Manama: Under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA), in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, held the 30th edition of the Bahrain Holy Quran Grand Prize.
According to Bahrain News Agency, Issa Sami Al Mannai, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs and Waqf for Justice Affairs, announced that 78 contestants, comprising 38 males and 40 females, qualified for the final rounds from a total of 5,033 participants in this edition. Al Mannai highlighted the extensive participation in the current edition, noting that it exceeded 5,000 contestants. This reflects the award's reputation as one of the Kingdom's leading Quranic competitions. The finalists progressed through several stages and were evaluated based on approved criteria in memorisation, recitation, and tajweed.
Al Mannai further explained that the award includes seven competitions for males and females in various categories. These categories consist of memorisation for Quran centre students, "Bayan" for school students, "Ajran" for persons with disabilities, "Ghufran" for inmates, "Ridhwan" for the general public, "Salman Al Farsi" for non-Arabic speakers, and the recitation and performance category.
He also mentioned that the award comprises several incentive prizes, including The Oldest Contestant Award, the Youngest Contestant Award, the "Mizmar Dawood" Award, the Best Participating Quranic Centre Award, the "Family in the Shade of the Quran" Award, and the Best Local Quranic Competition Award.