Bandar Seri Begawan - The top three Qari (male readers) and Qariah (female readers) of this year‘s national level al-Quran recital competition for adults have recently completed an intensive religious programme.
A ceremony was held at the Ministry of Religious Affairs Building yesterday to mark the completion of the three-month course.
Present as the guest of honour was the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Dato Paduka Awang Hj Abdul Rahman bin Hj Mohiddin.
According to the chairman of the event, senior religious officer Awg Hj Ali bin Tahir, the course started on June 9 and ended on August 4.
The course is normally reserved for the Qari and Qariah champions. However, this year‘s course was extended to the runners-up and third place winners so that they can also learn how to improve their al-Quran recital skills.
The champions will be representing Brunei at the 49th International Tilawah al-Quran competition in Kuala Lumpur this year. They will be accompanied by Dato Paduka Awang Hj Mohd Yusop bin Bakar.
This will be the seventh time that Awang Hj Ismail bin Hj Sulaiman, 41, a senior officer of Darussalam Holdings, will be representing the country at the international competition.
"I hope I can do well in the upcoming Tilawah al-Quran," said Awang Hj Ismail, who was previously ranked fourth in the international religious competition.
As for 24-year-old Dyg Nurfaezah bte Hj Emran, it will be her first time representing the Sultanate at the competition. "I hope to put everything that I have learnt from the intensive course into practise," she said.
Aside from the two representatives of Brunei, the competition will also be participated by the top Qari ani Qariah of Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand Philippines, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Bosnia and South Africa.
Source: www.brudirect.com (15 Agustus 2007)