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KUCHING, Oct. 9: A total of 36 participants from nine cities in Borneo will participate in the 2026 Se-Borneo Urban Quranic Explanatory Meeting taking place at the Sarawak Islamic Complex here, from October 26 to 29.
Director of the Sarawak Islamic Religious Department (JAIS), Ustaz Mual Suaud, said that the meeting was first held in Malaysia after the first edition took place in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
He said Sarawak agreed to host after receiving an application from the West Kalimantan Provincial Qur'an Area Development Board on 26 July 2024.
"Thanks be to God, the Sarawak Government has agreed that this meeting will be held in Sarawak, with participation of Borneo's municipalities", he said when interviewed by TVS today.
He said that the hafzazan event will be held at noon, while the track and field competition will be held at midnight.
Each city will be represented by four contestants competing in the qari and qariah categories for spaces, as well as hafiz and hafizah for hafazan.
Mual said that the exhortation was aimed at strengthening regional ties, as well as spreading love for the Qur'an especially among younger generations.
"What we expect from this campaign is to strengthen regional solidarity as we are still in a single reed, involving Borneo in Indonesia, Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak.
"At the same time, we hope that this promotion will inspire enthusiasm, especially among young people, to not only participate in space competitions but also have a deep interest in the Quran", he said.
He said that the programme also encouraged healthy competition among participants to improve reading quality, taranum and hafazan, as well as deepening meaning and teaching of scriptures for daily practice.
In addition to the exhibition of Quran, exhibitions and khat art competitions as well as the Mufti's Speech program, which is scheduled to involve the muftis of Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei.
Mual said the mufti of Sarawak and Sabah had already confirmed the presence for the Bicara Mufti program, while other parties were still awaiting confirmation.
In an effort to expand Qur'an recitation, he said Sarawak also has the Darul Hana Quranic Center established by the Islamic Council of Sarawak to encourage Muslim communities to immerse themselves in, read and recite the scriptures.
The efforts also included the reactivation of temples and pilgrimages, as well as cooperation with higher education institutions and Quranic educational institutions to provide a more orderly learning system.
"Through this effort, we want to ensure that Quran learning is not only done traditionally, but also has a more structured educational pathway up to the diploma and degree levels", he said.
He said the hosting of the event could potentially be extended to other cities in Borneo in the future, with Sabah among the locations being discussed for hosting the next edition.
"We want to give every city involved an opportunity to host.
"After the first visit in West Borneo and this time in Sarawak, we hope that the next edition will be held in Sabah, Brunei and other appropriate locations", he said.
In this regard, he invited the Muslim community and all people of Sarawak to attend the event which can also be attended through TVS, Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) as well as related Islamic agency social media platforms. -TVS
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