Today, the international Quran and adhan competition began in the Otr Elkalam TV show, one of the initiatives of the General Entertainment Authority, after introducing the competition mechanism and the number of contestants during the first episode of the show, whose second edition was launched yesterday, Thursday.

The show witnessed the presence of beautiful voices characterized by good taste in investing vocal capabilities in reciting verses of the Quran before a jury composed of experts in the rules of recitation, phonetics and maqamat (music structures).

For many viewers, Friday was associated with hearing the adhan in the voice of Sheikh Ali Ahmed Mulla in the Grand Mosque, whom his fans call “Bilal al-Haram”. Therefore, the contestant Mohammed Raqib Al-Hassan from Bangladesh reminded the fasting attendees of the Grand Mosque when he raised adhan in a style similar to Sheikh Mulla’s style and made them long for the honorable Kaaba.

Raqib is an imam who left his mihrab to stand on the minarets of Otr Elkalam. He began studying the Quran in his country, Bangladesh and then moved to Qatar to lead the prayers in one of its mosques. His first participation in international contests was in Egypt, but he failed to qualify for the finals of the Holy Quran competitions. So, he turned to the track of adhan in Otr Elkalam. Despite losing to his British rival, Ibrahim Mohammed, the youngest contestant in the show, he insists on returning in the coming years to win one of the prizes of the competition, which is the largest of its kind in the world.

At the recitation track, Saudi contestant Abdulaziz Hassan Al-Faqih, who has a beautiful Hijazi voice full of reverence, participated in the first round of the recitation of the Holy Quran. Al-Faqih qualified for the next stage and became the first qualifier in this track at the expense of his American rival of Palestinian origin, Yasser Omar Shaheen.

The competition, which is broadcast on MBC1 and the Shahid digital platform daily during the blessed month of Ramadan, aims to highlight the distinguished voices in the recitation of the Holy Quran and raising the adhan, and improving the knowledge of contestants and viewers through the professional observations of the jury, which is composed of specialists in sounds and maqamat.