Sharqia, Egypt: Europe and the Arabs

More than 25,000 competitors in an unprecedented challenge this year! In the national Quran recitation competition, the largest number of applicants came from the Sharqia Governorate in the Nile Delta region of Lower Egypt. The Ministry of Religious Endowments website quoted Minister Professor Dr. Osama Al-Azhari as saying that Sharqia Governorate dominated the competition, with fierce competition to reach the top 32. Among the applicants was Sheikh Mahmoud Mohamed Balasi, an Al-Azhar student at the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion from the city of Abu Kabir. He aspires to achieve even a small part of the success of renowned Quran reciters such as Sheikh Mohamed Rifaat, Abdul Basit Abdul Samad, Al-Minshawi, Al-Tablawi, and others. Mahmoud has loved reciting the Quran since childhood and has received support from his parents and siblings. He comes from a family whose members were keen on studying law and Islamic jurisprudence. His father is Counselor and lawyer Mohamed Mohamed Balasi, and his brother is lawyer Ahmed Mohamed Balasi, while his younger brother Youssef chose to study physical education. Sheikh Mohamed began reciting the Quran some time ago at gatherings for close friends and family, and then expanded his recitations to include various other occasions. From a family renowned for decades in the restaurant industry in Abu Kabir, the Abu Blasi family, known for their grilled dishes and other specialties, the second season of the "State of Recitation" program recently launched its auditions in a live broadcast, attracting a large audience and widespread interest from lovers of Quranic recitation. The launch of this new season follows the success of the first, which saw the participation of a large number of talented reciters from various governorates, aiming to highlight distinguished voices in Quranic recitation according to the rules of Tajweed and the different schools of recitation.

The second season is expected to feature strong competition among the contestants, along with improvements in the evaluation and participant selection mechanisms, contributing to the discovery of more promising vocal talents in the field of recitation. "State of Recitation" is a national project that embodies the Ministry's vision of consolidating the status of the Holy Quran in society, renewing Egypt's leadership in the arts of recitation and Tajweed, and discovering and nurturing promising Quranic talents throughout the governorates of the Republic. This is all within the framework of the ongoing partnership between the Ministry and the United Media Services Company.