TEHRAN– Egypt’s Awqaf minister Mohamed Mukhtar Gomaa has said that representatives of 58 countries will take part in the country’s upcoming international Qur’an competition.
Mohamed Mukhtar Gomaa said that Africa will have the largest number of participants, with 33 African countries scheduled to attend the Qur’an ic event.
He put the total number of participants at 108, Al-Watan news website reported.
According to the official, seven Qur’an experts from Egypt, Chad, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Oman will form the panel of arbiters.
He noted that the contest will kick off in Cairo on Saturday, February 4.
The awarding ceremony will be organized on the 27th day of the holy month of Ramadan (mid-April), Gomaa went on to say.
Earlier, the organizers had said the categories focus on memorization of the entire Qur’an, interpretation, and Qur’ani concepts.
The first category is the memorization of the Qur’an and understanding of its concepts for men and women under 45 years old. The winner and runner-up will receive 250,000 and 150,000 Egyptian Pounds respectively.
The second category is the memorization of the Qur’an and understanding of its concepts for families. At least three members of each family should be Qur’an memorizers. The top family will be awarded 250,000 Egyptian Pounds.
The third category is the Qur’an memorization, interpretation and application in other sciences for participants under 45 years old. 150,000 Egyptian Pounds will be awarded to the winner.
Memorization of the Qur’an with seven Qira’ates for participants under the age of 50 is the next category with the top prize of 150,000 Egyptian Pounds.
The fifth category is memorization of the Qur’an for non-Arabic speakers under the age of 40 with the top prize of 150,000 Egyptian Pounds. The second-place hafiz will receive 100,000 Egyptian Pounds.
The next category is the memorization of the Qur’an for people with disabilities. Participants should be under 35 years old as the first-place winner will bring home 100,000 Egyptian Pounds.
The seventh category is the memorization of the Qur’an and understanding its vocabulary and interpretation for kids under the age of 15. 100,000 Egyptian Pounds will be awarded to the winner.
The final category is dedicated to exemplary memorizers.
The top prizes in some of the categories have increased to 250,000 Egyptian Pounds. The minimum value of the top award is 100,000 Egyptian Pounds.
This year’s event has been named after late qari Sheikh Mustafa Ismail.