Hopeful young qari’s from across the country will gather in Midrand this weekend for the finals of the 10th South African National Quran Memorization Competition (SANQC), all with the hope of representing the country at international level. Those who emerge successful during the event will be afforded the opportunity to represent South Africa at the King Abdul Aziz Memorization Competition, which takes place in the holy city of Makkah.

All competitors have progressed from the regional rounds which were held throughout the country and split the nine provinces into five zones. This year’s edition has yielded record numbers in terms of participation with close to 300 students registering at a regional level, 16 of whom will now compete at the nationals.

The final round of the competition will be adjudicated by a number of popular and recognisable figures in the field of qira’ah, including Qari’s Ayoob Essack, Basheer Patel and Rashid Debhelia, as well as Sheikh Auwal Deen. Mufti Ismail Menk has been selected as MC for the event, with a number of other scholars also expected to address attendees.

SANQC National Coordinator, Maulana Mohammad Seedat said the prime objectives of the competition was to establish a programme that could motivate hufaath, and those on their way to becoming hafith al-Quran to continuously revise their memorisation of the Holy Quran.

“If students compete against one another it will force them to go back to their Quran and make sure they strengthen their hifth. This is very different from a Qir’ah competition, because it is based on memorisation,” he explained.

He also praised the growth of the competition since its launch, now drawing 10 times the amount of competitors compared to its inaugural edition. With students, qari’s and ulema expected to journey in their numbers to Midrand this weekend to hear the “recitation of the word of Allah”, Seedat assured a day focused solely on the beauty of the Holy Quran.

“This competition motivates and tries to bring out the quality in recitation, so that our students can stand on par in terms of recitation with those from other parts of the world,” he enthused.

The competition will be taking place at the Midrand’s Nizamiye Masjid on Saturday the 22nd August. The morning session, featuring the five and 15 juz categories, will be conducted between 9am and 1pm. The full Quran category will be held in the evening shortly after Maghrib.

Stay tuned to VOC for a live broadcast of the competition. VOC (Mubeen Banderker)