TEHRAN -- Muhammad Hassan Hassanzadeh, an Iranian Qari from the central province of Yazd, won the top prize in the sixth edition of the Katara Prize for Qur’an Recitation in Qatar.
Registration for the contest began on September 1, 2022, and concluded on November 30.
The preliminary round was held virtually, with the contenders from 67 countries sending their recorded recitations to the organizing committee via the cyber space.
One hundred qaris from 13 Arab and 18 non-Arab countries have qualified for the next stage.
According to Hassanzdeh, it included three in-person rounds held in the Qatari capital of Doha.
He told IQNA that the contenders were first divided into twenty 5-member groups and the top contender in each group made it to the second round, which was held in the same way.
Hassanzadeh added that at last five top participants, including himself, qualified for the finals. The other four qaris were Osama Karbalaei and Ahmed Jamal from Iraq, Sheikh Abdul Razaq Shahawi from Egypt and one contender from Morocco.
The Iranian qari bagged the top prize in the international Qur’anic event. The runner-up was Osama Karbalaei and Egyptian Sheikh Abdul Razaq Shahawi came third.
Two other Iranian qaris, Fuad Moludi from Kordestan Province and Ali Reza Kohandel from Razavi Khorasan Province had also taken part in the sixth edition of the Katara Prize for Qur’an Recitation.
Winners of the top three titles received 500,000, 300,000 and 100,000 Qatari riyals respectively.
The slogan of this year’s edition was “Adorn the Qur’an with your voices”, according to marsalqatar.qa website.
According to the organizers, the Katara Prize for Quran Recitation aims to encourage distinguished talents in reciting the Holy Quran; discover, support and introduce talented people to the world; honor distinguished and creative reciters; motivate young generations to adhere to their religion, and realize their duties towards their Islamic faith.