Within Otr Elkalam competitions, one of the initiatives of the General Entertainment Authority, Tangiers Orphans in Morocco and the cubs of the Skilled Academy in the Spanish city of Barcelona were keen to watch Otr Elkalam show to support their teacher, Mohammed Al-Habti, whose performance was characterized by elaborate tajwid and passionate recitation that conveyed the meaning of the verses of the Holy Quran with reverence to the hearts and consciences of listeners.
Al-Habti divided his time and attention between the orphans he cared for through one of the associations he supervised in his native country, Morocco, and his students in Spain, whom he supported and supplied with basic needs, curricula and teaching aids.
In addition to caring for orphans and teaching Quran, Al-Habti leads prayers in a mosque in Barcelona, Spain, to which he came at the age of 15 with his family to reunite with his father, who had left for Europe years ago to provide for his family.
Despite the distinguished performance of Al-Habti in reciting the Quran, applying the rules of tajwid and using maqamat in accordance with the requirements of the meanings and Quranic verses, he lost to his Moroccan compatriot Abdullah Al-Daghri, who qualified for the final of Otr Elkalam, which is the largest competition for the Quran and adhan in the world. However, Al-Habti remained among the top ten contestants whose ranking will be determined in the final episode of the show.
In the adhan track, the Lebanese contestant, Raheef Al-Hajj, qualified for the final of the competition at the expense of his Emirati rival, Hamid Khalifa Al-Raisi, after an intense competition between the two contestants.
Otr Elkalam is the first competition show that combines the recitation of the Quran and the raising of adhan, with a total prize pool of more than SAR12 million. The show aims to introduce the world to the tolerance and moderation of Islam, highlight the aesthetics of voices in maqamat, and celebrate vocal talents in reciting the Quran and raising adhan.
