The Quran Competition in Dubai – and How to Prepare

1The Dubai International Holy Quran Award

The Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA), in Arabic Ja'izat Dubai al-Dawliyya lil-Qur'an al-Karim, was founded in 1997 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Since then its international competition has been held every year in Dubai during the blessed month of Ramadan. Young huffaz – people who carry the whole Quran in memory – travel from many countries, sent through the official bodies of their home nations, and recite before a jury of experienced scholars and qurra'.

Anyone who has sat in the hall on one of those Ramadan nights does not forget it: a young person, often barely an adult, nervous at the microphone – and then, as soon as the jury names a verse, a calm, clear voice that continues exactly where it was asked. The Award has shown many families around the world that memorising the Quran is not a story from past centuries but something very much alive. For this service to the Book of Allah we are sincerely grateful to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. May Allah reward him abundantly for it.

What the Award includes

• The international memorisation competition: the heart of the Award. Participants from many countries are examined on their hifz, their tajweed and their recitation.
• The Islamic Personality of the Year: an honour for a person or institution that has rendered outstanding service to the Quran and to Islam.
• Further competitions and programmes: among them a Quran competition for women that bears the name of Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum, as well as further competitions and events around the Quran, such as lectures during Ramadan.

How many categories there are in a given year, which age limits apply and how nominations work can change. More on that at the end of this chapter.

2What a jury listens for

Every jury has its own scoring sheets, and the exact points are for the organisers to decide. But in Quran competitions around the world the same areas come up again and again. If you know them, you know what you are working towards.

1. Hifz – accuracy of memorisation

The jury reads the beginning of a verse, often from anywhere in the Quran, and you continue. They listen for whether you carry on at once and without hesitation, whether you leave out, swap or add any word, and whether you avoid "wandering" into another surah at a similar verse. Small stumbles that you correct yourself usually cost less than a mistake the jury has to correct.

2. Tajweed – the rules of recitation

This covers the correct pronunciation of every letter from its point of articulation (makhraj) with its characteristics (sifat), as well as ghunnah, idgham, ikhfa', the lengths of madd, qalqalah and everything you learn in the tajweed course. Lengths must be consistent – a reciter who stretches a madd to four counts in one place and six in another will be noticed.

3. Ada' – voice and performance

This is not about who has the "most beautiful" voice, but about who recites the Quran calmly, with dignity, evenly and with reverence. Breath control, an appropriate pace (tartil), clean voice production and a recitation that fits the meaning all belong here. Allah says: "And recite the Quran with measured recitation" Quran 73:4.

4. Waqf and ibtida' – where you stop and where you resume

Stopping in the middle of a unit of meaning, or resuming at a point that changes the meaning, costs points. A good jury hears very clearly whether you understand what you are reciting. That is why meaning and tafsir belong to your preparation – not memory alone.

3The inner foundation: why you are doing this

Before we talk about plans: a competition is a means, not a goal. Allah says about the delights of Paradise: "So for this let the competitors compete" Quran 83:26. That is the real competition. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Actions are only judged by intentions" (al-Bukhari and Muslim). Renew your intention again and again: you are learning for Allah, to be close to His Book – and if He gives you a stage along the way, that is both a blessing and a test.

4The one-year plan

An international competition assumes that the whole Quran is already firmly memorised. This plan is meant for someone who already knows the Quran (or the required portion) by heart and now wants to make it competition-ready. Adjust the amounts with your teacher.

Months 1–3: check the foundation

• An honest inventory: recite each juz' once to your teacher and mark the weak spots. Our hifz map helps you keep track of what is strong, medium or weak.
• Daily: about one juz' of revision (muraja'ah) from memory, plus the weak pages of the previous day once more.
• Tajweed: once a week, study one rule in depth and look for it in your own recitation.

Months 4–6: consolidate

• Daily: one to two ajza' of revision, depending on your time. Many teachers advise that most of your daily Quran time – around two thirds or more – goes into revision, and only the rest into new or weak passages.
• Weekly: once, a larger block (for example five ajza') in one sitting, without the mushaf.
• Start on the mutashabihat (see below).

Months 7–9: competition shape

• A complete round (khatmah) from memory in a fixed rhythm, roughly every two to four weeks, depending on your level.
• Random tests from your teacher, parents or friends: someone names any verse opening and you continue.
• Recordings: once a week, record a longer passage and listen to it critically.

Months 10–12: final polish

This is where the 90-day plan begins.

5The final 90 days

Days 1–30: breadth

• Two to three ajza' of revision daily, so that you complete a full round in about ten to fifteen days.
• At least ten random prompts from across the whole Quran every day.
• Keep a list of your "problem verses" and read it daily.

Days 31–60: depth

• Continue the rounds, but give one day a week to mutashabihat and weak passages only.
• Twice a week, recite to your teacher with full tajweed and ada' – as if you were on stage.
• Once a week, a mock competition: three to five random prompts, a stranger as the "jury", time pressure, a microphone and, if possible, an audience.

Days 61–90: calm and confidence

• No big new projects any more. You consolidate what you have.
• Revision stays daily, but becomes calmer: better slow and sure than fast and sloppy.
• In the last days before the competition: enough sleep, light meals, rest your voice, plenty of du'a.

6Mutashabihat – the similar verses

Many mistakes in competitions do not happen because someone forgot, but because two verses are almost identical. One word differs, an order is reversed, and suddenly you are continuing in the wrong surah. This is how to train them:

1. 1Collect them: whenever you stumble in revision because a similar verse "gets in the way", write both places down side by side.
2. 2Find the difference: underline exactly the word that differs and say out loud which verse is where.
3. 3Anchor it in the meaning: why is this word here and that one there? A look at the tafsir often helps, and the distinction sticks better.
4. 4Practise them as a pair: recite both places one after the other, then each one alone, starting from the middle.
5. 5Revise the list for a few minutes every day.

7Record, recite, be tested

• Record yourself: listen back with the mushaf open. You will hear things you do not notice while reciting – a madd cut short, swallowed endings, uneven breathing.
• Recite to a teacher: no app replaces a teacher who trains your ear and knows your mistakes. This is how the Quran has always been passed on – from mouth to ear.
• Recite before an audience: in your family, at the mosque, at your Quran school. Stage fright shrinks the more often you face it.
• Mock competitions with random prompts, as a jury gives them: someone opens the mushaf anywhere, reads a verse opening, and you continue until they say "enough". Take turns, keep time, score honestly.

8Voice, body and heart

• Voice care: drink enough water, do not shout, do not recite until you are hoarse. A voice needs rest like any muscle. If you are hoarse for a while, let it rest, and see a doctor if it persists.
• Breath: practise calm breathing from the belly, and plan where you can meaningfully pause in long verses.
• Sleep: memory is consolidated during sleep. Studying through the night just before the competition often does more harm than good.
• Nerves: they are normal and show that this matters to you. Prepare so that your knowledge holds even when you are nervous – that is the point of the mock competitions. Before you recite: wudu', two calm breaths, the ta'awwudh, and then think only of the verse, not of the jury.
• Du'a: ask Allah for steadfastness. Musa (peace be upon him) prayed: "My Lord, expand for me my breast, ease for me my task, and untie the knot from my tongue, that they may understand my speech" Quran 20:25–28.

9How this platform helps

• With the Shams Method you learn new passages in small, repeated steps.
• The 365-day plan gives you a steady daily rhythm.
• On the hifz map you can see which parts are secure and which need revision.
• In the tajweed course you refresh specific rules.
• In the Academy you work through surah by surah with meaning and tafsir – essential for waqf and ibtida'.
• And if you are just starting, begin with the Arabic letters.

10How children can start

Most of the huffaz who stand on competition stages today began as children – not under pressure, but with love.

• Start small: with al-Fatihah and the short surahs at the end of the Quran. A few minutes a day are enough.
• Listen: children learn a great deal by ear. Let them hear a calm, clear recitation every day.
• Praise, don't compare: a child should associate the Quran with warmth and safety, not with fear.
• A good teacher: in the Emirates there are Quran centres in every city, many of them open to residents' children too.
• Children's competitions at the mosque, at school or at national level are a lovely first experience, long before an international competition is on the horizon.

11Other international Quran competitions

Dubai is not the only place where young people compete in their love for the Quran. Two especially well-known examples:

• The King Abdulaziz International Quran Competition in Makkah: organised by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs. Participants from all over the world recite near the Sacred Mosque in several categories of memorisation, some combined with tajweed and tafsir.
• The International Quran Recitation Competition in Malaysia (Musabaqah Tilawah al-Qur'an): held in Kuala Lumpur and particularly known for its category of beautiful, melodic recitation (tilawah). Alongside male qurra', women reciters take part as well.

Beyond these, there are many national and international competitions in other countries. Each of them is a sign of how much the Ummah loves the Quran.

12Important: the rules change

Eligibility, age limits, categories, registration deadlines and the nomination process can change from year to year. For the international competition in Dubai, participants are usually sent through official national bodies of their country – ask the relevant authority for religious affairs, your mosque or your Quran centre. Do not rely on older information, not even on this text: check everything on the official website of the Award and through the official channels of your country.

13In closing

The Prophet ﷺ said: "The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it" (al-Bukhari). Whether or not you ever stand on a stage in Dubai, no hour you put into your hifz is lost. Allah says: "And We have certainly made the Quran easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?" Quran 54:17. Begin today – with one verse, with one page, with a sincere intention.