PENANG, July 2014 -A Palestinian student, Ziad M.M Shehada, won first place in the Recitation Category of the 5^th International Postgraduate Al-Quran Recitation and Memorization Competition organised by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) held here recently.

For his achievement, Ziad, from Universiti Malaya, took home the prize of RM1,500 together with a certificate and a plaque. Second place went to Iranian student, Mehdi Shabania Mansour, from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and third place to Mahlil Muhammad Jamil, from Universiti Islam Arraniry Acheh, Indonesia.

In the Memorization Category, the first prize winner was Abdurahman Husain B Iqdo from Libya who studies in Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. With the win, he received RM1,500, a certificate and a plaque while second place winner Afdhal Mufassar from Universiti Sumatera Medan, Indonesia received RM1,000 and third place winner, Muhammad Ikhwan from MARSAH Johor Bahru, RM800.

USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman was present to give away the prizes to all the winners at the prize-giving ceremony held in front of Masjid Al-Malik Khalid, USM.

“Winning the competition is not the main focus but what is more important is the learning process and the ability of the students to appreciate the meaning of all the verses in Al-Quran,” said Omar to all the participants in his speech.

 

27 participants comprised of students from Indonesia, Libya, Palestine, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, India, Nigeria and Malaysia took part, with 10 of them in the memorization category and 17 in the recitation category.

Judges of this competition were Rezvan Abdull Salam from Jordan, Ustaz Zayd Zahri from USM Islamic Centre and Ustaz Mohammad Sabri from Yemen.

Also present were Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International Affairs) Professor Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal, Director of USM International Office Associate Professor Dr. Anees Janee Ali and Director of USM Islamic Centre Professor Dato’ Dr. Muhammad Idiris Saleh. - Text & Photo: Mina Seifi