Iranian Quran reciter tops in Malaysia

Iranian Quran reciter Hamed Alizadeh has received first rank at the 59th edition of the Malaysia International Quran Recital Competition.

Malaysian king and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahed Hamidi presented the award to Alizadeh, a Quran reciter from Khorssan Razavi province, on Saturday night.

The awarding ceremony, broadcasted live on Malaysian TV, was attended by Iran’s cultural attaché in Kuala Lumpur Ali-Mohammad Sabeqi.

The second to fourth spots of the competition were respectively presented to reciters from Brunei, host Malaysia, and Canada.

The performances of the reciters from different countries were judged by jurors from Malaysia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, Indonesia, Thailand, Morocco and Brunei.

The first contender, Alizadeh, received a gold ingot worth of 70,000 Malaysian Ringgits ($16,300) as well as 40,000 Malaysian Ringgits ($9,300) in cash.

This gold ingot has been the 11th one grabbed by the Iranian reciters so far in the history of the international contest. The Malaysian reciters stand first in the history with ranking the first in 30 rounds of the event.

Another Iranian reciter, Mohsen Haji-Hassani Kargar won the first rank in the same contest two years ago.

Haji-Hassani Kargar was martyred in a tragic stampede during 2015 Hajj congregation in Mina, Saudi Arabia.

MG/MMF