Indonesian diaspora holds Qur'an recitation competition

Welcoming the holy month of Ramadan, the Indonesian diaspora in Qatar – from members of the Indonesian Moslem Society in Qatar Association (IMSQA) to the Indonesian Community Association in Qatar (Permiqa) – held a virtual Qur'anic competition.

The activity was divided into several types of competitions such as Musabaqah Hifzhil Qur'an (memorising the Holy Qur'an), Musabaqah Fahmil Qur'an (understanding the Qur'an), Musabaqah Tilawatil Qur'an (reading the Qur'an), Adhan, and speeches.The competition had a total of 23 categories with about 323 participants and had been held online for a whole month. Starting from the preliminary round, which was held in each region (Doha, Messaied-Wakra, Dukhan, and Al Khor), the competition was concluded online by the head of the social and cultural affairs section, Indonesian embassy in Doha, Ali Murtado, on March 26.The virtual Musabaqah for Indonesian diaspora children has been going on since 2015. At first, the competition was only in Musabaqah Tilawatil Qur'an. However, competition categories increased down the years to include the Musabaqah Hifzil Qur'an, Musabaqah Fahmil Qur'an, Musabaqah Tilawatil Qur'an, speeches, and Adhan.“This virtual Musabaqah annually always gets a great response from the community, especially the Qur'anic Kindergartens in Qatar, which is the driving force for this activity,” said Samtoni, chair of this year's virtual Musabaqah committee. The winners of the virtual Musabaqah were awarded trophies, vouchers, and certificates of appreciation.Apart from the community, the implementation of this Musabaqah also received the full support from the Indonesian embassy in Doha. “One of the tasks of the embassy is to empower Indonesian people abroad. We hope these competitions not only help Indonesian Muslim youth read the Holy Qur'an, but also convey the message of peace in the Qur'an globally," said Murtado, adding the number of Indonesian diaspora children in Qatar is quite large. In 2021, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of Qatar informed that around 2,063 Indonesian students were studying in Qatar. Apart from attending public schools, these children are also active in various activities at the Qur'anic community group managed by the Indonesian diaspora.