45 Countries to Attend Croatia Int’l Quran Contest
According to Mehdi Reza, who is in charge of the Iranian Cultural Center in Zagreb, the competition will be held from September 29 to October 1.
45 countries will send their representatives to the international Quranic event, which will be held in the categories of memorization and recitation of the Quran.
It is part of programs planned on the occasion of the 100th year anniversary of the recognition of Islam in Croatia’s constitution as equal to other religions, Reza said, adding that the Croatian government supports the contest.
He noted that similar competitions were held in previous years regionally among Muslims from the Balkan states but this is the first time Croatia hosts an international Quran contest.
Iran will also send a Qari and a Quran memorizer to the competition, Reza said, adding that Iranian Quran master Ahmad Abolqassemi will also serve as a member of the panel of judges.
Referring to the objectives of the programs marking the 100th year anniversary of the recognition of Islam in Croatia, the official said they are aimed, among other things, at developing interactions among leaders of different faiths and Islamic schools of thought, introducing Croatia as a country active in the field of peaceful coexistence of followers of different faiths, and promoting Islam as a religion that favors tolerance and moderation.
On April 27, 1916, the Croatian-Slovenian province of the then Austro-Hungarian Empire held a parliamentary session in which Islam was recognized as equal to Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
Islam was introduced to the region by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century.
Roman Catholics represent 86 percent of the country’s population, followed by Orthodox Christians at five percent and Muslims at two percent.
Croatia declared its independence during the breakup of
Yugoslavia in 1991 and was internationally recognized in January 1992.
