330 Finalists to Compete in Iran’s 48th National Quran Competition in Sanandaj
Officials from Iran’s Awqaf and Charity Affairs Organization have announced details of the final round of the country’s most prestigious Quranic event, which aims to foster unity, promote Quranic literacy, and identify outstanding Quranic talents.
Hamid Majidi-Mehr, director of the organization’s Quranic Affairs Center, said this year’s competition has drawn broad participation, including from Sunni communities.
More than 61,000 people registered at the local level, of whom 4,000 were from Sunni backgrounds, he said at a press conference on Sunday.
Majidi-Mehr noted that the event has officially been recognized as the National Quran Competition of the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent years. “We hold this year’s edition with the theme ‘The Quran, the Book of Unity,’” he said.
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He added that the competition once again includes categories for participants under 18, following their reintroduction two years ago.
According to him, both men and women now compete on equal terms, with identical awards. “Since three years ago, women’s Tarteel recitation has been added to the competition, and prizes have been standardized for both genders,” he said.
The Quranic official also announced a range of side events in Kurdestan Province, which is hosting the finals this year. “We are planning 120 Quranic gatherings across various towns in the province,” he said. “Sixteen international reciters will perform in these sessions, that have started from October 7.”
He said that ten educational workshops for Quranic scholars and participants will be held alongside an exhibition featuring Quranic products. The event will be broadcast live by IRIB’s Quran TV.
Mohammad Shakiba, deputy director of the Quranic Affairs Center, outlined the structure of the final stage, which features 330 competitors. Participants will compete in several categories, including Quran recitation (Tahqiq), Tarteel recitation, full and partial memorization (Hifz), Adhan (call to prayer), Du’a recitation, and choral recitation.
In the men’s section, competitions include recitation, memorization, Adhan, and Du’a recitation, Shakiba said, adding that in the women’s section, contestants will take part in recitation, memorization, and choral performance.
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The final round will begin with an opening ceremony on Saturday, October 18, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., followed by the start of the men’s contests in the afternoon. The oral rounds will continue until Sunday, October 26. The women’s competitions will begin on Friday, October 24, and both sections will conclude on Monday, October 27, with the closing ceremony.
Shakiba also announced that an international Quranic congress titled “Quran Negel” will be held on the sidelines of the event. “This major gathering will bring together Kurdish-speaking reciters from Iran’s western provinces, as well as from Iraq’s Kurdistan Region and Turkey,” he said.
The annual National Holy Quran Competition, organized by the Awqaf and Charity Affairs Organization, is Iran’s largest Quranic contest and a key platform for discovering and nurturing Quranic talent.
Top winners of the national competition traditionally go on to represent Iran in international Quranic events across the world.
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