KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian ‘qari’ (male reciter) Muhammad Qayyim Nizar Sarimi emerged as the champion of the men’s recitation category at the 63rd Malaysian International al-Quran Recitation and Memorisation Assembly (MTHQA) with a score of 94.96 percent last night.
Second place went to Alireza Bizhaniavval from Iran who scored 93.30 per cent while Awang Mohd Zul-Hafiz Awang Tengah from Brunei Darussalam came in third with 90.38 per cent.
For the ‘qariah’ (female reciter) category, Moroccan participant Sara Belmamoun emerged victorious with a score of 93.05 per cent, followed by Raudhah Supian Noor from Indonesia (92.21 per cent) and Filipino Sabaha Pato Salik (91.50 per cent)
In the men’s memorisation category, Omar Toure from Guinea won with a score of 98.63 per cent, followed by Maamon Ahmed Raweh Mohammed from Yemen (97.38 per cent), while Ali Attia from Chad finished third with 97.07 per cent.
Algerian Tebani Cheyma Enfal emerged as the winner for the female memorisation category, scoring 96.32 per cent, whilst Ndeye Seynabou Ngom from Senegal (95.25 per cent) finished as the runner-up and Sidi El Moctar Khadijetou from Mauritania (94.19 per cent) came in third.
Muhammad Qayyim, who has been visually impaired since birth, said he was grateful that 16 years of effort to learn and hone the skills of reciting the Qur’an using Braille had finally paid off at the MTHQA this time.
“I feel happy, overwhelmed with emotion… for me, we have to have an interest in the field of ‘tarannum’ (reciting the Quran melodiously), I recommend that we all learn ‘tarannum’ because it can make us feel good and we can recite it during prayers,” he said.
He also expressed his appreciation to his father and other family members who always gave him support and encouragement.
“For those who have vision problems (like myself), we also need to learn to read the Quran because with the Quran, our future is bright,” he said.
The Kelantan native had also won the national-level 2023 al-Quran Recitation competition prior to this.
The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah and the Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Zara Salim graced the ceremony which was also attended by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar. – BERNAMA
