Iranian Qari Blames Voice Strain for Missing Top Rank at 65th Malaysia Quran Contest
The 65th International Al-Qur’an Recitation and Memorisation Assembly (MTHQA) took place from August 2 to 9 in Kuala Lumpur’s World Trade Centre. The event brought together 71 participants from 49 countries and featured both recitation and memorisation categories.
This year’s winners in the recitation categories were Malaysian qari Aiman Ridhwan Mohamad Ramlan (men’s) and qariah Wan Sofea Aini Wan Mohd Zahidi (women’s).
Mohsen Qassemi acknowledged that his recitation followed the competition’s technical guidelines and that he complied with the rule requiring reciters to complete the verse when the ten-minute signal sounded—thus receiving no penalty on that count. Yet he said a vocal mishap in the transition from Maqam Bayat into Nahawand led to an inability to reach the proper tone in Maqam Rast.
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“I lost significant points due to a defect in my voice at that moment... I intended to introduce more vocal nuance, but the strain prevented that,” he told IQNA.
Qassemi described the contest’s long history and organisation as highly disciplined.
He said he executed his recitation in line with Malaysia's formatting rules and praised the technical clarity of his piece.
However, he said that due to a voice constriction during modulation, he could not hit intended high notes, costing him approximately five points—all in a competition that places particular emphasis on the quality of voice.
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Qassemi added that without the vocal issue, he believed he could have secured at least second place.
Iranian expert Gholam Reza Shahmiveh served on the judging panel.
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