Izah Azahari
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam graced the National Level Nuzul Al-Quran Celebration for 1444 Hijrah at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Berakas last night.
Accompanying His Majesty were His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Malik, His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Mateen, His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah and His Royal Highness Prince Haji Jefri Bolkiah.
Upon arrival, His Majesty was greeted by Chief of Adat Istiadat Negara Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Indera Setia Diraja Sahibul Karib Pengiran Anak Haji Idris bin Pengiran Maharaja Lela Pengiran Muda Abdul Kahar in his capacity as the Co-Advisor of the Executive Committee for Major Islamic Calendar Events for 1444 Hijrah; Minister of Religious Affairs Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman in his capacity as the Chairman of the Executive Committee for Major Islamic Calendar Events for 1444 Hijrah; and Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Defence II Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof in his capacity as the Co-Advisor of the Executive Committee for Major Islamic Calendar Events for 1444 Hijrah.
His Majesty was also greeted by the co-organisers of the National Level Nuzul Al-Quran Celebration for 1444 Hijrah Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy (Economy) Dato Seri Paduka Haji Khairuddin bin Haji Abdul Hamid and Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy (Fiscal) Pengiran Datin Seri Paduka Hajah Zety Sufina binti Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Sani, along with Executive Committee members.
The event began with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah by Chief Syar’ie Judge Pehin Orang Kaya Paduka Seri Utama Dato Paduka Seri Setia Haji Awang Salim bin Haji Besar, followed by welcoming remarks by Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin who highlighted that welcoming and commemorating the great days in Islam and making them public holidays is a unique feature of the country, ruled by a monarchy.
“Indeed, Islam has shaped Brunei and its monarchy. Furthermore, in its Islamic character, Brunei has been blessed by Allah the Almighty with the eternal integrity of occupying its current territory,” said the Minister of Religious Affairs.
He added that the country is continuously trying to tried to fulfil such national goals through national development plans and programmes in all its fields that comply with the maqasid Syariah which aims to protect religion, life, reason, property and further protect descendants.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of the Judging Committee Mohammad Hashim bin Haji Abdullah announced the winners of this year’s National Level Al-Quran Memorisation and Its Understanding Competition for 1444 Hijrah.
The first prize winner in Category ‘A’ Amal ‘Aziyah binti Muhamad Saiful Ashren with a score of 98.06 per cent, received a prize of BND1,500.
The runners-up were Nur Soffiyah Solehah binti Mohammad Fikri (98.03 per cent) with a BND1,000 cash prize and Nur Syifa Hasanah binti Mohammad Fikri (97.89 per cent) with a BND750 cash prize.
Alya Fathiyyah binti Haji Abdul Rajid topped Category ‘B’ with a score of 98.63 per cent and received BND2,000. Mohammad Firdaus bin Mohammed Salleh (98.05 per cent) and Nuramal Shofiyyah binti Irma Shukrin (96.97 per cent) claimed second and third places, and received BND1,500 and BND1,200.
In Category ‘C’, the first place went to Ahmad Muhammad @ Munir bin Haji Ibrahim (97.49 per cent), who received BND2,800. The first and second runners-up were Ahmad Darwish bin Hamdan (95.7 per cent) receiving BND2,000 and Muhamad Faiz Najwan bin Muhamad Saleh (95.29 per cent) receiving BND1,500.
In Category ‘D’, Ahmad Huzaifah bin Haji Awang Hasbi emerged as the winner with a score of 97.02 per cent. He received BND3,500.
Second place went to Ahmad Hamizan @ Ahmad Aliridha bin Haji Laidin (96.75 per cent), who received BND2,500, while Haji Muhammad Bazli Ra’if bin Haji Zulkifli (96.43 per cent) came in third and received BND2,000.
In Category ‘E’, the winner was Abdul Aziz bin Noor Nasran with a score of 98.92 per cent and received BND5,000.
Second place went to Muhammad Adi Syazani bin Shahri (94.61 per cent) with BND3,500 while in third place was Mohamed Shahmie bin Mohamed Shalahudeen (92.92 per cent) with BND2,500.
The theme for this year’s celebration was ‘Bersabar, Berikhtiar, Bertawakkal dan Berdoa Menghadapi Ujian Dengan Petunjuk Al-Quran’.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Asyraf bin Amir from Malaysia championed the memorising of 10 Juzuk of Al-Quran starting from Juzuk 1 to Juzuk 10 along with the understanding of Juzuk 10 category in the Al-Quran Memorisation and Its Understanding Competition for Religious Council of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore (MABIMS) member countries for 1444 Hijrah with 92.87 per cent, receiving BND4,000.
First runner-up for the category went to Haji Muhammad Bazli Ra’if from Brunei Darussalam (91.55 per cent) receiving BND3,000, and second runner-up was Rahmiyatul Khairat from Indonesia (88.28 per cent) receiving BND2,000.
The memorising of 30 Juzuk of Al-Quran starting from Juzuk 1 to Juzuk 30 along with the understanding of Juzuk 24 category was won by Muhammad Bagus Mashum from Indonesia with 95.85 per cent receiving BND7,000, while first and second runner-up went to Awangku Muhammad Abdul Qadir bin Pengiran Haji Ibrahim from Brunei Darussalam (89.90 per cent) receiving BND5,000 and Afifa Syakirah binti Mohd Radzi from Malaysia (89.15 per cent) receiving BND4,000.
