TEHRAN – Iran’s International Quran Competition, which is organized every year before the holy month of Ramadan in Tehran, will hold its 37th edition online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fifty-seven finalists from 26 countries will be competing in the contest, which will open on Saturday, director of the competition Hamid Majidimehr said in a press conference on Monday.

The competition will be available on different platforms, while the IRIB Quran Channel will broadcast the competition live. 

The primary stage of the competition went online last year with 411 participants from 67 countries in different fields of recitation, memorization and interpretation out of whom 122 found ways into the semi-final stage, he said.

“Moreover, in January, the semifinalists had competed under the supervision of a jury panel consisting of individuals from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Indonesia, Sudan and Tunisia, who will also judge the finalists,” he added.   

The director of the organization Hojatoleslam Seyyed Mehdi Khamushi, also attending the conference, said that the awards of the 37th edition have increased compared to the previous editions.

“Respecting Quran as the book of thought and action, as well as honoring Quran reciters and memorizers, and achieving happiness among the Muslim nations are among the other major goals of the competition,” he said. 
 
He also added that establishing proper fields to achieve solidarity and unity among Muslim nations will be other goals of the competition, while the event will help carry the message to the world that Islam and Quran are alive and that the Islamic society is active and dynamic. 

“The International Quran Competition of Iran is the only competition in the world which will be held online despite the pandemic,” he added.

“The State Endowment and Charity Affairs Organization as the main organizer of the event is ready to provide other organizations with the necessary knowledge to hold the competition online inside and outside the country,” he concluded.

Photo: A Quran reciter attends the primary stage of the 37th International Quran Competition.

RM/MMS/YAW