Lyna Mohamad
Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA), through the Arabic Language Faculty, conducted an Arabic Language Festival in conjunction with the World Arabic Language Day 2022 from December 19, 2022 until yesterday.
To mark the celebration, the university held an appreciation and prize presentation ceremony at the university’s auditorium with Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Brunei Darussalam Emad bin Abdul Aziz bin Saad Al Muhanna as the guest of honour yesterday.
Dean of the Arabic Language Faculty Dr Hajah Rafidah binti Haji Abdullah, as the Chairperson of the Council’s Working Committee, said World Arabic Language Day has been celebrated on December 18 since 2012 when the language was registered as an international language by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on December 18, 1973.
“As a zikir nation with the concept of Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB), Islam is a matter of great emphasis in the Sultanate, while MIB principles are the basis and source of reference in achieving the country’s goals,” she said.
She said the curtains of the Arabic Language Festival were raised with an international seminar organised by the Arabic Language Faculty, UNISSA, Religious Teachers University College of Seri Begawan (KUPU SB), Al-Azhar Brunei Darussalam International Alumni Association and Arabic Language Association Brunei Darussalam on December 19, 2022.
It was themed ‘Arabic language contribution towards human civilisation and culture’, supplemented by various competitions.
For the university level, two competitions were conducted – the speech competition (Khitabah) held in a hybrid manner on January 2 and the creative video competition (al-Fidio Al-Ibdaie) with online participation which closed on February 28.
The upper secondary and pre-university levels featured a story summarising competition (Talkhis Qisah) on February 8 as well as rhythmic speaking competition (Al-Kalam Al-Jamaie) conducted under the lower secondary and primary levels.
For students who do not attend an Arabic school, a spelling competition (Imla) was held on February 11.
The ceremony began with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah, followed by the recitation of Al-Quran verses by Arabic Language Faculty student Nur Amal Atiqah @ Aida binti Haji Sudirman, the champion of the women’s category of Chancellor’s Trophy Al-Quran reading competition.
Prizes and certificates were presented following the announcement of winners by the guest of honour and the Rector of UNISSA.
The event also featured stage performances in Arabic by the participants.
