Global Qir’at Qur’an Contest at Bhopal: Iraqi Qari bags first prize

Iran’s Qari Abbas Hashmi & Bangladesh’s Qari Abu Saleh Musa declared joint 2nd

Tuesday, November 03, 2009 01:13:59 PM, Pervez Bari

Bhopal: Qari Abdullah Saleem Ameen Agha of war-torn Iraq bagged the first prize in the Sixth International Musabeqa (Contest) Qir’at Qur’an-e-Kareem which was held here in Bhopal, the capital of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh .

Qari Abdullah Agha was presented a cash prize of Rs. 25,000/- and a certificate while Qari Abbas Hashmi of Iran and Qari Abu Saleh Musa of Bangladesh were declared joint second as they logged equal points awarded by “Hakams” (judges). They were given cash prizes of Rs. 15000/- each and certificates. Since there were two Qurra  who were declared second as such there was no third prize.

While Qari Farhat Sultan of Rampur (India) and Qari Muhammad of England were placed fourth and fifth respectively and received cash prize of Rs. 5000/- each and certificates. All the participants including the winners and runners-up were presented a memento and a number of gift items.

Three local Qurra namely Qari Muhammad Mazhar of Madarsa Zeenat-ul-Qur’an, Qari Muhammad Shakir of Jamia Islamia Tarjum-e-Wali Masjid and Qari Muhammad Rizwan of Dar-ul-Uloom Taj-ul-Masajid were given cash of Rs. 2000/- each as consolation prizes.

The two-day Sixth International Musabeqa Qir’at Qur’an Kareem which concluded in the wee hours of Sunday was organized by Aalamee Anjuman-e-Zeenat-ul-Qur’an. In the competition the Qurra were asked to recite the holy Qur’an in two different ways viz. “Tarteel” and “Hadar” styles. The Ayats (verses) of the Holy Qur’an were selected through a draw which each contestant picked up after his name was called out to perform before an overflowing audience in Iqbal maidan. Maulana Mufti Mohammad Fazil, Bhopal Shahar Mufti, helped the contestants to pick up the draw for reciting verses from the Holy Qur’an. It goes to the credit of the huge gathering that listened the recitals of the holy Qur’an till the wee hours in pin-drop silence.

In all 17 Qurra from Iraq, Iran, England, Bangladesh and from all over India participated in the competition. The Indian Qurra were from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal and host Madhya Pradesh. The guiding spirit of this competition is sitting Congress MLA (lawmaker) Syed Arif Aqueel who coolly supervised the proceedings on the stage while Abdul Hafeez Khan, chairman of Aalamee Anjuman-e-Zeenat-ul-Qur’an, compeered with aplomb. The program was presided over by Maulana Muhammad Saeed Mujaddadi, Rector Dar-ul-Uloom Taj-ul-Masajid, Bhopal.

Qari Meraaj from Mumbai, Qari Aftab from Deoband and Qari Salahuddin of Mazahir-ul-Uloom from Saharanpur were judges for the Musabeqa.

It may be pointed out here that Qir’at is an art of reading the Holy Qur’an according to Tajweed (proper pronunciation) rules. A person is called Qari (plural Qurra )who has perfected this art by learning the phonetics of Arabic language in which the Holy Qur’an has been revealed to Prophet of Islam Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH).

Meanwhile, Qari Abdullah, a resident of Mosul town about 400 kms from Baghdad who came first in the competition, before reciting the verses from the Holy the Qur’an addressed the audience in Arabic, his mother tongue. While being overwhelmed by the large turn out to listen the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, he narrated with pain and agony, which was writ large on his face, the sufferings of the people of Iraq due to the ongoing violence heaped on his country by the United States of America. He asked the assemblage to pray to the Almighty Allah for peace and tranquility to return to Iraq and the country comes out of the clutches of USA.

Later, Maulana Muhammad Saeed Mujaddadi, before delivering his presidential address, assured Qari Abdullah that people of India including Bhopal will pray for the well being of people of Iraq.

Qari Abbas Hashmi, who stood second, is a civil engineer and hails from Bushar town in Iran. He was accompanied by Qari Muhammad Yaseen, an official of Iran Culture House, New Delhi. Qari Yaseen acted as an interpreter for Qari Hashmi.

Maulana Muhammad Saeed Mujaddadi in his presidential address while throwing light on the message of the Holy Qur’an said it preaches the followers of Islam to fulfill others rights, administer justice and treat fellow human beings with humility irrespective of their beliefs, caste or creed. The Holy Qur’an’s message is universal and is not confined to Muslims only, he remarked.

The dates of the seventh edition of Musabeqa Qir’at Qur’an-e-Kareem to be held next year were also announced on the occasion. Next year the program shall be held Insha’Allah on October 15 and 16, 2010.

Digvijay Singh, general secretary All India Congress Committee and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, felicitated all the participants of the competition with shawls on behalf of the organizers. Speaking on the occasion he said as per Indian Constitution government cannot interfere in “Deeni Taleem” (religious education) in Madarsas. He appealed people to maintain communal harmony and not fall prey to certain forces, which are hell bent to sow seeds of dissension between Muslims and Hindus.

Singh on Arif Aqueel’s request assured to make the next International Musabaqa Qir’at Qur’an-e-Kareem more broad-based by doing his bit in getting visas for the competitors from many more countries.

 (pervezbari@eth.net)

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