LONDON: Saudi student clubs in the UK have organized a series of Qur’an recitation competitions during the holy month of Ramadan. Along with various other activities arranged by the clubs, the competitions are aimed at strengthening spiritual and cultural ties between Saudi scholarship students based in Britain. Members of 21 clubs — which are supervised by the Saudi Cultural Bureau — are taking part in the events, which will be held remotely to allow greater participation. Qualifying heats will see five people from each group progress to a final stage, the date of which will be announced later. A judging committee of Qur’an memorizers and those certified in memorization will evaluate those taking part. Assessment criteria include intonation, starting, stopping and good performance, with an emphasis on high quality and professionalism. The first stage of the qualifiers took place last weekend, with women and children competing on Saturday and men on Sunday. Organizers hope the competitions will help raise awareness and interest in the Holy Qur’an among Saudi scholarship students in the UK, which is one of the main destinations for students from the Kingdom.