Dubai,26th November 2002(WAM)
By Banadir.com

General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence, today attend the concluding ceremony of the Dubai international Holy Quran Award and Presented presented Dh1 million cash prize of the Islamic Personality of the Year to this year's winner, Dr Abdullah bin Abdul Mohsen Al Turky, Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, who was cited for his long and dedicated service to the propagation of Islam.

In a short statement on the occasion, Mohsen praised Sheikh Mohammed for his selfless efforts aimed at encouraging Muslim youth to hold on to their Islamic traditions and to the holy Quran through the institution of the holy Quran Award. Ibrahim Bu Melha, Dubai Attorney-General and Chairman of the Award's Organising Committee, and the head of the panel of judges, also highlihgted the progress of the six-year old award and attributed the success of the Award to Sheikh Mohammed's continuous support.

Sheikh Mohammed also honoured the winners of the Dubai International Holy Quran Memorisation and Recitation Competition. The names of the top 10 winners were announced at the ceremony with the first winner from Chad bagging a cash prize of Dh250,000, Dh150,000 for the second (Turkey) and Dh100,000 for the third which came Eqypt .

The winners of the fourth to the 10th positions (4th-Nigeria,5th-Sudan,6th-Indonesia,7th-Lebanon,8th-Zimbabwe,9th-Syria,10th-Saudia) received Dh65,000, Dh60,000, Dh55,000, Dh50,000,Dh45,000, Dh40,000 and Dh35,000 respectively. Each of the other participants was also rewarded with Dh30,000 cash. The number of countries which took part this year was 72, but the actual number of participants in the competition was reduced to 67 after five contestants were barred for failing preliminary tests.

Shaikh Mustafa Khashkash, head of the panel of judges, said in an evaluation of the performance of the contestants that the competition for the top spots was quite tough and the winners of first positions all received over 90 points." The panel members based their judgment on the level of memorisation of each contestant for which 75 points had been allocated and the final evaluation depended on the sum of the points given to each contestant," Shaikh Mustafa said.

A contestant got 25 points for good performance and adhering to rules of recitation. He added that the contestants had been treated fairly. He said: "We have adopted an international method in evaluating the performance of contestants and measuring the level of memorisation of the Holy Quran." The panel, he added, would submit a number of recommendations to the organising committee with regard to the criteria and regulation for grading the contestants," Shaikh Mustafa said.

Banadir.com observation:- Mohamed Abdirahman, the contestant from Somalia this year performed poorly as he was posted the 52nd position .A sharp contrast to the early competitions when Somalia took the glorious forth place in 1999 and won the prestigious top position of 250,000/= Dirhams in 2000 .