Tunisia Int’l Quran Competition Begins with New Title

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) -  The 10th edition of Tunisia’s international Quran contest opened in the capital Tunis this past Friday, August 12, Tunisia’s official news agency reported.  Now that the dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has been forced to go to exile, the country’s international Holy Quran contest, which used to be named after the dictator, began its 10th edition with a new name: Tunisia Award.  The first edition of the competition had been named after As-Salih Abi Al-Hassan Ali An-Nuri Asafaghisi, a 12th century (Hirjir) Tunisian scholar and thinker, and thus a scientific seminar featuring the life and character of the scholar is to be held on the sidelines of the contest.  It is held annually in the fields of Quran recitation, memorization, and interpretation. 80 contestants from 21 Islamic countries as well as Russia and Greece are taking part in the international event, which will run until tomorrow, August 16.  Muhammad bin Ebrahim and Ma’az Ash-Sheikh represent Tunisia in the fields of memorization and recitation, respectively./129