Number of Foreign Contenders in Iran’s Int’l Quran Contests Triple
Speaking to the Quran Radio, Hojat-ol-Islam Seyed Mostafa Hosseini, head of the Awqaf and Charity Affairs Organization’s Quranic Affairs Center, noted that five international Quran contests, namely those for men, women, seminary students, university students and visually-impaired, are planned to be held in Iran in a few weeks.
He said representatives of 83 countries will take part in the upcoming Quranic events.
The largest number of participants is for the International Quran Competition of the Islamic Republic of Iran (for men) with 40 Qaris and 46 Quran memorizers, the cleric said.
He added that representatives of 28 countries will be attending the international contest for women.
There will be 31 contenders in the competition for the visually-impaired and 46 in the one for university students, Hojat-ol-Islam Hosseini stated.
Noting that the total number of foreign contestants will be over 300, he said the number shows a three-fold rise compared to the international competitions held three years ago.
As for members of the panel of judges, he said some two-third of the Quran experts serving in the panel are from other countries, including Kuwait, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan.
The Imam Khomeini (RA) Mosalla (prayer hall) in Tehran will host the 35th edition of Iran’s International Quran Competition and three other of the international Quranic events on April 19-26.
The 6th International Quran Competition for Muslim Students, meanwhile, will start in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad on April 27.
