Why Recite

Alhamdulillah, the Masjid Al Amin Tilwatul Qur'an Competition Grand Finals was successfully held yesterday afternoon, with the presence of the very honourable Mufti of Singapore Sahabus Samahah Syed Isa Bin Mohd Semait.

I was given the privilege of being the host for the finals, as well as the previous audition and semi-final rounds. So through these rounds, I was blessed with the opportunity to listen to the recitation of the Holy Qur'an close to 120 times.

The competition was organised as a platform to motivate young Indian Muslims to recite the Qur'an in a beautiful manner. The national platform, organised annually by MUIS for talented reciters from all around Singapore, demands a very high standard that many from the Indian Muslim community are not trained in, unfortunately. Particularly, immaculate tajwid and tarannum are sought after in the national and international circles. But the Indian Muslim community mostly prizes the mere recitation of the Qur'an, with only a handful individuals willing to go on to the next level of recitation. Insha Allah, the winds of change are blowing. Following this event organised by Masjid Al Amin, more mosques that are Indian Muslim-based are beginning to show interest and are improving the quality of their students' recitation. I pray that slowly, the community is versatile in its recitation styles and is able to produce world-class reciters.

The audience at the Tilawatul Qur'an competition was very supportive, with many parents attending to support their children. However, in terms of the etiquette some audience members need to observe when the Qur'an is being recited, there is a long, long way to go. The scream of an indisciplined 3-year old child when a finalist is reciting his highest pitch in the nahawane suara is, quite frankly, atrocious. The reciter is demoralised, the listening audience is distracted and disturbed and the poor child is quite possibly silently cursed under many people's breaths. The situation also occurs (more frequently) during Maulid Rasul events, when the atrocities are blatant - many don't attend the function to celebrate the birth of the Prophet s.a.w., but come to receive the free briyani packets distributed at the end of the function. And they unashamedly admit they do so. Not because they're spiteful or anything, they just think that "This is what we've always been doing".

To correct this misconception requires a public education campaign of the massive sort. We need to educate the masses the spiritual objective of such functions and make them see that life is beyond briyani packets, and it extends to the hereafter. May Allah give us the strength to battle ignorance in this area.

Overall, I believe the Tilawatul Qur'an Competition was a success to everyone who participated in it with the niyyat to do service for Allah. As I always believe, the tag "competition" is merely an exercise in semantics - such recitation events are platforms to 1. Recite the Holy Book for Allah, 2. To allow others to correct and perfect you in your recitation through a "public examination" and lastly 3. To share with others the ultimate manifestation of Allah's message to mankind, which is through the voice, the tongue, the teeth and the air that Allah gave to Man.

I pray that the next Tilawatul Qur'an Competition organised by Masjid Al Amin is an even bigger success. I congratulate all the participants of the event and thank all those who helped in one way or another to make it a success.