs Ahmad Khān, at this madrasah, he studied tajwīd and qirā`āt. Here he gained proficiency in the Arabic language, fiqh, tafsīr, hadith, philosophy, and so on. he enrolled at Dār al-˘Ulūm Falāh al-Dārayn in Gujarat, India. Thereafter he spent a year with Sheikh Ismā`īl Katrada revising the Qur`ān. During this time he completed his tertiary education. It was also at his hands that at the age of fourteen, he had memorized the Qur`ān.

Qāri Ayyūb’s initial studies in Qur`ānic recital, fiqh, ˘aqīdah, amongst other Islamic sciences, were completed under the auspices of Sheikh Muhammad Yūsuf Mulla. He was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa in 1381 A.H./1961 C.E. Ayoob Essack, full name is Ayyūb ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Sulaymān Ishāq.
