Creativity Forum Crowns Winners in World Arabic Day Competitions
In celebration of World Arabic Language Day, the Creativity Forum affiliated with the Department of Arabic Language at the Islamic University of Minnesota announced the names of the winners in its annual creative competition. The announcement came during a closing ceremony organized by the university and attended by a select group of academics and individuals interested in linguistic affairs.
Dr. Emad Ahmed Al-Khatib, the ceremony's supervisor, delivered a welcoming speech, followed by a brief biography of Dr. Sahar Al-Samadi, Director of the External Relations and International Cooperation Unit and Head of the Judging Committees, whom he described as the "dynamo" of the event.
In her address, Dr. Al-Samadi welcomed the attendees, expressing her pride in cooperating with eminent academic figures such as Professor Bakri Al-Haj and Dr. Khaled Al-Jarayan. She affirmed her intention to develop academic cooperation with King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. She also praised the role of the Arabic Language Department in serving the language of the Quran, and reviewed the competition's mechanisms and judging criteria, which were conducted with complete integrity and transparency before announcing the results.
The competition included five creative fields, with the results as follows:
Poetry Composition Competition: Winners were Mohammed Abdulwahab, Abdulsalam Badmas, and Koladi Mustafa.
Poetry Recitation Competition: First place was won by Al-Khansaa Mohammed Zakaria, followed by Hawwa 'Eltirah 'Absiyah, then Taysir Omar Al-Maqrami.
Press Commentary Competition: The list of winners included Younes Othmani, 'Adelah Ibrahim, Asmaa Abdulrahman, and Taysir Omar Al-Maqrami.
Press Article Competition: Winners were Anas Al-Sayyar, Adnan Al-'Omari, Amin Mohammed Abdulrahman, and Ahmed Nasser Jamdan.
Short Story Competition: The winners were 'Adelah Ibrahim, Ahmed Naser Hamdan, and Habiba Al-Husawi.
During the ceremony, Certificates of Excellence endorsed by the university were distributed to all winners. Attendees also listened to distinguished literary and media samples from the winning works, reflecting the high level that characterized the submissions.
Dr. Omar Al-Maqrami, the University Vice President, expressed his happiness with the distinguished level of the submissions, voicing his hope to invest in these promising talents. For his part, Dr. Osama Abdulrahman, Head of the Arabic Language Department, expressed his satisfaction with the competition's success despite organizational challenges.
As for Dr. Emad Ahmed Al-Khatib, he praised the intense competition among participants and the efforts of the judging committees. He announced a student encouragement initiative, whereby the winning works will be compiled into an e-book to be uploaded to the university library for public access.
In pursuit of promoting creativity, the university newspaper "Sada Al-Jami'a" (University Echo) will publish the winning journalistic-style submissions. This is based on the recommendation of the judging committees, which praised their high artistic level, and in response to the request of the Department Head and competition supervisor, Dr. Osama Abdulrahman.
