Turkish people flow to listen to Qur'an recitation

By Sa'ad Abdul Majid, IOL Correspondent

ISTANBUL, October 1 (IslamOnline.net) – With the holy Muslim month of Ramadan around the corner, pouring its scents of mercy and blessings on Muslims around the world, a pleasant religious atmosphere starts enveloping all aspects of life in Muslim countries.

This week, many Turkish cities hosted several conventions to recite verses of the Noble Qur'an by famous reciters from all Islamic countries.

The conventions were kicked off to mark an important Islamic occasion; the night of Sha’ban 15th, the night when Muslims were ordered by Allah to turn their faces to Kaabah, instead of Al-Aqsa Mosque during prayers.

Over 30,000 Turkish citizens gathered Wednesday, September 29, in the stadium of the Qartal district in eastern Istanbul to listen to famous Egyptian reciters Ahmed Ne'anae and Mohamed Zakariya while reciting verses of the Noble Qur'an.

A similar gathering was held in the H. Kaplan indoor court in the Turkish city of Amassiya. The celebration was attended by chairman of the Anatolia youth endowment department Elias Tonguc along with a number of senior city leaders, the Turkish Vakit newspaper reported.

The Malayia indoor court, south Turkey also hosted a Qur’an recitation event two days earlier to where senior Muslim readers including Mohamed Zakarya and Abdul Rahma Sadeen from South Africa, Ahmed Abul Qassem (Iran), Seifullah Anwar (Indonesia) and Ahmed Quralli (Turkey), recited verses from the Noble Qur’an.

The Qur’an recitation gatherings in Turkey were met by massive popular attendance, leading the National Anatolia youth endowment department to set up outdoor screens to broadcast Qur'an recitation for those unable to attend.

First Time

For the first time in 50 years in the Turkish historic Kemaralti market of the Konak district in Izmer, a competition for Qur'an memorization was held.

A Turkish young man, S. Menteseli won the first prize in the competition as he memorized Qur’an in only three years and a half, to become the first young Qur'an holder (memorizer) in Izmer.

Also in the mosques of Hisar and Buzkaya in the city, Turkish citizens burst into tears as they listened to the recitation of the Noble Qur'an by the Egyptian reader Ahmed Ne'anae.

The Anatolia youth magazine and the Anatolia humanitarian endowment department had launched a popular campaign last summer to hand out one million copies of Noble Qur'an among Turkish citizens.

The campaign coincided with holding celebrations for Qur'an recitation in a number of Turkish cities and governorates with famous Qur'an reciters from several Islamic countries attending.

Parts of these Qur’an celebrations were broadcast by a number of Turkish satellite channels such as TGRT and STV as well as the official TRT-1 channel.

Since it took office in Turkey, the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been encouraging the holding of such religious celebrations in the country.