As the new Islamic year 1433 H dawned upon the Muslim Ummah, Miracle Media Group organized a special evening with two goals – welcome the Hajis (pilgrims) who had returned from Hajj this year and to continue its tradition to encourage the youth to participate in all activities. Amongst the youth, this year’s focus was the young hafiz currently memorizing the Holy Quran under the guidance of different imams and scholars throughout the Lower Mainland. The event was held on November 26 at Afghan Chopan Restaurant and Banquet Hall in Surrey. Families of the young competitors came to support them as many sat in the hall, revising their lessons while waiting for their turn in the competition.
The first session of the event started after Maghrib prayer. Maulana A. Lateef Naumani who recently returned from leading a Hajj group delivered the opening speech and described the purpose of both sessions of the evening.   He then invited Maulana Ghulam Baji for recitation of Quran followed by Haji A. Hafeez Qadri for Hamd. He also expressed his admiration for the Miracle in its efforts to promote the study of Quran particularly amongst youth by holding  Qirat (recitation) and memorization competitions. He then called upon Mohammad Naseer Pirzada to take over the hosting duties for the rest of the program. Mr. Pirzada welcomed the Hajis and stressed upon the importance of building a strong relationship with Allah (SWT) through meditation during our youth. He then asked people who had performed Hajj or Ummrah in recent years to share their feelings and experiences during and after the holy journey to Makkah. He shared some of his own personal experiences and the changes in his life, particularly after performing Hajj. Mr. Azhar Syed, Haji  Suleman S.,  Qari Sarfraz Ahmed ,Mr. Mati ur Rehaman Malik, Mr. Hashmat Khan, Mr. Fawad Kalsi (operational manager of Falcon Travel), and many other respected members of the community shared anecdotes  from their Hajj and Umrah experiences. Their words reignited the desire to go for Umrah and Hajj in the hearts of many who have been planning to go or revisit the holy cities. Following this session, Mr. Pirzada invited Ch. Ijaz Chattha who ran in Surrey civic elections last month as an education trustee. Mr. Chattha thanked everyone for their support and mentioned that Winning or losing was not as important as the participation in the democratic process by the voters. He vowed to keep participating in the future years.
After  Isha prayer  and serving of refreshments, Mr. Pirzada continued the program with the planned competition. He mentioned the overwhelming response from both youth and their parents right from the announcement of this program till the day before the event. It showed that our youth is very talented and confident no matter what field it is. It is just a matter of providing them an opportunity to showcase this talent. The interest and eagerness of parents also showed that our community wants to raise children who have both religious and worldly knowledge, which is the key to a balanced personality.
 All the participants were informed that they should reach in time and majority of them were in the hall prior to start of the program, with everyone confident in their knowledge. 

Distinguished scholars of the community were chosen as judges and included Qari Abdul Rehman, Qari Zoheir Tahar,  Maulana Abdul L. Naumani while Qari Sarfraz Ahmed graciously served the tough duty of timekeeper for the competition.
The competition was divided in four categories (A-D) according to number of Juz of Quran memorized by contestants. The competition was started by the beautiful voices of Qari Abdul Haleem Khan and Qari Maulana Zafar Abid. 12 participants took part in the Memorization of Quran competition. The pin drop silence in the hall was the proof that audiences were deeply captivated by the beautiful voices of the participants as they recited the words of Allah (SWT). 
One by one, each competitor came to the stage and answered the questions from the judges. While judges complied the results, the gifts were distributed to all guests who had recently performed Hajj or Ummrah.
Mr. Pirzada then requested  Qari Abdul Rehman to announce the results and also invited Maulana Naumani,  Maulana Zafar Abid, Qari Abdul Haleem, Qari Zoheir Tahar, Qari Sarfraz Ahmed, Haji Sueman, Maulana Ghulam Baji, to share their thoughts about the program and the  Miracle Media.
The most exciting part of the program was the announcement of results for the competition. Each section of the contest was awarded separately. Qari A. Rehman announced the names of the winners, as the hearts of participants, parents, and their supporters beat fast. The awards were distributed by all scholars. 
Appreciation awards were also distributed to sponsors who supported in organizing this spiritual gathering. The major sponsor of this program was Mr. Daud A. Qayum of Afghan Chopan and his family who provided the venue and the sumptuous dinner to all attendees. Mr. Pirzada thanked all sponsors for their continued support for all our events. These included Aisha Islamic center, Falcon Travel, Gaba Travel, Galaxy Travel and Taqwa Halal Meat. Diamond Carpets, Pak Can Motors and Pak Punjab Samosa also gave cash prizes directly to the contestants of Memorization of Quran competition and admired all the youth involvement in religious programs.
We are also thankful to  Mr. Jafar Bhamji from Al-Ameen Post, Mr. Mohshin Abbas from Diversity Reporter for attending and covering the event and our volunteers who helped us in organizing this event and carry it smoothly.
Beaming faces of young winners were truly the highlight of the evening and we hope to provide such opportunities to our youth whenever possible with support from our community Inshallah.
Congratulations to:
A- category (1-30 Juz)
Hafiz Usama Raja -  First
B- category (1-10 Juz)
Hafiz Hamza Usmani -First ( Madrasa Abdul As-Salam Surrey)
Hafiz Ibrahim Cisse - Second (Mussalah Bilal Ibn Rabbaah-Fraser St, Vancouver) Hafiz Soryba Cisse -Third (Mussalah Bilal Ibn Rabbaah)
C- category (1-5 Juz)
Hafiz  Khalid Kamran -First
Hafiz  Mohammad Chambas - Second (Mussalah Bilal Ibn Rabbaah) Hafiz Abuls Sami Hafeez -Third (Mussalah Bilal Ibn Rabbaah)
D- category (1-3 Juz)
Hafiz  Affan Bhandakya -First (Madrasa Abdul As-Salam)
Hafiz  Ahmed Kamran - Second
Hafiz Anis Abbas-Third 
Other participants were: Hafiz Huzaifa Ahmed, and Hafiz Umer Ahmed