Doha, Qatar:  The Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) announced in a statement today announced the opening of registration for the 8th Katara Quran Recitation Competition, from Wednesday, July 17 until October 17.

The Katara Quran Recitation Competition aims to encourage and discover outstanding talents in reading and reciting Quran, and to present to the world distinguished readers in Quran recitation according to the rules of Tajweed, to honor the outstanding and creative readers, and to motivate the younger generations to adhere to their religion and understand their duties towards their faith and Islamic message.

The screening committee will evaluate all entries and select the best 100 participants to proceed for the qualifying stage held in Doha. The 100 qualifiers will participate in the competition through 20 television episodes, with 5 participants competing in each episode.

One of them will be selected to compete in the semi-final stage.

During the semi-finals, 20 contestants, along with 5 reserves, will compete in 5 more episodes, with 5 people competing in each episode. One participant will be qualified from each episode to compete in the final stage.

Among the five finalists, the top three winners of the prize will be announced, and the episodes will be broadcasted in a special program in collaboration with Qatar TV during the holy month of Ramadan.

The judging panel for the prize consists of 6 members, three of whom are experts in Quranic readings and Tajweed rules, and three are specialists in Maqamat (melodic modes).

Katara will produce a CD for the winner, reciting the entire Quran, in Katara’s studios.

It is noteworthy that the total prize value for the Katara Prize for Quran Recitation is QAR 900,000, where the winner receives QAR 500,000, the runner up receives QAR 300,000, and the third-place winner receives QAR 100,000.

Since its inception in 2017, Katara Quran Recitation Competition has been sponsored by the General Directorate of Endowments at the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs.