On Tuesday evening, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, honored the winners of the 'Most Beautiful Recitation' competition as part of the 28th Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA). The ceremony took place at the Umm Suqeim Majlis in Dubai, where His Highness met with the finalists. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid praised the high standards set by the competitors, stating: 'Today, we honored an elite group of the people of the Holy Quran...'. The winners included: in the Male Category, Karrar Laith Saad from Iraq (first place, $1 million), Omar Ali Awad from Egypt (second place), and Abdullah Faisal Al-Batti from Kuwait (third place). In the Female Category, Jana Ehab Mohamed Ramadan from Egypt (first place, $1 million), Aisha Al-Rumai from Indonesia (second place), and Sara Abdulkarim Al-Hallaq from Syria (third place). The winners were selected through public voting among the six finalists. Under the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the total prize money for the award increased to over AED 12 million ($3.27 million), making it the highest-valued competition of its kind globally. The award committee named the late Egyptian reciter Sheikh Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary as the 'Islamic Personality of the Year,' awarding him a $1 million prize. This increase is part of a strategic shift to inspire younger generations to master the Holy Quran and embody its values of tolerance. The blessings of this holy month are completed by magnifying the Book of Allah and celebrating these Quranic talents, who are ambassadors for peace, love, and the values of goodness and tolerance.
