Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding honours Holy Quran Memorization Contest winners
30 students receive awards in different categories
The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding (SMCCU), Dubai, honored 30 students who won prizes at the Centre’s annual Holy Quran Memorisation Contest.
The contest, held in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to encourage the country’s youth to learn and memorise Holy Quran, was organised with the support of Abdulqadir Al Khajah, Chairman of Al Khajah Real Estate Group, in honor of his late father.
Dr. Hamad Al Shibani, Director General, Dubai Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities (DIACA), and Norma Mohammed, Director, Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, together presented the awards to the winners at a grand ceremony on Wednesday, November 11, held at the Centre’s premises.
The award ceremony was attended by a high profile line up of dignitaries, including Advocate Shaikha Salwa Al Khalifah, Shaikha Fatimah Al Khalifah, Jumea Al Falahi, Deputy Director of DIACA, Abdulqader Al Khajah, Tayeb Al Rukun, Director General of Al Rukun Real Estate, Maryam Othman, Director of Rashid Pediatric Therapy Centre, Amnah Al Tiraifi, wife of Director of Minister of Foreign Affairs Office in Dubai, and Alia Sulaiman, Director, World View Communications, the official Media Sponsor of the award.
Also attending the event were representatives from a number of organisations, such as Sanabil Biladi Society, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein Cultural and Islamic Centre, Al Nahda Philanthropic Society for Women, Women’s Committee of the Dubai Department of Naturalisation and Residency, along with students from public and private schools as well as the parents of the award winning students.
Speaking on the occasion, Norma Mohammed said: “Dubai is the city of awards, the most important of which is the Dubai International Holy Quran Award, which has been initiated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to promote the Holy Quran memorisation centers and to encourage young people to study and memorise the Holy Quran. Together with DIACA, the centre spared no efforts to help enrich the Holy Quran centers through organising different Islamic contests.”
The competition, which took place during the month of Ramadan, saw the participation of over 122 contestants from different nationalities. Six contestants were named for the first category of the award, which involved the memorisation and recitation of ten chapters from Holy Quran. Six others bagged the first places of the second category, which involved the memorisation and recitation of five chapters, followed by three winners in the open category and finally 15 first place winners in the short “Surahs” contest.
