Holy Quran Memorization Contest kicks off

The final phase of the 4th edition of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema competition for memorization, recitation and psalmody of the Holy Quran began on Saturday in Fez.

This competition, which is held at a distance (zoom), is marked by the participation of 93 candidates, including 11 candidates, representing 34 African countries.

The participants in this final contest will compete for the first places in the three categories of the contest, namely the category of memorization of the entirety of the Holy Quran with the recitation according to the reading Warch an Nafiâ, the category of memorization of the entirety of the Holy Quran with the recitation according to the reading chosen by the candidate and the category of psalmody (Tajwid) with memorization of at least 5 Hizbs of the Holy Quran.

In a videoconference speech, the Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs and Deputy President of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema, Ahmed Toufiq emphasized the high concern with which HM King Mohammed VI surrounds the Holy Quran, adding that the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema wishes that this particular attention given to the Holy Quran be concretized in the African countries, where the 34 sections of the Foundation are located.

Mr. Toufiq indicated that the Foundation works, through this competition, to strengthen the attachment of young African Muslims to the Holy Quran, and to encourage them to memorize it, recite it and chant it, noting that the remote organization of the competition, this year, allows to devote the principle of an effective and responsible participation of the sections of the Foundation to its major activities, and to open up to all the components of society.

For his part, the secretary general of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Ulemas, Mohamed Rafiki indicated that the launch of the final phases of the Quran memorization competition in its 4th edition was “a success”.

In a statement to the press, Mr. Rafiki said that the competition is supervised by a jury composed of Oulema and chanters from Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Nigeria, Tanzania, Sudan, Gabon. and the Central African Republic, noting that all the sections salute the efforts made by the Foundation, in application of the High Guidelines of HM King Mohammed VI, President of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Ulemas, “who surrounds with his high solicitude the Africa, the memorizers, the people of the Holy Quran and the mosques in Africa”.

In a speech delivered on behalf of the jury, the Director General of the Agency for Shariah Research and Development in Zamfara State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Tamine Talha Ahmed recalled that “this competition was created to encourage Quran memorizers from different brotherly African countries, to also serve as a bridge for spiritual communication between Moroccans and their brothers in African countries and to encourage rising generations to turn to the Holy Quran through memorization, recitation and psalmody.

Mr. Tamine Talha Ahmed stressed that the competition jury will evaluate the candidates according to very specific criteria and in complete transparency.

In collaboration with all of its sections in Africa, the General Secretariat of the Foundation organized, during the months of January and February 2023, the elimination phases of the 4th edition which made it possible to select 93 candidates (including 11 girls ) who will represent the 34 sections of the Foundation in the final competition.

Remember that the first edition of this competition was organized in Fez. As for the second edition, it was organized remotely, Covid19 requires, from Fez, with a large award ceremony for the winners on the esplanade of the great Mosque of Dakar.

The third edition was organized at the Mohammad VI Mosque in Dar Es-salam in the Federal Republic of Tanzania, with 86 participants in summer 2022.