Film on Quran Competition Featured at B’ville Library
“Quran by Heart,” a documentary which follows three 10 year olds who leave their native countries to participate in one of the Islamic world’s most famous competitions - a test of memory and recitation known as The International Holy Quran Competition - will be shown in a free screening at the Bernardsville Public Library, 1 Anderson Hill Road, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 8.
The movie follows the 2009 competition, which had 110 contestants ranging in age from 7 to about 20, and was broadcast live around the Arabic world. The children compete on the pronunciation, recitation and perfected memorization of the hundreds of pages of the Quran.
The three stars are a boy from Tajikistan named Nabiollah, who memorizes the Quran in Arabic, which he does not otherwise speak or read; Rifdha, a girl from the Maldives, who studies advanced science and math, speaks several languages and yearns to be an undersea explorer; and Djamil, an imam’s son from a poor village in Senegal who travels to Cairo by himself as a representative of his nation.
After the film, former Bernards Township Mayor Ali Chaudry, president of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, will discuss the subject and answer questions. An original handwritten manuscript of the Quran along with some 15 to 20 original calligraphy pieces by the same artist will be on display at the library a few days before and after the film screening.
“Quran By Heart” came to Bernardsville Library’s collection as part the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf grant awarded to the library earlier this year by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.
The Muslim Journeys Bookshelf consists of 25 books, three feature films, a one-hour collection of short films, and a one-year subscription to Oxford Islamic Studies online. This collection of materials aids the library in its mission to connect the community with trustworthy resources and tools for engaging in discussion.
Source: Bernardsville News
The three stars are a boy from Tajikistan named Nabiollah, who memorizes the Quran in Arabic, which he does not otherwise speak or read; Rifdha, a girl from the Maldives, who studies advanced science and math, speaks several languages and yearns to be an undersea explorer; and Djamil, an imam’s son from a poor village in Senegal who travels to Cairo by himself as a representative of his nation.
After the film, former Bernards Township Mayor Ali Chaudry, president of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, will discuss the subject and answer questions. An original handwritten manuscript of the Quran along with some 15 to 20 original calligraphy pieces by the same artist will be on display at the library a few days before and after the film screening.
“Quran By Heart” came to Bernardsville Library’s collection as part the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf grant awarded to the library earlier this year by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.
The Muslim Journeys Bookshelf consists of 25 books, three feature films, a one-hour collection of short films, and a one-year subscription to Oxford Islamic Studies online. This collection of materials aids the library in its mission to connect the community with trustworthy resources and tools for engaging in discussion.
Source: Bernardsville News
