The opening ceremony started at the Putra World Trade Center at 8 P.M. local time with a number of senior officials in attendance.
Several Qaris from different countries, including Egypt, Indonesia, Myanmar, Spain, the Philippines and Russia recited verses from the Holy Quran at the event.
The competition is held in the categories of recitation and memorization of the Holy Quran.
In recitation, 24 Qaris from 24 countries vie for the top prize in the men’s section while the number of participants in the women’s section is ten.
Twenty men and ten women compete in the memorization category of the international Quran contest.
Hamed Alizadeh is Iran’s representative in recitation. His turn to perform his recitation will be on Friday, the last day of the event.
Winners will be announced and awarded in the closing ceremony on Saturday.
Malaysia holds the international Quran competition every year with the participation of Quran reciters and memorizers from various countries.
Last year, Iran’s Seyed Mostafa Hosseini came fourth in the contest.
In 2015, Mohsen Hajihassni Kargar from Iran won the first rank in the recitation category of the competition.