Doha, Qatar: The Sheikh Jassim Quran Competition has launched the preliminary qualifiers for the inaugural global “Rofaqaa” (Companions) category, dedicated to sponsored orphans under Qatar Charity, with 40 contestants advancing through remote assessments supervised by three Qatari judging panels.
Organised by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, the initiative reflects Qatar’s commitment to combining Quranic education with humanitarian outreach.
The first edition of the “Rofaqaa” branch features participation from 20 countries, highlighting its global scope and inclusive vision. The preliminary round is being conducted via video conferencing platforms over a two-week period from April 19 to April 30. Participants are evaluated based on memorization, tajweed rules, and overall recitation performance.
The judging panels are chaired by Sheikh Mahdi Ali Al-Qahtani, Sheikh Mohammed Ali Al-Hammadi, and Sheikh Subaih Mohammed Al-Marri.
The competition has attracted wide participation across its three categories.
A total of 138 contestants are competing in the full Quran memorization category, while 42 contestants are participating in the category of memorizing the last 20 Juz, and 103 contestants are competing in the category of memorizing the last 10 Juz.
From these participants, the top 40 candidates are being selected to proceed to the next stages based solely on merit and performance, regardless of nationality.
The competition follows a structured four-stage evaluation process that begins with internal qualifiers held in the participants’ home countries.
This is followed by the current preliminary round conducted remotely, after which a final remote round will select 30 contestants, with 10 participants from each category advancing.
