Iraq Int’l Quran Award Opens in Baghdad as PM Stresses Quran’s Role in Boosting Unity

IQNA – The first edition of Iraq International Quran Award began on Saturday in Baghdad, with participation of contestants, arbiters, and Iraqi officials.

Addressing the event, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani said that promoting values of tolerance, peace, and love, free from religious and ethnic sensitivities, enables Iraqis to overcome challenges, encouraging them to follow Quranic teachings in spreading compassion and preserving national unity.

The government supports qaris and memorizers and plans to establish a dedicated pathway for admitting Quranic activists into universities, he added.

Iraq remains committed to supervising and supporting Quranic centers, providing backing for schools, institutions, and universities that hold Quranic gatherings, he stressed.

Elsewhere, he pointed to the Israeli atrocities in the region, saying, “The crime of genocide is taking place in our region against the people of Palestine and Lebanon amid international silence.” He called for an immediate end to the brutal Israeli war that has killed more than 46,000 people in Gaza and Lebanon since October last year. 

The competition will wrap up on November 14.

Earlier, Raef Al-Amiri, director of the National Center for Quranic Sciences in Iraq and a member of the Supreme Committee for Organizing Competitions, said that the competition represents the first government-level initiative of its kind in Iraq.

He added that 31 Quran memorizers and qaris from Arab and Islamic countries will participate in this edition of the competition.

The Iraqi official stated that the primary goal of the competition is to highlight Iraq’s Quranic heritage and to encourage the recitation and memorization of the Quran.

Al-Amiri emphasized that the competition will include both recitation and memorization categories, each with its own judging criteria.

He explained that the competition will take place in two stages: the preliminary round will feature all participants, while the second stage will narrow the field down to the top five contestants.

According to the director of the National Center for Quranic Sciences, valuable prizes will be awarded to the winners, and the competition will be held under the slogan, “From Baghdad, the symbol of civilization and Islam, to Gaza, the symbol of resistance, and Lebanon, the symbol of jihad; with the Quran, we achieve victory and resilience.”

4247181