In the third episode of Otr Elkalam (Scent of Speech) TV show, which began broadcasting on the first day of Ramadan at 5 pm, Riyadh time, on the Saudia TV channel, in addition to the Shahid platform, the contestants continued competing to qualify for the quarter-final of the international competition in the recitation of the Holy Quran and call to prayer, which was launched by the General Entertainment Authority. Today’s episode witnessed a tough competition between three contestants in the Holy Quran recitation branch, including a visually impaired contestant. There were also three contestants in the call to prayer branch. All contestants reached this stage after passing the preliminary qualifiers, which were contested by more than 40,000 contestants from around the world.
The Yemeni reciter, Osama Abu Zaid, was the first to compete in the recitation branch. He was born in Madinah and one of the students of the imam of the Prophet’s Mosque, Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Akhdar, who is known for his high capabilities in the sciences of the Quran, Tajwid and readings. With his sweet voice, Abu Zaid passed the first stage, as did the Moroccan Younes Mustafa Gharbi, whose blindness prevented him from reading the Quran in a normal way. However, he managed to memorize the Holy Quran by listening to it and impressed the jury with his distinctive voice and recitation, which earned him enough votes to pass to the next stage of the competition.
The 20-year-old Abdel Razek El Shahawy from Egypt, who is the youngest contestant in the qualifiers, impressed the judges with his Azhari personality and voice that emulates renowned Egyptian reciters. However, the precise criteria of the competition forced him to leave the competition in its first final stages.
In the call to prayer branch, Abdel-Fattah Ali Jahider from Libya delivered the call to prayer in a unique way that guaranteed his entitlement to pass to the quarter-final stage. The jury also praised the performance of the muezzin Arkan Samir al-Qaisi from Iraq in his use of the maqams, which contributed to his passing to the next stage. However, the Algerian muezzin Abdul Rahman Abdul Salem Buhabila left the qualifiers after a wonderful performance, and the jury gave him some precise observations that led to his loss in the competition.
Otr Elkalam TV show presents the most beautiful reciters and muezzins from all over the Islamic world, in the largest competition for Quran recitation and call to prayer in the world. The total value of the prizes is estimated at SAR12 million ($3.2 million).