DAMMAM, 7 October 2006 — The Saudi-Indian Islahi Center is conducting a Kingdomwide Qur’an contest under the auspices of Jamiyya Al-Khairiyya Lithahfeed Al-Quran-ul-Kareem, an organization licensed by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs. The contest is part of campaign titled, “Holy Quran: Guide to Mankind”, which was launched on the occasion of Ramadan.
While inaugurating the registration of candidates for the test, Ishaque Abdul Rehman Abu Sharar of the Jamiyya in Dammam reminded that it is obligatory on every Muslim to not only learn and understand the content of Qur’an but also to practice it in their lives. The inaugural ceremony included a seminar and essay and quiz competitions focusing on the central theme of the campaign. The participants in the contest were given the text, translation and interpretation in Malayalam of Sura-Al-Isra along with a questionnaire covering the Sura. They are supposed to send the correct answers by the 20th of Ramadan. The organizers expected that the contest would help spread the message of the Qur’an. The campaign will end on Oct. 24.
Prisoners Need Documents
The Indian community in the Eastern Province is facing a lot of problems due to the absence of an Indian mission in the region. Many Indian prisoners, who won amnesty offered by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, are still languishing in Dammam jails in prison as they failed to obtain a travel document to leave the Kingdom.
The prisoners say that Indian Embassy officials had not visited them at Dammam jail.
“I called the embassy several times. They said they would come. Now it is more than two weeks, nobody visited us. Officials from embassies of Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka visit the jail and provided the necessary documents to their citizens,” one Indian prisoner said.
A delegation from Navodaya Cultural Center recently visited the Dammam Central Jail and found that ten Indians have completed their jail terms but haven’t been released because they are waiting for documents from the embassy. “Some prisoners not only need documents but also air tickets to travel back home,” Navodaya’s President E.M. Kabeer told Arab News. He said his organization had promised to provide two air tickets.
