Kota Kinabalu: Qari Putatan Nashraf Ideen Nahar, 32, was crowned the overall champion of the Sabah State-Level Quran Recitation and Memorization Competition (MTHQ) for the year 1446H/2025M on last Sunday.
Qari specializes in the recitation of the Holy Quran with proper pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm, following the rules of Tajweed.
Nashraf also dominated the adult qari (male reciter) category in the Quran recitation event, scoring 94.25 percent followed by Kota Belud’s Qari, Muhammad Umar Jiman, as the runner-up with 91.25 percent, while Abdullah Abdul Wahid from Semporna secured third place with 88.75 percent.
Meanwhile, Keningau representative Nadirah Syazwani Sapari, 26, emerged as the champion in the Qariah (female reciter) category with a score of 89.75 percent followed Putatan’s representative, Pangiran Dg. Saliah Awang Salleh, who won second place, while Semporna’s representative, Norasmah Abdul Wahid, secured third place with 81.25 percent.
Nashraf and Nadirah each took home a cash prize of RM10,000, vouchers, and an Umrah package sponsored by TH Travel and each also received a championship trophy, a wristwatch sponsored by the Federal Secretary’s Office, a full set of clothing from JAKIM, and a collection of religious books.
The prize presentation ceremony was officiated by the Head of State of Sabah, Tun Musa Aman, who was accompanied by his wife, Toh Puan Faridah Tussin.
In the youth category, the champions were Muhammad Iqmal Hidayat Tarib and Ain Fatihah in their respective divisions.
For the first level of the Holy Quran memorization (hafiz) category, the winners were Mohammad Khayruddin Zakwan Jaimis from Kota Belud and Fariha Noorakma Mujim from Papar in the hafizah (female) category.
In the second level of the Quran memorization category, Tawau participants swept both titles, with Ahmad Syafieq Hidayat Lasiri and Nur Atikah Fathiah Qistina Ahmad Fauzi emerging as champions in their respective categories.
Additionally, Muhammad Fathi Safwan Eshak and Alia Rafidah Supu were crowned champions in the Quran Memorization (1-30 Juz) with Interpretation category.
