Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed honors winners of Emirates International Holy Quran Award

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, honored the winners of the first edition of the Emirates International Holy Quran Award, organized by the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat.

The ceremony, which was held today at the Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis in Abu Dhabi, was attended by His Excellency Dr. Omar Habtoor Al Derei, Chairman of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat, and scholars who are guests of His Highness the President of the State, may God protect him, during the holy month of Ramadan.

The ceremony was also attended by His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence; His Excellency Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, Minister of State; His Excellency Sheikh Khalifa bin Tahnoon bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court; His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, Chairman of the Emirates Fatwa Council; Her Excellency Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology; Her Excellency Sarah Awad Issa Musallam, Minister of State for Early Childhood Education, Chairman of the Federal Authority for Early Childhood Education and Chairman of the Department of Education and Knowledge - Abu Dhabi; His Excellency Dr. Hamdan Musallam Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Red Crescent Authority; His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Tourism and Culture; His Excellency Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Department of Municipalities and Transport; His Excellency Mansour Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Chairman of the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi; His Excellency Ahmed Tamim Al Kuttab, Chairman of the Department of Government Empowerment; His Excellency Saif Saeed Ghobash, Secretary-General of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and a number of senior officials.

The celebration began with a fragrant recitation from the Holy Quran by Ghania Ali Al Azizi, followed by a video clip about the award that reviewed the efforts of the United Arab Emirates and its wise leadership in serving the Holy Quran and caring for its memorizers through many initiatives, including the establishment of local and international Quranic centers launched by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God bless his soul.

The video clip also covered the award’s branches, objectives, and the efforts of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat, which is responsible for organizing this award.

Then, His Excellency Dr. Omar Habtoor Al Derei, Chairman of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat, Chairman of the Emirates International Holy Quran Award, delivered a speech in which he expressed his deepest thanks and gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, for his generous patronage of the award, which he stressed is a valuable addition to His Highness’s initiatives to promote the dissemination of the Holy Quran and honor its memorizers inside and outside the country, praising His Highness’s support for the Authority in all its affairs and enabling it to achieve its goals with professionalism, innovation and excellence.

He said that this qualitative project, which comes with the generous support of our wise leadership, is an incentive to consolidate the tolerant values ​​and meanings that come from the Holy Quran and our Islamic legislation, and a call to raise our sons and daughters to memorize and recite it and to be characterized by its morals, praying that His Highness and the wise leadership will be preserved and guided to all good.

His Excellency also extended his sincere thanks and appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for honoring the winners and attending the activities of this award, congratulating the winners of this award and their families and calling on them to maintain the noble work and follow the good example in their lives and their community, and he appreciated the efforts of the partners and entities supporting the Authority in this competition.

The award witnessed the honoring of a group of winners of first place in the Quranic competitions and awards organized worldwide in 2024, from 10 countries.

The winners in the International Pioneers category for this session were Sheikha Alia bint Saeed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Rashid Ali Khalfan bin Khalaf Al Naqbi from the United Arab Emirates, Laith bin Ishaq Al Kindi from the Sultanate of Oman, Mohammed Adnan Al Amri, Mohammed Samir Mujahid from the Kingdom of Bahrain, Mahmoud Ali Attia Habib from the Arab Republic of Egypt, Elias Mahyawi from the Kingdom of Morocco, Akah Ould Beitat from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Mohammed Sami Metwally from Palestine, and Fatima Lone Abu Bakr from the Republic of Nigeria.

The first place locally was won by Suhaib Ali Mohammed Dawood Abdullah, Omar Mohammed Ali Al Kabouri Al Naqbi, Omar Muammar Ali Ahmed Banbila, Aisha Ali Mohammed Al Ajla Al Ali from the United Arab Emirates, Abdul Wadood Sharif Hussein from Bangladesh, Mansour Mohammed Mansour Al Atrawi, Aisha Al Sebaei Mohammed Mohammed Al Basyouni from the Arab Republic of Egypt, Ansam Ahmed Suwaidan from the Syrian Arab Republic, and Zainab Akbar from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

The award also witnessed the honoring of Mona Abdul Qader Salem Al Ghassani, former Director of the Department of Quran Memorization Centers and Religious Institutes at the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat, in appreciation of her efforts in serving the Quran over 20 years, and the honoring of the Emirates Red Crescent as a supporting body for the "Emirates International Holy Quran Award". At the end of the ceremony, a group photo was taken to remain in the award archives for successive generations