Nat’l Quran Contest Concludes in Kenya
The competition was hosted by the library of Jaffery Islamic Center in the city and organized with the participation of the Iranian ambassador to Kenya, Iranian cultural attaché in this country and Imam of Jaffery Mosque.
13 top Quran memorizers and Qariz from different cities of Kenya, those who successfully passed the regional stage of the contest, competed in the final stage.
After the competition, the Iranian cultural attaché in Kenya talked about the importance of understanding Quranic teachings and acting upon them.
He referred to the verses 75 to 79 of Surah Waqi’ah and said that in theses verses God swears and strongly emphasizes that only the purified can reach and benefit from the deep meanings of the Holy Quran.
He added that according to verse 33 of Surah Ahzab which says “Allah intends only to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the [Prophet's] household, and to purify you with [extensive] purification”, Ahl-ul-Bayt (AS) are the purified ones and in lower levels are the true followers of them and the pious who can reach the depth of Quran.
He encouraged the Kenyan youth to improve their Quranic skills and expressed hope that they will be very good representatives for their country at the international Quran competition in Tehran which he considered as a great and important Quranic event in the world.
Sheikh Noor Mohammad, the Imam of the mosque, then stressed the importance of getting knowledge in Islam and noted that the Holy Quran is the best source to get this knowledge.
He said that Quran is the everlasting miracle of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the best means to communicate with God.
He also mentioned some Hadiths of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) on the importance of Quran and stressed that there is no teacher limitation, space and time limitation and age limitation in getting knowledge based on the Quran.
Sheikh Noor appreciated the efforts of the Iranian Cultural Center in the organization of the contest and called upon the Kenyan Quran activists to improve their Quranic skills.
The Iranian ambassador to Kenya then presented a speech and considered the Quran competition as a )kind of 'Ibadah (worshipping God.
He stressed that “we neglect the two facts, that the Holy Quran is a Divine gift and a means for Muslims unity and that the Divine promises will be fulfilled”.
“If we truly believe in these facts, the Islamic Ummah will gain their unity and dignity”, he added.
One of the Judges of the contest also addressed the program and stressed the importance of reading the Quran’s verses noting that “even if you don’t know the meaning of the verses, you should keep reading them because the more you read Quran, the more the verses clean your soul.”
Sheikh Abdullah Abdulrahman, Hamid Rashid and Umar Salim were respectively the first to the third rank winners in the recitation category of the contest.
The three judges of the competition also announced Heitham Sagar Ahmad, Abdulqadir Noormohammad and Rashid Umar Rashid as three top memorizers of the Quran respectively.
At the end of the program, a copy of the Holy Quran and a certificate were granted by the Iranian Cultural Center to the participants at the competition.
The three winners in each category will be awarded by the center in another ceremony and the first Qari and Hafiz will be dispatched to represent Kenya at the international Quran competition in Tehran.
