Dubai: A medical student and a trained doctor have set the bar on day one of the 22nd Dubai International Holy Quran Awards (DIHQA).
Setting the stage on Wednesday night, Ugandan Sulaiman Ali, a third-year medical student, gave the best performance of the first night of the annual competition.
Coming from a family of 10 siblings who have all memorised the Holy Quran completely, Ali follows his elder brother to DIHQA, who participated in the competition five years back.
“I am following in the footsteps of my elder brother in coming here and I am proud to be part of this amazing competition. Thanks to Allah, I am very happy with my performance but I know this is a tough competition and there are many great performers coming up over the next 10 days, so I am keeping hopes in check,” said Ali, who gave an impeccable performance on Wednesday night.
Rated highly by many, the 22-year-old has won multiple Quran awards over the last few years and has an ambition of spreading the message of the Quran across his country.
“In Uganda, there are many Quran schools for boys and we see many boys completing the task of memorising the entire Quran, but there are not many schools for girls and my aim is to build a Quran school for girls,” said Ali, whose two sisters have also completed memorising the Quran.
Another contestant from the medical field to perform on Wednesday night was Jordanian Nasir Nihad Dheb, who gave a soulful rendition of the Quranic verses.
This is the second international Quran competition for Dr Dheb, who was runner-up at a global competition in Algeria last year.
“This has been a great experience so far. It feels amazing to perform on such a big stage in Dubai as this is one of the most prestigious Quran competitions in the world and I am glad that I have done well,” said Dheb, who studied Islamic eduction till secondary school before opting for medical education in the university.
The 24-year-old from Amman started memorising the Quran at the age of eight and completed memorising the 114-chapter book in four years.
Though Dheb memorised the Quran at an Islamic institution, he credits his parents and their efforts for making him achieve his goal.
The first session of the contest saw seven participants performing in the packed auditorium of the Dubai Chamber building, including an engineer from Tanzania.
Faris Saeed Hammadi, a Tanzanian of Omani descent, is also a multiple award winner, who finished memorising the Quran within eight months at the age of 10.
One of the biggest competitions of its kind, in terms of prize money and participation, the annual contest has inspired hundreds of youngsters from around the world to take up memorisation of the Holy Quran.
Spreading its reach further every passing year, the competition this year will have representation from 104 countries.
A brainchild of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the award was established in order to encourage young Muslims to memorise and understand the Quran, and to spread the Quranic values of peace and love.
The competition involves reciting eloquently the passages of Quran from memory, with each contestant having to recite from five different passages randomly chosen by a computer software. It also has a segment for the most beautiful recitation.
Last year, Bangladesh’s Mohammad Tariqul Islam won the top prize of Dh250,000, keeping up his country’s reputation of producing soulful reciters.
