Little girls in colorful hijabs took over the ADAMS stage with their cute as a button storytelling skills at the Annual Youth Competition held on August 15th at the ADAMS Center.
This year’s competition was a joint venture of the MWQRC (Metro Washington Qur'an Recitation Competition), MUNA LETS READ (Lets Emulate the Seerah-Reflect, Educate, Apply, and Disseminate), and ICNA DMV chapter. The theme was 'Know the Message and the Messenger', an apt sequel to the 2015 ICNA convention’s theme on the Beloved Prophet Muhammad.
A positive experience for children in the area, it is an initiative to learn the seerah through competition. According to organizer Farid Ahmed, more than 150 participants of all ages ranging from kindergarteners to adults, from over 30 different area masajids, Islamic Centers/schools have attended the event. They participated in 29 different competitions on Quran recitation, Art, Hadeeth Expo, Storytelling from Seerah, Talent show, Meet the Media, and Quiz. A new competition, introduced this year named RASOOL (Revive a Sunnah, Organize Our Lives), inspired high school students to utilize their social networking and multimedia design skills, to spread the message of the Prophet online.
The RASOOL competition was a favorite amongst participants “because it can potentially help the kids make the best use of their internet time.” according to one participant.
Short videos on the benefits of using the miswak to original graphics on hadith to share on social media about hadith were created by contributors.
Young Amna Bandalkar and Ismael Handoo retold the story of the Prophet Yousuf in a super creative way. Joshua Salaam, the Youth Director at ADAMS, led the audience is a round of nasheed. In a round, everyone sings the same melody and lyrics but some people start at different times.
When asked what was the best part of the event, here are a few sample responses:
"Awards for everyone", "Doing competitions", "People of all types and ages were allowed to participate and we were able to meet many new people." , "Storytelling event, because this gives the kids a platform to develop their oratory skills", "Enthusiasm of kids and young volunteers”, "It was for our young generation, “huge".
In a survey run by the organizers, when attendees were asked, “Regardless of whether I or my family member wins or not, this event helped me know the Message and Messenger better”, 50 percent strongly agreed, and another 38 percent agreed. Almost all who participated in the survey said they would recommend this program to others.
One of the unique features of this competition was everyone who participated got a prize. The Award ceremony was on Sunday August 23, 2015 at the ADAMS Main Center.
“Let’s look forward to a even better event next year,” says Farid Ahmed.
For more info, www.letsread-quran.org.
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