The Russian Quran reciter Ayemuddin Fakhrutdinov won the international Qur'an reciting competition, which was held on July 25-27. The event was organized by the administration of the International Qur'an Reciting Competition in Toronto, Canada, and featured over 50 participants from 30 countries of Eurasia, North and South America.

The competition was held for the "hifz" nomination, which implies knowing the entire Quran by heart. The participants demonstrated high level of performance, since they included the reciters who had received awards at the contests in Dubai, Kuwait and other international competitions. Although there were many outstanding reciters, Ayemuddin was considered the best and was granted the first prize.

In addition, the International Quran Reciting Competition in Libya ended on July 29. Over 100 participants from more than 40 countries took part in this contest. The competition was held in two stages, and one participant from each country made it to the final stage. The jury assessed not only the knowledge of the Qur'an by heart, but also the adherence to the rules of tajwid, voice training, as well as the recitation style. Russia was represented by Ayemuddin, who competed with numerous outstanding reciters and was granted the second place.

It should be noted that Ayemuddin began his Qur'an studies at the age of 6. And after four years of hard work he became a hafiz, that is someone who knows the whole Qur'an by heart. By the age of 15 Ayemuddin had already participated in the competitions in Sudan, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Ayemuddin knows not only the text of the Qur'an, but he also can tell the number of the surah, the verse, as well as the page where any verse is located. He demonstrated this skill at the 2016 Qur'an Reciting Competition in Kuwait and managed to impress the judges.

We sincerely congratulate Ayemuddin on this achievement and thank Allah for granting him success.