Saudi Arabia, 10 Ramadan, 1 April 2023
Ten years after his experience, which he shared with the Egyptian national team player, and Liverpool, England, Mohamed Salah, on the banks of the Rhine River in the city of Basel, northwest Switzerland, the Saudi contestant Abdulaziz Al-Faqih recalled, in today’s episode of Otr Elkalam show, one of the initiatives of the General Entertainment Authority, the memories of his early days in the ancient European city, when Salah was one of the prayers who followed him during the Tarawih prayer in Ramadan 2013, at the Islamic center mosque in the city, which is the third largest Swiss city by population after Zurich and Geneva.
The city of Basel, which overlooks two of the most prominent Western European countries, namely France and Germany, represents the first foreign experience of the contestant Abdulaziz Al-Faqih and the player Mohamed Salah, as they took it as a starting point for their successes, which Salah started by scoring 20 goals with the Swiss team, precipitated him to the English club Chelsea, then Liverpool, passing through Fiorentina and Roma, and winning the award for the best player in England and Africa several times, while Al-Faqih followed another path of success in the Quranic Recitations department at Umm Al-Qura University, to become today one of the competitors for the largest prize for recitation of the Quran in all parts of the world.
Despite Al-Faqih’s association with Salah in their first foreign experience, he was not the first Mohammed in his life. Muhammad Ayoub, the former Imam of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, was the first to be influenced by, as he simulated his Hijazi recitations, which were distinguished by spirituality and submission, which contributed to his push for more experiences, in a number of countries, most notably Germany, Bahrain, France and the United Arab Emirates.
Otr Elkalam show aims to show the talents and vocal capabilities of the reciters and muezzins by using the best performances based on the use of the rules of tune, and the sensations that contribute to conveying the feeling and the state that the reciters want to the listeners of the show, within daily competitions in reciting the Quran and raising the call to prayer during the holy month of Ramadan. The show is broadcast on the MBC1 and Shahid digital platform.