MADINAH: Interior Minister Prince Naif will attend a function organized on behalf of the Prince Naif International Prize for Sunnah and Islamic Studies, which is to be held in Madinah today.
Well-known Moroccan writer Abdul Razaq Harmas and Egyptian scholar Yasser Noor will jointly receive the first prize in the area of Sunnah studies, Saed Al-Harithy, secretary-general of the Prince Naif International Prize for Sunnah and Islamic Studies Committee, who is also adviser to the interior minister, said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency yesterday.
Muhammad Hasanain of Egypt has won the first prize for Contemporary Islamic Studies for his work entitled “The Revival of Religion.” Saudi scholar Abdul Rahman Al-Dukhayyel and Egyptian writer Muhammad Yusri Ibrahim have jointly won the award for their papers on the role of religious edicts in Islam. A panel consisting of 12 domestic and international experts on various Islamic disciplines selected the five winners from 413 research studies. The award was instituted in 2002 to encourage scientific research in Sunnah and Islamic studies and to promote a spirit of competition among Muslim researchers the world over. The last time the prize was distributed was in 2005. Each prize consists of cash award of SR500,000, a certificate of appreciation and a medal.
Harmas won the prize for his research work on the sources of Prophet’s biography among the Hadith scholars and historians. He said that the prize is an impetus for researchers to double their efforts in studying Islamic topics.
The co-winner of the prize for the same topic, Yasser Noor, said that the objectivity of the judges with a vision above regional or ethnic considerations guaranteed the selection of the best works and contributed to the success of achieving the goals for which the prize is instituted.
Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed stressed the importance of the study of Sunnah for Muslims across the world, as it is the second source of Muslim law after the Holy Qur’an. The prince said in his statement to the Saudi Press Agency that the award also aimed at correcting the misconceptions about Islam and dispelling the pervert ideologies wrongly attributed to it. The prince also expressed happiness for choosing Madinah as the venue for the distribution of the prize in which 150 international Muslim scholars and dignitaries will participate.
