Algérie Presse Service (APS) – August 9, 2012

Beginning yesterday evening, the 9th edition of the International Competition for the Award of Best Recitation of the Holy Quran involving participants from 50 countries began in the Algerian capital.

Numerous senior officials, including Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowment Bouabdallah Ghlamallah, Minister of State and Personal Representative of the President of the Republic Abdelaziz Belkhadem, and the Secretary General of the Organization for Veterans of the War of Independence Mr. Saïd Abadou, as well as members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Algeria, Muslim scholars, executives, and students took part in the opening ceremony.

Scheduled to take place for an entire week at “Dar El Imam” in the area of Mohamadia of the suburbs of Algiers, the competition will involve recitation, psalmody, and exegesis of the Holy Quran, an official from the competition organizer’s Office of Public Affairs said.

The panel of judges for this competition includes teachers and theologians from Algeria, Senegal, and Jordan. The competition, which closes on Leilat El Qadr (Night of Destiny), will reward the first three laureates with monetary prizes ranging from 1 million Algerian Dinars (DA) for the first candidate, 800,000 DA for the runner-up, and 600,000 DA for the third winner.

The jury members hailed Algeria’s interest in recitation of the Holy Quran, stressing that the competition has become increasingly part of the tradition of Ramadan, thanks to the support of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika.