Your First Quran Competition: A Committee Checklist

The first one is the hardest. Not because it is complicated, but because nobody on the committee has done it before, and the things that go wrong are rarely the things you worried about. This checklist is the running order we would give a masjid or madrasah committee starting from nothing.

Four to Six Months Out

• Agree the purpose. Encouraging young memorisers, showcasing existing huffaadh, or bringing the community together? These lead to different events. Decide before designing anything.
• Set a realistic budget. Venue, prizes, certificates, refreshments, judges’ honoraria, and equipment. Then add a contingency, because you have forgotten something.
• Pick a date that avoids the obvious. School exams, Ramadan, half-terms, and any large event in your area.
• Book the venue. Check acoustics, seating, prayer space, parking, and whether families with young children can actually manage it.
• Approach judges early. Respected judges are booked months ahead.
• Decide your category structure.

Three Months Out

• Publish the rules. Before registration opens, not after.
• Open registration with a real deadline and a single collection point — not four WhatsApp groups.
• Decide how you will score. Paper, spreadsheet, or a proper system. Deciding late means deciding badly.
• Start publicity through madaris, schools, and neighbouring masjids — not only your own congregation.

One Month Out

• Close registration and confirm categories. Merge or split as the numbers require.
• Verify claimed portions if entries are uncertain — a short qualifying round prevents day-of surprises.
• Brief your judges together. Agree the rubric, mistake weighting, and prompt conventions in writing. See how to judge a Hifz competition.
• Build the running order with slack between sessions and prayer times respected.
• Order certificates and prizes for participants, not only winners.
• Walk the venue with the people who will run the day.

The Final Week

• Assign one role per person: stage manager, family welcome, scores, technical, photography. Nobody does two jobs.
• Rehearse the logistics, including the failures: dead microphone, failed projector, late judge, missing contestant.
• Confirm everything with families: arrival time, what to bring, how long the event runs.
• Prepare the score sheets or set up your scoring system and test it end to end.

On the Day

• Open early. Nervous contestants and lost parents both need the buffer.
• Brief contestants on what to expect: where to sit, how they will be called, what happens if they slip.
• Keep the audience informed — who is reciting, which category, where things stand.
• Total scores as you go. Never leave a hall waiting on arithmetic.
• Announce category by category so more families share the moment.
• Thank people publicly: judges, volunteers, parents, teachers.

The Week After

• Send results and certificates to everyone quickly.
• Hold a short debrief while it is fresh, and write it down for next year’s committee.
• Keep the records: entries, scores, and what each category attracted. Next year starts here.
• Ask families what they thought. They will tell you things the committee cannot see.

If It Feels Like a Lot

It is a lot — for volunteers doing it around jobs and families. That is the whole reason our end-to-end service exists: we carry the planning, judging and event-day machinery with you, powered by Qiraah, while your committee does what only it can do — host its community. Tell us what you’re planning and we’ll talk it through, first competition or twentieth.

For the reasoning behind each step, read the complete guide to running a Quran competition.