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Arabic Reading Competition Award Ceremony
23 June 2019
The Islamic Cultural Centre in London organised, with the support of the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman, the finals of the Arabic Reading Competitions of Khaleel Bin Ahmed Al-Faraheedi, and the prize-giving ceremony for the selected winners, on Sunday the 23rd of June 2019, at the Conference Hall in the Centre.
45 students from various Arabic schools in London took part in the competition, and their ages varied between 10 and 16.
The selection process for the winner and student testing began at 3pm and continued until 6pm, whereby the top ten winners were selected.
The celebration began at around 6:30pm with a beautiful Quraan Recitation by Sheikh Khalifa, which was followed by a welcome speech given by Mr Feizal Muttur in English on behalf of Dr Ahmad Al-Dubayan, who was unable to make it due to important commitments in Saudi Arabia, and who sent his regards to all those present. He continued to thank the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman for their continuous support, in this competition and many other activities, and highlighted the importance of facilitating the learning of the Arabic language in the West, considering the rapid pace at which the language is spreading and being used in the West, indicating the vast efforts and keenness of the Islamic Cultural Centre to continuously support and encourage these activities, and work alongside others to promote the Arabic language.
Following this, Mr Ahmed Limam gave a speech welcoming the two honourable guests, Mr. Issa Al-Shaibani, representative to the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman in London, and Mr. Imam Hamza, Advisor to the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania in London. He continued his speech by shedding light on the great efforts of Dr Ahmad Al-Dubayan in preparing this competition and raising awareness of it amongst the members of the committee thereby receiving tremendous support for it. He extended special thanks to His Excellency the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman Abd El-Aziz Bin Abdallah Al-Hanaai for his prompt response, as well as financial and moral support of the competition, and their continuous interest in the progress of the competition. For this reason, as an appreciation of their generous gestures, the competition was named after a well-respected scholar of the many scholars of Oman, Al-Khalil bin Ahmad Al-Farahidi.
He also pointed out that the Centre - in addition to its primary role in serving Muslims by facilitating their worship and preserving their Islamic identity through the department of religion, concerned mainly with the activities of the mosque that range from the rituals of worship to Quran workshops, and various classes and social services - also constitutes an educational unit that is focussed on the delivery of education and training courses, as well as educational workshops and conferences. The Centre also focuses on teaching the Arabic language and it has, to this end, a supplementary weekend school to teach Arabic language, Quran and Islamic Studies to the children of Arabs and Muslims. It also has courses in Arabic language for adults which is well-attended by many non-Muslims. The Centre was acknowledged, a few months ago, as a trusted authority for teaching the Arabic language and it hands officiated certificates to the students. The Centre strives to increase these activities to change the stereotypical image of Islam and Muslims that some Western societies and the media have.
The Centre is also open to all joint activities and the co-ordination of various educational events, which is attested to by the Centre's excellent relationship with many ministries of education, ministries of Islamic affairs, and private and government organisations in Arab and Muslim countries such as the Islamic World League, ISESCO in Morocco and ALECSO in Tunisia.
Mr Ahmed Limam went on to explain the protocol followed during the stages of preparation of the competition, and the emphasis placed on ensuring equality and fairness in the selection process of the winners by all members of the judging panel, as well as the methods of ranking the top students. It was pleasing to see a similar high standard of Arabic comprehension amongst all the participating students, as was expected of them.
Following that speech was another speech by the honourable Mr Issa Al-Shibaani, who conveyed the greetings of His Excellency the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman, and his enthusiasm and support of this competition and its successful outcomes. He expressed his appreciation of the grand efforts carried out by the Islamic Cultural Centre in all aspects, and the honour of the Embassy of Oman to support such activities, and wished continuous success and prosperity to the Centre and the ability to achieve all targets and serve the Muslim minority, as well as portray the correct image of Islam and Muslims.
After the speeches, a group of students performed a beautiful nasheed that encouraged the seeking of knowledge and research, and the importance of having curiosity.
The event culminated in the presentation of the awards and certificates to the participating students by the two honourable guests and the headteachers of the schools.
The turnout was brilliant; many people attended, and all those present expressed their satisfaction and admiration of the event, as well as their appreciation of the Centre's efforts in the service of the Arabic language. They also encouraged an increase in such joint events involving multiple Arabic Schools.
