UII Students Sweep Medals at International MTQ Competition

Riau—A delegation of Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) students took home multiple medals at an international Quran Recitation Competition (MTQ) held by Universitas Islam Riau from 28 to 31 August 2023.

A total of 17 students won champion medals from the categories Tilawah (Quran recitation), Tahfiz (memorizing verses of the Quran), and Da’i and Da’iyah (men and women speeches).

UII Director of Student Coaching, Arif Fajar Wibisono, S.E., M.Sc., said the achievement was proportional to the students’ efforts while participating in the competition. “Universitas Islam Indonesia conveys its utmost appreciation for the students’ achievements,” he said. “We continue providing them with mentoring, training and supporting facilities so that we can see more MTQ achievements in the future, both at national and international levels.”

One of the winners, International Relations major student Muhammad Hakimi Harit, shared his experience participating in the competition. “Our preparation was Insya Allah [God willing] thorough. We memorize the Qur’an, we repeat this every day,” he said.

“However, preparations specifically for the competition was not necessarily there. Still, when we talk memorizing the Quran, we do that every time anyway,” said Hakimi, who won first prize for the 20-Juz Men’s Tahfiz category.

Hakimi said his preparation before the competition was greatly supported by UII’s Murajaah (memorization), a program initiated by Hawasi (UII Hafiz-Hafiza Students) that is part of the UII Campus Dawah Organization.

“As I said before, our registration for the competition was sudden and the competition happened soon after. Luckily, at UII Murajaah were have regular Quran recitations once a month. So, the event came at the right time,” said the Makassar, South Sulawesi-origin student.

In Hakimi’s view, a hafiz should perform murajaah every day and not only as competition approaches. “This [competition] is simply to encourage us more [to memorize the Quran]. It’s to test our memory. If we win, then Alhamdulillah [thank God]. But, if we lose, we go back to performing murajaah,” Hakimi said.

“Never perform murajaah or recite the Quran in your free time. Instead, make time to perform and memorize the Quran,” he said.

Muhammad Subki, an Islamic Education major student, also told his story. He said the opportunity to take part in an international competition was very inspiring and challenging as he got to compete with people across the globe.

“It’s interesting that we get to see people, seeing them recite the Quran with their beautiful voices,” he said.

“I felt that their voices were so beautiful and I was clearly below them. But maybe Allah has a different fate for me,” said Subki, who won first prize in the Men’s Tilawah Quran category.

Subki, who has experience in teaching Quran recitations, advised students not to stop fighting and to continue to be enthusiastic about learning.

“Never stop learning. Continue to achieve your dreams. What you want, go after it. Don’t let anything stop you from fighting,” he said.

“And most importantly, it will make our parents happy. That’s very important,” said Subki, who hails from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

The UII delegates at this event came from various competition categories divided into international men and women students. From the Tilawah Quran category, winners were Muhammad Subki (First Prize Men), Muhammad Rasihul Hilman (Third Runner-up Men) and Moh Rizki Adhitya (Fourth Runner-up Men). The Da’i and Da’iyah categories were won by Rahmat Hamdi Purnama (Third Prize Men), Dhea Apriliani (Second Prize Women) and Rofa Hiyatal Ais (Third Runner-up Women).

Further, winners in the 5-Juz Tahfiz category were Lalu Indra Ramadhana (First Prize Men) and Zahra Kamila (Second Prize Women), while the 10-Juz Tahfiz category was wone by Afiq Aghna Abdillah (Third Prize Men), Maryam Adzkiyah (First Prize Women) and Valerina Bintang (Second Prize Women).

Meanwhile, the 20-Juz Tahfiz category was won by Muhammad Hakimi Harit (First Prize Men), Fatimah Az Zahra (First Prize Women) and Annisa Zahrotul Jannah (Terbaik 2 Putri), while Dzulfikri Shofwan Makarim (Second Prize Men), Nesya Fitriatul Fadilah (First Prize Women) and Raehanah (Third Prize Women) won prizes in the 30-Juz Tahfiz.(VIP Magazine Vol 10)