ZAGREB, SEPTEMBER 29 (ONASA) – The 30th international competition for reciting the Qur’an ended last night with the announcement of the winners and the awarding of diplomas at the Islamic Center in Zagreb, reports MINA.
In terms of duration, this competition is the fourth in the world, right after Malaysia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and is included in the catalog of world competitions.
According to the reisul-ulema of the Islamic community in Bosnia and Herzegovina Husein-ef. Kavazović, the competition has shown through all these years how important it is to be dedicated to a goal.
“The Muslims here were dedicated to this, they left behind a valuable tradition, for our Community, for Muslims, and I don’t think there is a person in this area who is a member of the Community, and who was not informed about this competition,” said the reisul-ulema.
He pointed out that he was particularly pleased with the participation of students from many countries, and especially with the significant presence of young people.
“This shows how popular hifz has become among the youth. If there is any hope for what is happening to us in the world today, I place my hope in these young people. I hope that through their approach to the Qur’an, they will change the paradigm of the world, that they will be better than us,” said the reisul-ulema.
70 contestants from 41 countries of the world took part in the competition, from Australia, the United States, Africa to countries from the region, and as before, it was held in four categories: recitation of the entire Qur’an, recitation of 15 juzes, recitation of five juzees and tilawet.
Abdulsalam Alqathafi from Libya won the first place in the category of hifza of the entire Qur’an, Abdullah Alenezi from Kuwait took second place, and Hamzah Elhabashy from the United States took third place.
Eight-year-old Hafiz Enis Bašić from Croatia won the first place in the hifz15 juz, second place went to Mohamed Yacne Tebbakh from Algeria, and third to Abdelrahman Abdel Monem from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The winner in the five-juze category is Ahmed Hodžić from Germany, the second is Shuajb Sadiki from North Macedonia, and the third is Ahmed Avdić from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Eleven-year-old Ahmed Hodžić told Preporod.info that he did not hope for first place.
“Honestly, I expected to be second or third, but now I am happy, because I like to study the Qur’an and that is an important thing in my life,” said Hodžić.
When it comes to the tilavet category, the first place was won by Eyyup Ensar Kilic from Turkey, the second by Wildan Alwi Endang from Indonesia, and the third by Yousef Jaffar Zadeh from Iran.
The winner, Ensar Kilic, pointed out that he is very happy about winning the award.
“I am proud and thank God for that. Also, I want to highlight the great organization, from the first to the last day, and thank everyone who invested their efforts in the realization of the competition”, said Kilic.
President of the Evaluation Commission kurra hafiz Aziz-ef. Alili stressed that these are excellent learners.
“It was difficult for the members of the Commission to decide, the nuances really decided here. It seems to me that every year we have better and better students”, said Hafizi Alili.
In addition to him, the Commission consisted of kurra hafiz Sheikh Yousef Alhamadi (Qatar), kurra hafiz Dr. Osman Šahin (Turkey), kurra hafiz Šehzad Taher (UAE, Shariqa/Iraq) and kurra hafiz Dr. Kemal Qudda (Algeria).
At the award ceremony, the president of the Mosque of the Islamic Community in Croatia, Aziz-ef. Hasanović said that the Qur’an should be “the spring of our hearts and the main guide in life”, and that it was a pleasure to listen to the world’s best scholars in the past few days.
“With their melodiousness, accuracy and fluency, they managed to fascinate all those who listened to them. As the president of the Organizing Committee of the competition, I want to thank everyone, from the Judging Committee to those who served the many guests, to everyone who contributed in any way”, said mufti Hasanović, noting that he is proud of the thirty-year tradition of this competition.
The ceremony, which followed the teachings of the Great Mevlud, was attended by high-ranking officials of the Islamic community from Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and neighboring countries, guests from Qatar and Turkey, and numerous believers.
On this occasion, the Mosque of the Islamic Community in Croatia also awarded a special recognition to the organization “Darul-Qur’an wa Sunnah” from Palestine, which has so far produced 26,268 hafiz, of which 3,647 are kurra hafiz.
Special recognition was also awarded to the competition “Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani in the Holy Qur’an” from Qatar.
The organizers of the Quran reciting competition in Zagreb are the Mešihat of the Islamic Community in Croatia, the Majlis of the Islamic Community Zagreb, the Qatar Ministry of Waqf and Islamic Affairs and the General Secretariat of the European-International Quran Reciting Competition.
We remind you that the first competition in learning the Qur’an was organized in 1988 and marked the first anniversary of the Zagreb Mosque. (end)