Competition for the Local Holy Quran awards, a branch of the Dubai International Holy Quran Award, which features 56 contestants from Arab and Islamic countries will begin this evening.
The men's contest will be held at the Al Islah Society in Al Ghusais and the women's contest will be held at the Women's Society in Hamriya.
Contestants from the UAE, India, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Mauritania, Yemen, Somalia, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Palestine are taking part in the competition, which will end on March 11.
The competition, which was established three years ago, is being held under the patronage of General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defence Minister.
Ahmed Al Sayed Yunus, Egyptian, Yassir Abdul Hadi Ahmed, Syrian, Mohammed Abdul Rahman, Sudanese, Hassan Mohammed Al Zo'ebi, Syrian, Mohammed Hamza Zad Khan, Pakistani, Moaz Khalid Ibrahim, Egyptian, and Abdullah Sohail Ahmed, Indian, will compete on Saturday evening in the men's contest.
In the women's contest, Zahida Sayed Akbar of Pakistan, Roqaya Mohammed Ibrahim and Aisha Mohammed Ibrahim, two Egyptian sisters, Halima Sayed Makram of Libya, Huda Abu Bakr Abdul Latif and Najat Mohammed Al Sonoosy, both Libyan, are taking part.
Qualifying rounds for the fourth edition of the competition began on February 1. Twenty-nine men and 27 women were shortlisted for the final test, which will be held in three categories memorisation of the entire Holy Quran, memorisation of 20 chapters and memorisation of 10 chapters.
The competition is open to UAE nationals of all ages, expatriate women of any age and expatriate men up to 21 years.
The contestants have been divided into eight zones Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.
The public is invited to attend the testing sessions, which begin daily at 5pm.
The award ceremony for the men will be held on March 16 and for women on March 17 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed.
The first three winners in the entire Holy Quran category will receive cash prizes of Dh30,000, Dh25,000 and Dh20,000, respectively.
The first three winners of the 20-chapter category will receive Dh20,000, Dh15,000 and Dh10,000, respectively, while the top three winners in the 10-chapter category will get Dh10,000, Dh7,500 and Dh5,000, respectively.
There will be six winners in each category three men and three women.
Gulf News 2003
