By Mohamed Khoulaidi
By Mohamed Khoulaidi
Doha, August 28, 2011
A twelve-year-old Moroccan boy, Abdul Baset Abdel-Fattah Warrash, won the first prize of QR100, 000 in the International Quran Recitation Competition which was held at Katara, the cultural village, on Friday. The competition was organized by the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowment) and Islamic Affairs and Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC). Children from Al Quds (Jerusalem), Baghdad, Cordoba, Toronto, Brasilia, China, USA, Niger, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, and Thailand participated in the contest.
Minister of Awqaf (Religious Endowment) and Islamic Affairs H.E. Dr. Ghaith bin Mubarak bin Imran al Kuwari and Al Jazeera Children’s Channel Executive General Manager Mahmoud Bouneb handed out the prizes to the first three winners, Abdul Baset Abdel-Fattah Warrash from Morocco, Amjad Yehya Nasser from Yemen, and Noura al Shahama Taqiyah bint Nouri Najmi from Malaysia, who won QR100, 000, QR75, 000 and QR50, 000 respectively. They were selected from among 2,425 children, both male and female, aged between nine and 12 years from 46 countries. A prize of QR50, 000 was awarded to the best recitation by a non-Arab contestant, which was jointly won by Bilal Nour Eddine (11 years old) from Indonesia and Zakaria Faydallah (10 years old) from Bangladesh. The prize for the best teacher valued at QR30, 000 went jointly to Mozah Bint Mohamad Centre for Holy Quran and Islamic Affairs (Qatar) and Wahat Al Furqan Quran Teaching Centre (Egypt).
Several Muslim scholars, religious sheikhs and preachers from a number of Arab and Muslim countries were present on the occasion. H.E. the minister said: “We value this fruitful partnership with Al Jazeera Children’s Channel that took this remarkable competition worldwide and reached out to the young talents. We look forward to maintain strong bonds with active social entities like JCC to instill Islamic heritage and culture, and practice a responsible role of guidance towards a promising generation.” Bouneb said: “The international Quran recitation competition has become an annual event endowed with beautiful recitations by children from across the world. Its aim is to recognize talented youth and encourage them to read and master reciting from the Holy Quran.”
