The National Center for Quranic Sciences announced that Baghdad will host the first edition of the International Quran Memorization and Recitation Competition today , Saturday. While indicating that the competition is sponsored and attended by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, he confirmed the participation of 31 Arab and Islamic countries .
The director of the center and member of the higher committee for organizing the competition, Rafeh Al-Amiri, said, “The international competition for memorizing and reciting the Holy Quran is the first initiative in Iraq at the governmental level. For 100 years, no government has adopted an international competition like other Islamic countries,” indicating that “Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani agreed to hold the competition on November 9 in the capital, Baghdad, which falls on Saturday .”
He added, “The competition will be attended by readers from 31 Arab and Islamic countries,” noting that ” the Shiite and Sunni endowments are the ones who are responsible for the comprehensive technical, financial and logistical preparations to complete the competition, after joint meetings between the two endowments a year ago to study the dates and circumstances of other international competitions .”
He stressed that “the main objective of the competition is to highlight Iraq’s Quranic heritage and encourage reading and memorizing the Holy Book of God .”
He continued, “The competition includes the recitation and memorization of the Qur’an, and each section has its own judging,” noting that “the competition will be in two stages: the first is preliminary and everyone participates in it, and the second is for the top five participants to qualify, with large cash prizes allocated to the winners .”
In a related context, the Director of the Iraqi Center for the Holy Quran and a member of the preparatory committee for the competition, Qutaiba Ammash, said, “The first edition of the Iraq International Competition for Memorizing and Reciting the Holy Quran is an important historical event,” indicating that, “This competition comes from the interest in the Book of God Almighty and also to provide an opportunity for young people to memorize the Holy Quran and compete to interpret it and understand its meanings .”
He continued, “The competition includes a valuable elite of international and local judges who are specialized and known in the field of arbitration in Quranic readings, recitations and competitions, and who are known for their knowledge in this area,” explaining, “Baghdad is hosting this valuable competition under the slogan… (From Baghdad, the civilization and Islam, to Gaza, the resistance, and Lebanon, the jihad with the Holy Quran, victory and steadfastness).”
