KUWAIT CITY, Oct 12: A ceremony for Kuwait’s 11th International Award for Memorizing the Holy Quran was held on Wednesday under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His Highness the Crown Prince’s Diwan Chief Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah attended the event on behalf of His Highness the Amir. Upon arrival at the venue, Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah was welcomed by Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Head of the High-Level Award Committee Fareed Emadi, and committee members. Kuwait’s National Anthem was played and some verses from the Holy Quran were recited at the beginning of the ceremony.

The undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs then addressed the event by welcoming participants coming from different countries for the sake of positive competition on the soil of Kuwait. He commended the prize as a cultural landmark, scientific achievement and clearcut proof of the paramount significance attached by the Kuwaiti leadership to the Holy Quran and its learners.

He boasted that the 11-year prize shows that the Muslim nation would continue to stick to the holy book as the key to redemption and development, emphasizing that the Quran would remain to be a holistic life approach and a source of success, values, reformation and legislation. The award committee’s head urged Quran learners not only to memorize the book but also to honor its ultimate goals and values, and to stick to the essential components of Islamic identity.(KUNA)