Quran award goes to Saudi

Preacher Dr Al Sudais was conferred with the title of the 'Islamic Personality of the Year' and awarded Dh1 million.

At a prestigious ceremony held at the Heritage village at Al Shindagha area last night which was attended by members of the diplomatic corps and dignitaries, Hassan Abdo Mohammed Hassan from Yemen was declared as the second ranker and received Dh200, 000 as his prize.

Islam Fikri Mohammed Ibrahim Mahmoud from Egypt and Ali Salem Saeed Salem Baghazal from Qatar shared the third rank and received Dh150, 000 each. Islam from Egypt also won the Best Voice Division of the Dihqa.

Abdullah Khalid Mohammed from Iraq was the second ranker in the Best Voice Division, Ayat Ullah from Indonesia third and Abdulrahman Ahamd Abdul Rahman Ibrahim Mousa of Bahrain fourth, while Mohammed Bari Mahmoud from Kenya, and Abdullah Mohammed Yasser Qarah Bellah from Syria shared the fifth rank.

Back to the memorisation contest, winners from the fourth to the tenth ranks in the memorisation competition were awarded Dh60,000 each. They were Ibrahim Ahmad Mohammed from Nigeria ranked fifth, Ahmad Naji Saaed Rahal from Libya sixth, Ali Mukhtar Abbas Baqer from Kuwait and Abdul Nasser Shaikh Mohammed from Somalia ranked seventh, Abdul Rahman Ahmad Abdul Rahman Ibrahim from Bahrain ranked ninth and Abdullah Tofssal Hussain Al Mamun from Bangladesh ranked tenth.

Each of the remaining 63 contestants received Dh20,000 each as encouragement prize. A total of 81 memorisers representing different countries and Muslim communities had applied for the competition. Eight of them were excluded during the preliminary tests conducted by the Arbitration Committee before the commencement of the main competition.

Respecting and appreciating scholars and scientists are the main principles to achieve development, noted Ibrahim Bu Melha, head of the Dihqa's organising committee in a speech on the occasion.

"Such respect and appreciation to scientists and Islamic scholars in particular are deeply rooted in Gen. Shaikh Mohammed's heart and soul. "Gen. Shaikh Mohammed embodies such respect in practice in different occasions. His appreciation of scientists is influencing the different walks of life,” he noted.

Gen. Shaikh Mohammed stepped down from the stage and kissed the forehead of the scholar Al Sha'arawi, winner of the Islamic Personality of the Year in the award's first session, recalled Bu Melha.

"I heard many commenting on this humble gesture by saying: We are at best if our ruler kisses the forehead of the scientist," narrated Bu Melha focusing on the impact of this gesture on the hearts and minds of everyone who saw it. However, this is not strange as Gen. Shaikh Mohammed considers Dihqa the dearest among other awards to his heart.

There are innumerable incidents that bring to mind the nobility of Gen. Shaikh Mohammed and the UAE rulers. Celebrating this year's session of the Award coincides with the anniversary of the demise of Shaikh Zayed who left an enduring impression on the nation by his deeds. "More than that Shaikh Zayed was the man who had the initiative to help needy and poor people wherever they were," he noted.

Bu Melha congratulated the eminent Islamic scholar Dr Abdul Rahman Bin Badly Aziz Al Sudais, preacher of the holy mosque in Makkah, saying that all Muslims are happy on the honour bestowed on him through this honourable award because he is the man who captured the hearts with his beautiful reading and voice apart from his dedication to serve Islam and Muslims.

Dr Ahmad Isa Al Masarawi, head of the Arbitration Committee noted that the relatively new event of Dihqa was the mega competition in all aspects even though it was just nine years old compared to other international Holy Quran competitions which are into their 30th and 50th editions.

"It encouraged young memorisers to develop their recitation skills to win name and fame alongwith awards. The best memorisers on the Worlds' level are taking part in the competition which is attracting more numbers of countries and communities year after year," he said.

"If there are competitions that aimed to encourage youth to memorise the Holy Quran, Dihqa tops these competitions because of the special care and the generosity extended by its founder Gen. Shaikh Mohammed that were beyond all expectations.