Quranic Activities in India Aim to Enhance Islamic Unity
Speaking to IQNA, Ali Dehgahi referred to the Quran competition recently organized by the Iranian Cultural Center in New Delhi and noted that it has been annually held during the Islamic Unity Week over the past 19 years.
He said every year, Qaris, memorizers and Quran experts from different cities and states of India are invited to the competition.
This year, 215 individuals signed up for the contest, 116 of whom qualified for participating in the Quranic event, he noted.
They competed in the categories of Quran memorization and recitation for three days (November 22-24), Dehgahi stated.
He said the competition is held in the Islamic Unity Week because it marks the birthday of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) whose miracle, the Holy Quran, is the pivot of unity in the Muslim Ummah.
According to Dehgahi, the Iranian Cultural Center also organizes other Quranic and Islamic programs in India in different times of the year.
Those include Quran recitation sessions held during the holy month of Ramadan and on other occasions attended by Iranian Qaris and Quranic figures, he went on to say.
The 19th edition of the Quran competition organized by the Iranian Cultural Center in New Delhi wrapped up on Saturday.
There were 80 contenders in the recitation category while the other were vying for the top prize in memorization.
Three Quran experts from India and three others from Iran formed the panel of judges.
The previous edition of the Quran competition in 2017 was held with 155 participants, including 68 memorizers of the entire Quran and 87 Qaris, from 16 states of India.
More than 200 million Muslims live in India. The country’s Muslim population is the world’s third largest and the world’s largest Muslim-minority population.
The 17th day of the month of Rabi al-Awwal in the lunar Hijri calendar (November 25 this year) is believed by Shia Muslims to mark the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), while Sunni Muslims regard the 12th day of the month (November 20 this year) as the birthday of the last prophet.
The interval between the two dates is celebrated every year as the Islamic Unity Week.
Late founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini (RA) declared the occasion as the Islamic Unity Week back in the 1980s.
