After months of preparation and practice more than 60 qurah are set to compete for top honours at the 10th edition of the International Quran Recital Award (IQRA), which will kick off on Thursday at the Victoria Rd Masjid, Grassy Park. Organisers are hopeful the competition will prove to be the biggest and most successful since its inception.

The event is hosted by the South African Quran Union (SAQU) and aims to promote perfection in the recitation of the Holy Quran while also ensuring that local competitors are up to the standards required at international level. Preliminary rounds were held in Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal earlier this year to narrow the competition down to the best reciters, while regionals for the Western Cape will take place simultaneously with the event over the next few days.

“There is a lot of focus on the expansion of the judging and the logistics, improving on those particular points. We’ve also streamlined a lot of events such as the regional rounds to facilitate smooth running of the programme, and smooth running of the contestants coming from different areas to Cape Town,” said SAQU chairman, Muntahaa Kenny.

The competition is expected to draw in competitors from eight countries around the world, and organisers are also hopeful of massive public attendance. Kenny highlighted the current state of logistics.

“Everything is on track. Yesterday we had meetings with part of the judging panel which are our two Egyptian judges. Today our guests (reciters) from the United Kingdom have arrived, and we expect the rest to arrive in Cape Town (in coming days),” he explained.

In a warm-up to main showpiece, SAQU will also be hosting a qirah programme at the Sunni Jumma Mosque in Pelican Park tomorrow evening, after esha. Notable reciters will be Qari Ziyaad Patel, Qari Muhammad Yusuf El-Badr from the UK, champ Sheikh Gaarieth Williams, and 2014 under 18 category victor Qaeed Davids.

Programme line up –

10th- Female competition and male under 15 categories.

11th- Preliminaries for the male under 18 category.

12th- preliminaries for under 23s and over 24s (morning) and finals of the under 15 and under 18 categories.

13th- Competition finals for under 23 and over 35, followed by “Champ of Champs). Final winner announcements to follow.

The IQRA competition is schedule to take place between the 10-13 September 2013. Attendance is free of charge and open to all.

All programs will be streamed live on www.livestream.com/channel4sa VOC