TEHRAN -- Top winners of the 41st edition of Iran’s International Qur’an Competitions were announced and awarded in a closing ceremony held in the holy city of Mashhad on Friday.
The ceremony, attended by participants, members of panel of arbiters, local and government officials, as well as hundreds of people, marked the end of the competition that began on Sunday.
Male participants contested in categories of Qur’an recitation, Tarteel, and memorization of entire Qur’an.
In the first category, Muhammad Husseinipour from Iran won the first rank. Muhammad Hussein Muhammad from Egypt and Ahmed Razzaq al-Dulaimi from Iraq finished second and third respectively.
Mojtaba Ghadbeigi from Iran won the Tarteel recitation category while Haider Ali Adnan Muhammad from Iraq and Qasim Muhammad Hamdan from Lebanon stood next.
In the memorization category, the top prize went to Muhammad Khakpour from Iran. Murtada Hussein Ali Akkash from Libya and Ahmed Muhammad Saleh Ibrahim Eissa from Egypt achieved the second and third ranks respectively.
In the female’s section, the top prize of memorization category went to Fatemeh Daliri from Iran. Mottahareh Labiba from Bangladesh finished runner-up while Afnan Rashad Ali Yaqub from Yemen gained the third rank.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Ghazaleh Soheilizadeh was named the winner of female’s Tarteel category. Aisha Muhammad Abdulmutallab from Nigeria and Hoora Haidar Hamzi from Lebanon stood next.
A total 0f 57 contestants representing 27 countries made it to the final stage of the competitions that was held in person in Mashhad. The preliminary section, held virtually, brought representatives from more than 100 countries.
In a message to the closure, President Masoud Pezeshkian emphasized the importance of countering the global imperialism’s efforts and use of media to portray Islam and the Qur’an as threats to humanity.
“Although the main goal of this movement is to plunder the human and material resources of Muslims, by the grace of God and the efforts of all practitioners of the Qur’an, their malicious plans will fail,” the president said.
Pezeshkian said one of the significant realities of the region and the world today is resistance against oppression and inequality, and helping the oppressed, which stems from the teachings of the Holy Qur’an.
“Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon Him) rightly said that the superiority of the Qur’an over other words is like the superiority of Allah over humans,” he added.
The president stated that the Holy Qur’an addresses human nature regardless of race, color, class, and religion, and guides humanity to perfection.
Pezeshkian said under the sublime teachings of the Qur’an, people can find a firm and hopeful refuge in today’s turbulent world to escape ignorance, oppression, and inequality, and live peacefully together with justice, kindness, and without violence.
He said in the Holy Qur’an, Muslims are addressed as a single community (the Umma) and are asked to gather together and avoid any division.
The International Holy Qur’an Competition of the Islamic Republic of Iran is annually organized by the country’s Awqaf and Charity Affairs Organization.
The competition aims to promote the Qur’anic culture and values among Muslims and showcase the talents of Qur’an reciters and memorizers.
According to a statement by the organizers, the 42nd edition of the event will also be held in Mashhad next year.