Acehnese Man Makes Judges Cry, Wins Call to Prayer Competition in Saudi Arabia, Takes Home Rp4 Billion

Dream - Ustaz Dhiyauddin, who comes from West Aceh, successfully won 2nd place in the Otr Alkalam 2023 International Call to Prayer Competition.

Quoting from the website otrelkalam.com, Dhiahuddin competed against Mohammed Al-Sharif from Saudi, Ibrahim Asad from the UK, and Raheef Al-Hajj from Lebanon. The first champion in this call to prayer competition was won by the host, Mohammed Al-Sharif from Saudi Arabia.

According to the judges, all the finalists' performances were equally good, making it difficult for the judges to determine the winner.

The gentle voice of Dhiyauddin's call to prayer even made three out of seven judges bow their heads and shed tears.

Meanwhile, contestant Mohammed Al-Sharif from Saudi Arabia performed excellently with the usual rhythm of the call to prayer in Saudi Arabia.

Dhiyauddin received a cash prize of 1 million riyals, equivalent to Rp3.9 billion. Meanwhile, the first champion received 2 million riyals, equivalent to Rp7.9 billion.

It is known that this call to prayer competition was participated by 50,000 participants from 165 countries under the organization of the World Muslim League. However, only 50 participants were invited to participate in the competition, including Dhiyauddin.

"We pay attention to the pitch, phrases, modulation, ornament norms, and aesthetic conventions for memorizers and muezzins," said one of the judges who is also a muezzin at the Mecca Grand Mosque.

The Only Representative from Indonesia, the Voice of Sheikh Ziauddin, the Grand Imam of Meulaboh Grand Mosque, in the International Call to Prayer Competition Makes the Judges Cry

Dream - The melodious voice of Sheikh Dhiyauddin, the Grand Imam of Meulaboh Grand Mosque in Aceh, during the viral international call to prayer competition on social media. Even one of the judges was seen shedding tears upon hearing Sheikh Dhiyauddin's voice.

Sheikh Dhiyauddin is a representative participant from Indonesia who managed to touch the hearts of the judges with his melodious voice in the call to prayer competition and recitation of the Quran in Saudi Arabia.

Sheikh Dhiyauddin has honored the name of Indonesia and has been able to compete with dozens of the world's best muezzins.

Now, Sheikh Dhiyauddin has made it to the top 8 and is struggling to advance to the top 4. The event is broadcasted live on the MBC television station.

The native son of Meulaboh, Aceh, is one of the 32 participants who have managed to advance to the next stage.

Previously, Sheikh Dhiyauddin had defeated around 50,000 contestants from 165 countries in the world.

Initially, Sheikh Dhiyauddin participated in the competition by sending his call to prayer voice through an online registration link provided by the committee.

In a post on the Instagram account @info.updatee, Sheikh Dhiyauddin can be seen reciting the call to prayer with great melodiousness and deep devotion.

All the judges were amazed by the performance of this alumnus of Al-Azhar University in Egypt.

The melodious voice of the call to prayer recited by Sheikh Dhiyauddin successfully made one of the judges shed tears.

Of course, this made Indonesian citizens proud, especially since this competition went through a very rigorous selection process.

There were also many positive comments about Sheikh Dhiyauddin's performance and they gave him encouragement to advance to the next round.

It should be noted that the prizes to be obtained in the competition are not trivial. As reported by The Siasat Daily, a total cash prize of 3.3 million US Dollars, equivalent to Rp49.7 billion, will be distributed to each winner.

Meanwhile, for the call to prayer competition, the winner will receive a prize of 534 thousand US Dollars, equivalent to Rp8 billion.

Then, for the first place in the Quran recitation competition, the prize will be US$800 thousand, or around Rp12 billion.

The judges will evaluate the participants based on the best performance, intonation, emotional expression, delivery of recitation and call to prayer with humility from the hearts of the listeners. The announcement of the participants who have advanced to the top 4 will be made in the middle of the month of Ramadan.

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