MTQ BRINGS QURAN CLOSER TO MUSLIMS by Fardah

Jakarta, Aug 5, 2016 (Antara) - Muslims believe that Quran, the Islamic Holy Book, is a timeless miracle given by Allah the Almighty to His last Prophet, Muhammad SAW (peace be upon him) some 1400 years ago.

         The Quran consists of the unaltered and direct words of Allah.  The words were revealed through the Angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad, who was an orphan.

         The miracle can be viewed among other things from the artistic and verbal beauty of the Quran and its style which is neither poetry nor prose, as well as the intellectual and scientific content of the Quran.

         The Quran is not only spiritual guidance but contains complete way of life for the entire humankind, therefore Muslims read Quran regularly and many of them even memorize the whole Book.

         Many Muslim majority countries including Indonesia organize Quran Recital Competition or Musabaqah Tilawatul Quran (MTQ) to bring Muslims closer to Quran and allow them to gain a better understanding of Islamic teachings as stated in the Holy Book of Islam.

         This year, Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) is hosting the 26th National MTQ from July 29 to August 6, with some 1.2 thousand participants from 34 provinces.

         President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) opened the MTQ on July 30 in a ceremony also attended by some 30 foreign ambassadors, at the NTB Islamic Center.  

    The president in his remarks hoped that the MTQ would instill tranquility in the hearts of the people, making them as tranquil as the heart of the Quran reciters. 
    He also said that he had issued a presidential regulation to establish an international Islamic university in Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world.

         Jokowi hoped that the university would serve as a source of Islamic knowledge and studies, a source of Islamic moral enlightenment, and a fortress to uphold egalitarian Islamic values and tolerance.

         "Now is the time for Indonesia to serve as the world's source of Islamic thoughts and Islamic studies. Other countries should see and study Islam in Indonesia," the president stated.

         The president added that Indonesia should serve as an Islamic study center for the world because it is home to Islam Washatiyah or moderate Islam.

         This year, for the first time the organizing committee has applied information technology in the MTQ to improve the contests' transparency.

         "The e-MTQ application is being implemented to monitor the presence and registration of participants at the National MTQ," Faturrahman of the West Nusa Tenggara administration noted recently.

         The technology also facilitated the judging and scoring processes and the live streaming of the MTQ on http://www.mtqn26ntb.com.

         A total of 1,303 people applied to participate in the annual competition, but 103 failed the administrative selection process.

         The MTQ had seven branches and 18 categories of competitions.

         The seven branches were Tilawah (recitation) Al Quran, Hafizh (memorization) Al Quran, Tafsir (interpretation) Al Quran, Fahm Al Quran, Syarhil Al Quran, Khath Al Quran, and Scientific Papers on Al Quran.

         The 18 categories included various competitions for both male and female adults, youth, children, and those with disabilities.

         The MTQ attracted some five thousand audience, mostly residents of NTB, which is known as "the island of one thousand mosques."
    The NTB authorities deployed a total of 1,685 personnel to secure the event held at the NTB Islamic Center.

         Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin has said the MTQ is organized to preserve a model of preaching, the examples of which come from "Walisongo" (the Nine Muslim Saints who had spread Islam on Java Island in the past).

         "This MTQ is similar to the way the Saints had preached, through 'tilawah' (Qur'an recital)," the minister said at the opening of the competition.

         In the meantime, the Director of Muslim Community Development working under the Religious Affairs Minister Machasin said MTQ was not only for the benefit of Muslims, but also for interfaith harmony.

         Therefore, this year, several members of churches were also involved in the MTQ¿s organization, he added.

         NTB Governor Muhammad Zainul Majdi said the province's non-Muslim inhabitants of Chinese descent also contributed Chinese lanterns for the MTQ.

         During the competition, five participants from NTB managed to enter the final stage. The NTB governor has promised to give bonuses to the province¿s participants coming out as winners. The bonuses include Rp100 million for first winner, Rp75 million for second winner and Rp50 million winner.

         On the first day of the MTQ, West Sumatra's contingent was ranked among the top three, as its five members managed to record victories in the elimination round.

         In total, West Sumatra participated in 11 branches of the competition. ***4***
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