The Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur from July 27 to August 3 hosted the 52 International Competition for reciters of the Quran.

For 52 years the Government organizes the competition, and the king of the country personally sponsors him. Participants from 48 countries, including Russia, competed in the correct and beautiful reciting of Scripture of God. Russia was represented by the imam of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque Islam Hazrat Zaripov and a student of Center of the Quran learning at the Russian Islamic University Ramilya Kayumova.

Reading was assessed by four criteria: knowledge of the rules of reciting the Quran (tadzhvid), melody (tarannum), eloquence (fasakh) and voice (south). The highest number of points a reciter could get for tadzhvid. Melody (tarannum) Melodiousness implies being able to read the Qur'an different tunes (makamaty). Eloquence includes the correct pronunciation of letters (mahradzh) and knowledge of the rules of stopping and resuming reciting.

Readers’ voice was estimated to last. The jury members were from 10 different countries of the Muslim world. An interesting feature of the assessment was that the jury was in separate room and was not able to see the reciter and to know from which country he was. This contributed to the most objective assessment of participants. First place among readers won the representative of Egypt Hani Abdul Aziz Ahmed.

Among women, the first place was awarded the reciter from Pakistan Samia Hanan. All participants were awarded prizes and certificates of participation. Malaysians with great pleasure attended the competition, each night the house was full of spectators. Many came with the whole family, including infants, grandmothers and grandfathers. Throughout the week the central television broadcast the contest in four languages of the world. For the foreign participants of the competition organizers held a preliminary three-day courses to improve reading of the Quran. Much of the course was devoted to the development of melody. Within the competition for the participants the solemn reception was organized at the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Readers also traveled to the country's historical sites, visited the center of calligraphy and a museum of the Quran, the historic center in the city of Melaka, the highest twin towers in the world, had a ride on the subway that automatically controlled, and also visited the College of memorizing the Quran. Thus, the event was a great celebration for the competitors and spectators. Malaysia  left an impression of a very hospitable Muslim country, where people love the Quran , and Islam is an important part of public life.