Hollywood screenwriter participates in largest Qur'an recital competition

Yasser Omar Shaheen, a Hollywood film and TV screenwriter, participated in the Otr Elkalam show, which hosts the largest international Qur'an and adhan competition in the world, reports PR Newswire (PRN).

"My life has involved memorizing and reciting the Qur'an and writing scripts in the halls of Hollywood," says Shaheen who supervised the production of more than 130 programmes, produced 14 documentaries, and numerous TV shows in Arab and Islamic countries.

The Palestinian-American competed in the recitation track and entertained the viewers with his melodious voice and distinctive recitation of the Holy Qur'an, the report says.

He taught at San Jose University in California and participated in a number of competitions that led him to Otr Elkalam, according to the report.

He also teaches Muslim children the Quran and the rules of intonation in the mosques of Dallas, Texas.

The Saudi General Entertainment Authority (GEA) organised programme combines the recitation of the words of revelation (the Holy Qur'an) and adhan (the Islamic call to prayer) with the most beautiful voices in the world.

The second edition of the competition started last Thursday (23 March) with a prize pool of $3.3 million, the largest of its kind. The first-place winner in the Qur'an recitation track receives $800,000, while the first-place winner in the Adhan track receives $534,000, according to the PRN report.