BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

KAMPUNG Mentiri Mosque and Kampung Bunut Mosque emerged champions in the final round of the 13th Nationwide Azan (call to prayer) and Iqamat competition yesterday.

Held at Kg Bunut Mosque, the competition was an initiative of Kg Bunut Village Consecutive Council (MPK), Mosque Muslimah committee and the Mosque Affairs Department with the aim to search for capable people in performing azan and iqamat so that they could voluntarily become an Imam or bilal when needed.

The religious competition was divided into two categories, ‘A’ for participants aged 18 to 44-years-old and category ‘B’ for above 45-year-old.

The winner for category ‘A’ was a representative from Kg Bunut Mosque, Hj Abas Hj Amit who achieved a total mark of 94 per cent.

Meanwhile, category ‘B’ was won by Kampung Mentiri Mosque contestant, Mohd Yusron Hj Jahari who beat seven other participants with 94.5 per cent.

The judges for the competition were amongst officers under the Mosque Affairs Department who focused on three main attributes; melody, tajweed (pronunciation) and fluency.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA), Hj Harun Hj Juned awarded the winners with their prizes..

“Azan has a great ability to ease the life of human kind. Hence, as a Muslim, we have to preserve it and improve its quality by conducting this kind of event,” said Hj Harun.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary also urged people to stop from performing any activity during azan and iqamat particularly sport as a mark of respect.

Speaking to The Brunei Times, the chairman of Masjid Kg Bunut, Hj Duraman Hassan said that this year marks the 13th year that the mosque had conducted the competition with aim to attract more people to participate in the azan competition particularly among young generation.

“In order to prevent the shortage of Imam and bilal, we need to recruit young generation to voluntarily work in this field. This is for our future sake, we need more people who are able to perform azan and iqamat so that they could replace the elderly,” said Hj Duraman.

The semi final round for the competition was held on May 17 with 29 male participants joining from all four districts.

The Brunei Times