The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Prof. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, has decided to grant a Quranic incentive to Al-Azhar secondary school students who excelled in Quran memorization competitions a generous initiative that reflects a deep interest in promoting Quran memorization and dissemination. This comes as part of His Eminence’s keenness to honor Quran memorizers and enhance the status of the Quran in the hearts of Muslims; it also represents a paradigm shift in the field of honors granted to Quran memorizers in locally and internationally accredited competitions.

 

 

The “Quranic Excellence Incentive” project aims to encourage Al-Azhar secondary school students to memorize and recite the Holy Quran with proper tajwīd (recitation rules), in addition to improving students’ system of memorizing the Holy Quran, and contributing to spreading the culture of memorizing the Holy Quran among them. This decision also comes as a continuation of the support provided to outstanding students in sports fields, based on Al-Azhar’s belief in the importance of the Holy Quran and its fundamental role in educating future generations.

 

The Supreme Council of Al-Azhar decided to approve the proposal of the General Administration of the Holy Quran Affairs at Al-Azhar Institutes Sector to grant the “Quranic Excellence Incentive” to Al-Azhar secondary school students, both Egyptians and non-Egyptians. The incentive will be given to winners of the annual Al-Azhar Quran Memorization Competition, or any international competition recognized in Egypt, as points added to the student’s total score. The points depend on which of the first four positions obtained within the first level of the Quran memorization competitions. The incentive, which will be added at the end of Al-Azhar secondary school stage, should be valid if obtained during the secondary stage starting from the year in which the competition was held. The Quranic incentive points are added under the supervision of the Admissions Office at Al-Azhar University, provided that the Quranic Excellence Incentive points do not in any way result in the total score obtained becoming greater than the maximum total score of the certificate.

 

The regularions for granting the “Quranic Excellence Incentive” to Al-Azhar secondary school students who excel in the first level of memorizing and reciting the Holy Quran according to the approved competitions are as follows: 

Al-Azhar Annual Quran Competition: First place 24, Second place 20, Third place 16, Fourth place 12;

Ministry of Endowments International Competition: First place 18, Second place 14, Third place 10, Fourth place 6;

other approved international competitions: First place 12, Second place 8, Third place 6, Fourth place 4. It should be noted that if a student takes more than one of the first four places in more than one stipulated competition, only the highest score from among the scores of these competitions will be added to them.

 

In addition, His Eminence decided to exempt students who obtained the top ten places (in the first level) of the annual Al-Azhar Holy Quran Competition from tuition fees as of the year they obtain it until they have completed Al-Azhar secondary school certificate.

 

Students who obtain incentive points or exemption from fees must be registered and have a record of regular attendance in one of institutes affiliated with Al-Azhar Institutes Sector. Students must not have received a disciplinary penalty, and must not have failed or been dismissed due to absence or misconduct, and their competition results must be final and approved by the administration of that competition.