Koran reciting competition

Koran reciting competition

The Jakarta Post should be congratulated for its coverage of
the first international Koran recitation competition from Dec. 6
to Dec. 8 in Jakarta.

The Post neglected to note, however, that first place for the
finest woman reciter went to Indonesian Nazirah Hasan. Indonesian
women reciters are known internationally and nationally in Koran
competitions, and contestants in all categories, from calligraphy
to memorization, are evenly divided along gender lines.

The Indonesian Muslim community is surely the only Muslim
community in which gender equality, at least in terms of
participation, is so firmly institutionalized. In fact, the
Jakarta organizers of the international event altered the
structure and rules of the competition to downplay the importance
of women and their roles in Indonesian Islam in order not to
offend guests from Arab and Middle Eastern nations, where women
are not included among either contestants or on the panel of
judges.

While this is the first international Koranic event held in
Indonesia, it should be noted that Indonesia has had a dynamic
culture of Koranic arts competitions that officially began in the
1960s.

ANNE K. RASMUSSEN
Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology
The College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia