The 30th edition of Croatia’s international Quran competition commenced on Thursday in the capital, Zagreb.
The opening ceremony, held the previous evening, was attended by the event’s organizers, the panel of judges, and the participants.
The competition features categories for Quran recitation and memorization of the entire Holy Book, with participants showcasing their Quranic talents over two days, Friday and Saturday, in hopes of winning top prizes.
Iran’s representatives, Mehdi Mahdavi and Yousef Jafarzadeh, are set to perform on Saturday morning and afternoon, respectively.
Mahdavi competes in memorization while Jafarzadeh represent Iran in the category of recitation.
The panel of judges comprises Quran experts from several countries, including Aziz al-Ulaili from the host nation, Yusuf al-Himadi from Qatar, Othman Shahin from Turkey, Sherzad Tahir from Iraq and Kamal Guda from Algeria.
Iranian Quran expert and veteran qari Ahmad Abolqassemi was also supposed to be on the jury of the international Quran event, but was not able to travel to Zagreb due to visa problems.
Croatia is a predominantly Christian country where Islam is a minority faith followed by 1.3% of the country’s population according to the 2021 census.
Source: IQNA