THE picturesque Anna Catherina Islamic Complex (ACIC), Guyana’s leading Muslim Centre, will, for the 13th consecutive year, be the venue for the Annual National Qaseeda (Muslim Songs in praise of Prophet Muhammad (SAS) Singing Competition, to be held on Sunday March 29, 2015.The best of Guyana’s Qaseeda singers will converge there for staging of the event, which is part of activities to mark Eid Milad un Nabi 2015, hosted by the Anna Catherina Islamic Complex and the Guyana United Sad’r Islamic Anjuman, and sponsored by The Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company (GT&T) – best value in Guyana!

The Competition will be in four categories:— Male Senior & Junior and Female Senior & Junior. The Female competitions will be held on Saturday evening (March 28) at 7pm (19.00hrs), and the Male competitions will be held on Sunday (March 29) at 9.00am (09.00hrs).

The closing ceremony and presentation of prizes and awards will commence at 1.00pm (13.00hrs).

Successful contestants in each category will represent Guyana at the International Qaseeda Mehfil to be hosted in Guyana in August.

Expected at the National Qaseeda Competition are overseas guest artistes as well as representatives from Muslim organisations. The Committee is advising persons interested in participating to contact their respective Imams for application forms and rules, or collect same direct from the Secretariat of the National Qaseeda Competition at the ACIC, or telephone numbers: 269-0210 / 276-0029 / 625-6833 / 628-4179 / 226-4258 or email: muslimjournal@yahoo.com or anna_catherina_islamic_complex@hotmail.com, or follow us on Face Book @https://www.facebook.com/annacatherina.sunnatuljameet.9

The Guyana United Sad’r Islamic Organisation, Guyana’s oldest existing Islamic organisation, was formed since the 1950s, and throughout its existence, remained committed to the promotion of this Islamic culture. Many other Islamic organisations have joined with it in promoting the singing of qaseedas.

In 2000, through the ACIC, the Muslims of Guyana and Suriname forged a link between themselves. This relationship saw Guyanese Muslims benefiting tremendously from the tradition of singing qaseedas. Guyana then created a special committee (The National Qaseeda Committee) tasked each year with organising the national competition, which other than arriving at Guyana’s top singers, also selects the participants to the International Qaseeda Mehfil each year.

The promotion of the qaseedas by the GUSIA and ACIC has also seen the staging of International Qaseeda Competitions and Mehfils for the past decade. Since joining with Suriname, the link has also grown to include Trinidad & Tobago, Canada, Holland, United Sates of America, Canada, England and Pakistan.

This year, Guyana will participate in the male & female, junior and senior categories at the international event hosted in Guyana, again in association with GT&T and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA).

Last year, Hedayatul Islamic Complex in Paramaribo, Suriname hosted the international event, wherein participants are required to render their songs in the Urdu language for no more than 4 minutes. Points are awarded for choice of qaseeda, manner of dress, pronunciation, melody etc.

Convenor of this year’s event is ACIC’s Hakeem Khan. The organisers have, over the years, ensured that judging of the competition will be of the highest standards, and only qualified persons are selected as judges. This year again, judges from Suriname, India and Bangladesh will be utilised.

This is the telecommunication giant’s — GT&T’s — fourth year of sponsorship of this event.