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Yesterday, the listening sessions for the participants in the eighth edition of the Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak International Holy Quran Competition concluded at the Cultural and Scientific Association Hall in the Al Mamzar area of Dubai. More than 60 countries and Islamic communities from around the world participated in this session, competing to win first place in the international Quran competition. Yesterday, at the conclusion of the competition, 9 contestants participated in front of the international judging committee.
Six contestants competed in front of the judging panel in the morning: Hasna Naseeji from Uganda, Zahra Ansari from Iran, Souda Naima from Burundi, Mko Hussein Jama from Djibouti, Hasina Diallo from Liberia, and BB Mahreen Madani from Mauritius. Three contestants competed in the evening: Madjoula Joana Sebastiao Darame from Angola, Fatima Ibrahim Jassim Abdullah Al Hammadi from the UAE, and Shamsiya Shaaban Ramadan from Tanzania. All of them competed in memorizing the Hafs narration from Asim.
The award offers a group of valuable prizes and gifts that will be drawn for the audience at the conclusion of the daily activities of the competition in the presence of members of the organizing committee. The closing ceremony of the competition will be held in the hall of the Culture and Science Forum in Dubai tomorrow at exactly six o’clock in the evening, and the invitation is reserved for women to attend the ceremony.
Contestants
The contestant Fatima Ibrahim Jassim Abdullah Al Hammadi, representing the UAE from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, stated that she is a Master’s student in Business Administration at Hamdan Smart University in Dubai. She started memorizing the Holy Quran at a young age when her mother used to take her to the mosque. She then stopped memorizing and returned to it at the age of nineteen. After completing the memorization, she joined the Dar Al Ber project for review and consolidation. She also joined the program of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs to obtain a license.
She participated in many local competitions, including: Ras Al Khaimah Competition and Sheikha Hind Competition. And in international competitions, including: Mohammed VI Award Competition in Morocco in 2023 AD, and the thirtieth international competition in Egypt in the same year, and she won third place.
Fatima said: When they chose me to participate in this competition, I was happy at first, but then I became afraid when I realized the size of the responsibility placed on my shoulders. In addition to representing my country in a Quranic competition, I am participating in my country’s international Quran competition, so I made a great effort. I had professors with whom I could review, whether by reciting what I had memorized or by asking questions, as I used to do with my friends. This is in addition to the support I found from my husband, as he was and still is my biggest supporter, especially since I completed the Quran after marriage, and I reviewed it while I was married. He accompanied me in all the competitions I participated in and encouraged me.
As for the contestant, Meko Hussein Jama, representing Djibouti, she graduated from university this year with a major in Arabic language. Regarding her memorization, she said: “My colleague started memorizing the Holy Quran, so I was encouraged to memorize it when I was fifteen years old, and I finished it at twenty.” She added: “I went through many difficulties while memorizing the Holy Quran, the most important of which was my separation with my sister from my parents and our going to Djibouti to study. Living far away from them was one of the most important difficulties ever, then not knowing the Arabic language, which is why I specialized in studying it, in addition to not having enough time, because I used to memorize the Quran at night, study in the evening, and work in the morning as a vegetable seller to buy the things I needed.”
