JEDDAH, 23 September 2007 — The best Filipino Muslim qari for the year will be known on Thursday when finalists from all over the Kingdom slug it out in the 6th Holy Qur’an Reading Contest at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.
In a press statement yesterday, the embassy identified the finalists as Suaib Saddala Mistiri and Alimoden T. Ampaso from Riyadh, Baspar Lintua Hawari from the Eastern Province, Mohammad Yosef Lubed from the Central Region, Abdullah Hadji Daud of Makkah, and Shalabie Abdulrahim of Madinah.
The contest at the embassy’s Liwasang Bonifacio Multipurpose court is to begin after the Taraweeh prayer.
According to the rules of the contest, each qari (Qur’an reciter) will be given 10 minutes to recite a verse from the Holy Qur’an and will be judged on diction (tajweed), eloquence (tarteel), melody (tarannum), and voice (sawt).
“The organizing committee of the event ... is still reviewing the requests made by the technical committees of some regions to consider the participation in the finals of second placers in the elimination round who garnered only a slight difference in their scores from the first placers,” said the statement.
It said the occasion is expected to be graced by various heads of mission in Riyadh, Saudi officials, businessmen and community leaders.
Filipino Muslims are invited to attend the competition, which will highlight the embassy’s celebration of Ramadan, said the statement.
A parallel contest will be held at the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah also on Sept. 27.