Rubab Anila Faiz RIYADH — Pakistan Writers Club (PWC) organized their Annual Qirat (Qur'an recitation) competition here in the beginning of Ramadan. Under the supervision of PWC's ladies wing, eight young girls also took part in the competition. Twenty-six contestants, the youngest being just six years old, were given three minutes each to recite verses from the Qur'an. The contestants were judged on their articulation and pronunciation, among other criteria by Mohammad Saeed, Ashfaq Hussein, Mrs Gaylanee and Mrs Mohammad Zakir. The first three winners from the boys' side were Abdul Moez Azhar, Waleed Azhar Abbas and Shoaib Abu Baker. The first three winners from the girls' side were Fatima Alzahraa Humayyun, Nabah Khalid and Abeer Nawab. The winners were announced jointly by Hussein and Dr Wardah Qureshi, Convenor of the ladies' chapter. The evening began with recitations from the Qur'an by Saeed followed by a poetry recited in honor of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by Hussein. The evening concluded with words of appreciation from the Chief Guest and Prof. Ghulam Sarwar Qureshi, who praised the young participants for taking part, as well as their parents and teachers who had put in their time and effort to have their children strive for excellence. Other notable speakers were Intezam ul Haq Thanwi, Parween Shamshad Siddique, as well as a former contestant Saim Mughal. The speakers applauded PWC's efforts for organizing the event and commended the contestants on their performance. Wardah thanked members of PWC-LC for their active participation and making this event a great success and made especial mention of Dr Erum Qalbani, Ambreen faiz Ahmad, Reem Al-Qureshi, Aisha Khanam, Sumera Waseem, Sadaf Tariq, Farah Ehsan and Shaheen. The Annual Qirat Competition by the Pakistan Writers Club has been traditionally held every Ramadan for young boys aged 15 and under since 1996. Under the patronage of the current Club President Faiz Al Najdi, this year's competition was moderated by the club's general secretary, Hussein, and the deputy convenor of the ladies chapter, Qalbani. Al Najdi offered words of gratitude to the participants and their parents, audience and event sponsors. He also thanked members of PWC and its ladies chapter for working so hard to make this event a success. He praised Hussain, Aymen Zaheer, Rauf Moghal, Zubair Bhatti and Sanobar Sani. He also thanked the following sponsors for supporting this event - Shamahsd Siddiqui, Bashir Ahmed Choudhry, Fayaz Ali Khan, Rana Khalid, Waseem, Younus, Faisal Alvi and Javed Iqbal. Participants were awarded with gift packs by the event sponsors and the winners were honored with shields and prizes.
