Organizers of Hafiz contest tell about tradition of reciting Koran in Dagestan

Natives of Dagestan take high places at international contests of Koran reciters in the absence of any significant support from of Hafiz school by the authorities. The tradition of hifza (memorizing Koran by heart) is transmitted from generation to generation for centuries and presupposes the presence of a Koran reciter in every dwelling settlement, the Council of Russian Muftis has explained.

On June 10, the second open republic's contest of Hafizes and noble Koran reciters named after Muhammad-Hafiz Afandi al-Tidibi was opened in the Central Juma-Mosque of Makhachkala. The main award in the nomination "Knowledge of Koran by heart" is a Hajj pilgrimage, the organizing committee of the contest has informed.

The winner of the "Reading the Koran" nomination was Muhammad Magomedov, the muezzin of the Central Juma-Mosque of Makhachkala, the page of the mosque in the Instagram has reported.

The tradition of knowing the Koran by heart originates from the time of the Prophet Muhammad, said Rushan Abbyasov, the first deputy chairman of the Council of Russian Muftis. He has noted that memorizing the Koran demands a lot of effort.

Imam Ibragim Mekhtibekov has noted that the Chechen hifza school may be treated as stronger than the Dagestani one. He associated its success with the support of the authorities of Chechnya, as the children of the head of Chechnya are also Hafizes.