Story & photo by Edd K. Usman
Cotabato City’s representative has made it as champion in two straight years in the National Quran Reading Competition (NQRC) 2019.
The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), which organizes the annual event, said Numan M. Pimbayabaya of Campo Muslim, Kabuntalan, Maguindanao, beat 17 other regional champions from across the country.
He won on March 11, the eve of his 37th birthday, successfully defending his 2018 crown.
Director Dimapuno Alonto Datu-Ramos Jr., MD, of NCMP’s Bureau of External Affairs, announced the winners on his Facebook page.
Rahima P. Amerol, who will be 38 years old on June 5 and who represented Cagayan de Oro City, emerged as the NQRC 2019 champion in the female category. She competed against 17 other readers. Amerol is a native of Bliss, Marawi City.
The commission, through its Bureau of Muslim Cultural Affairs (NCMF-BMCA), held the annual event at the Bahay ng Alumni (House of Alumni) of the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in UP Diliman, Quezon City.
Datu-Ramos said the second and third placers in the male category are Kamarudin Zaidon of the now-abolished Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Saidi Saiduna of General Santos City, respectively.
Jamilah M. Saracan, 34, of Matampay, Baloi, Lanao del Norte, and Raihanah G. Ambangala, 24, defending champion, of Pikit, North Cotabato, emerged second and third prize winners, respectively, in the female category.
Datu-Ramos cited the importance of the NQRC in providing an avenue to sustain the Filipino Muslims’ “rich Islamic traditions we all share.”
This year’s NQRC theme was “Islam and the Sacredness of Life.”
A total of 36 Quran readers competed in the event, 18 in each category.
President Duterte, in his message to the Quran readers, lauded the NCMF for its key role in continuing the tradition of preserving and promoting the nation’s Islamic heritage through the NQRC.
The event, he noted, “aims to strengthen our relations with the Muslim community across the world.”
“As you play an important role in raising public awareness on how Islam values the sanctity of life, I ask you to spread Allah’s [God] message of peace as we forge a stronger nation that is no longer divided by ethnicity or religious affiliation, but strengthened by tolerance, inclusivity and mutual respect for one another,” the President said.
Mr. Duterte exhorted the participants to help in raising the awareness of their countrymen on how Islam values life.
At the same time, NCMF Secretary and CEO Saidamen B. Pangarungan reminded his fellow Muslims to perform their responsibilities as Filipinos.
The former governor of Lanao del Sur, a native of Marawi City, said the responsibilities of the Moros (Filipino Muslims) are to Allah (God), their communities and the nation.
In his message to NQRC participants and audience, Pangarungan said the kind of life Muslims ought to live is one that pursues peace, strives and fights for fairness and justice, and aspires for a great Filipino nation like the rest of their countrymen.
“May we also accept in our hearts the true teachings of Islam which is love, not hate. Love our country. Love our Muslim Filipino traditions. Love your fellow Muslim brethren. Do not be the voice of hate, but be the voice of unity and understanding,” the NCMF top official said.
Why a competition on reciting verses of the Quran
Across the global Ummah (Muslim community), including in the Philippines, competitions are being held for the reading or recitation of the Quranic verses.
After all, the first ever word revealed to the prophet of Islam—Muhammad—was the Arabic word “iqra” which is “read” or “recite” in English.
The Surah (Chapter) Al-Alaq, 96:1-5 says:
“Recite [read] in the name of your Lord, who created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous; Who taught by the pen; taught man that which he knew not.”
This was the first verse revealed to the prophet in the cave of Hira in Arabian desert in what is now Saudi Arabia.
“The Quran is intended to be read aloud in numerous occasions of daily life. There are numerous verses as well as sayings of the Prophet exhorting believers to be frequent in their recitation and ponder on the meanings of what they read,” Sohaib Saeed said in an article on www.Quranica.com.
He pointed out that the Islamic Scripture has many names mentioned in many of its chapters and verses, with two of them considered the most important, “Kitab” (book) and “Quran,” which means “recital.”
It indicates, he added, that the Quran has two forms, such as a written scripture and as a recited text.
“Muslim scholars and reciters alike emphasize that, while Quranic recitation is a profoundly moving vocal art, it is an art form in its own right and not a type of music,” he said.
American ethnomusicologist Dr. Kristina Nelson said in The Art of Reciting the Quran: “For the Muslim faithful, the familiar sound of Quranic recitation is the predominant and most immediate means of contact with the Word of God. Heard day and night, on the street, in taxis, in shops, in mosques and in homes, the sound of the recitation is far more than the pervasive background music of daily life in the Arab world. It is the core of religious devotion, the sanctioning of spirit of much cultural and social life, and valued art form in its own right.”
Muslims said that reading or reciting the Quran is not music, but an art form.
The Arabic alphabet has 36 letters with very complicated pronunciations.
Reading or reciting in competitions is judged based on clarity of words, proper delivery and the performance style, the NCMF said.
In reading or reciting the Quran there are two things to consider, tajweed and tarteel.
An Arabic word, tajweed literally means “to beautify or adorn something.” When applied to the recitation of the Quran, tajweed refers “to a set of rules governing the way in which the words of Quran should be pronounced during its recitation.”
On the other hand, tajweed is the science of the rules of recitation of the Quran,” said in quran2hadith.wordpress.com.
Besides receiving cash prizes for each of the three placers in both categories, with P20,000, P15,000 and P10,000 for first place, second place and third place, respectively, the winners will be sent to international competitions abroad.
Quran recitation competitions are traditionally held in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, among other members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries.