The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority, Turki Al Al-Sheikh, honored the winners of the international competition of the Holy Quran and call to prayer Otr Elkalam (Scent of Speech) and presented them with the valuable prizes allocated to the most beautiful voices in the Holy Quran recitation and the call to prayer. The total value of the prizes is SAR12 million ($3.2 million). This came in the final episode of Otr Elkalam TV show, in which Turki Al-Sheikh thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, for their unlimited support of everything that is beneficial to the Kingdom, including the entertainment sector. In the last episode of Otr Elkalam, which was distinguished by the ethnic diversity of the contestants, the Moroccan contestant Younes Mustafa Gharbi won the first place in the Holy Quran recitation category, with a financial prize of SAR5 million ($1,333,300), while the British contestant Mohammed Ayoub Asif received SAR2 million ($530,500) for winning second place. The Bahraini contestant Mohammad Mujahid won SAR1 million ($266,600) for achieving third place. The Iranian contestant Seyed Jassem Mousavi won fourth place and received SAR500,000 ($133,300). In the call to prayer category, the two Turkish contestants, Muhsin Kara and Albijan Celik came first and second. Kara won first place and received SAR2 million ($533,200), while Celik won second place and received SAR1 million ($266,600). The third place went to the Saudi contestant Abdul Rahman bin Adel, who received SAR500,000 ($133,300), while the other Saudi contestant, Anas Al-Rahili, won the fourth place and received SAR250,000 (66,650). During the award ceremony, Al-Sheikh announced the continuation of the competition next year, with different numbers of contestants from different countries around the world, from which the current competition was attended by talented participants in reciting the Holy Quran and delivering the call to prayer. The Holy Quran recitation and call to prayer competition, distinguished by its challenging criteria, is one of the international initiatives of the General Entertainment Authority. It allows the participation of Muslims from different countries of the world through simple steps, facilitating participation for those wishing to join the competition qualifiers from anywhere. The competition qualifiers began in 2019. More than 40,000 contestants from 80 countries around the world participated before reaching the final qualifiers, in which 36 contestants competed in the Holy Quran recitation and call to prayer categories through Otr Elkalam TV show. This is one of the most important competitions launched by the General Entertainment Authority during Ramadan, with its content that suits the spirituality of the month, as well as its standards and provisions that enhance competitiveness, through stages and classifications through which qualifying procedures are carried out to ensure that the best-qualified talents reach the final stages. The competition jury consisted of 13 members specialized in judging Quranic competitions. It also includes experts in international Quranic competitions, in addition to imams and muezzins from the Two Holy Mosques and senior world Holy Quran reciters, who enrich viewers with knowledge by evaluating the contestants and offering observations and notes about their performance to benefit viewers and educate them about the sciences of the Holy Quran and ways of reciting it. The competition began broadcast on TV on the first day of Ramadan at 5 pm on the Saudia channel and Shahid platform. It is one of the most prominent Ramadan religious TV shows, which attracted the most attention and was one of the most viewed shows. The exciting competition received the support of reciters and muezzins from all over the world, as it is one of the most challenging and largest competitions in the world, especially because it hosts a group of the most famous judges of international Quranic competitions.
