Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister and President of Baniyas Club, has launched the Holy Quran Tahbeer Award in the capital.
The judges will consider a number of criteria in the Quran-reading competition, including melody, precision of letter pronunciation and memorisation of chapters, before awarding a top prize of Dh20,000 during the last half of Ramadan.
Sheikh Waseem Yousef, a frequent lecturer at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, has been selected as the award director.
“The word ‘tahbeer’ means melodious recital of the Quran,” Yousef explained via his Instagram account. Yousef encouraged all potential contenders, both in the UAE and internationally, to post a short video of their recitation on the Instagram account @TahbeerQuran.
The competition, which began on Friday and ends on the 20th day of Ramadan, has already managed to attract more than 3,700 participants from all walks of life, ranging in age from 5 to 32.
The participants come from more than 15 countries including the UAE, Oman, Yemen, Iraq and Jordan, as well as the Palestinian Territories.
In addition to encouraging Muslims to conserve the practice of memorising the Quran, the award aims to create a refined understanding of the spirit of Islam and its message of moderation to the world.
The winner will be announced on the Instagram accounts @Tahbeerquran and @waseem_yousef.
aalhameli@thenational.ae
