1437/2016 Judges

Moutasem Al-Hameedy (Speaker)

Throughout the event, we had various speakers and entertainment between each category’s recitations, some including Shaykh Moutasem Al-Hameedy, who studied under the prominent students of Sheikh al-Albaani, including Sheikh Mashhoor Hasan (Hadeeth and Usool al-Fiqh), Sheikh Hussain al-Awaaysha (Fiqh and Manners), Shekih Abu Suhaib (Imaam at Wise Islamic Centre in the UK), Sheikh Ayman as-Saadiq (Arabic grammar and morphology) and Dr. Malik Sha'ban (Aqeedah, Tafseer). He was previously an imam at Ibn Taymiyyah Mosque and the Call to Islam Islamic Center in the United Kingdom. He also lectured at British universities and schools on Islam and hosted TV shows and lecture series on Huda TV. He is currently an imam and lecturer at Abu Huraira Center in Toronto. 

Sheikh Dr. Waleed Al-Maneese (Judge)

Our esteemed judges include Sheikh Dr. Waleed Al-Manesse, who was born in Alexandria, Egypt and is currently residing in Minnesota. Currently he is a senior member of the Permanent Fatwa Committee, of the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America (AMJA), vice president of the Islamic University of Minnesota, Member of the Educational Committee at the American Open University, Imam and president of the board of trustees of Dar-al-Farooq Islamic Center, and a member of the board of trustees of the North American Imams Federation (NAIF). He received his Bachelor Degree in the Arabic Language from Alexandria University in Egypt, and his Master’s degree in Islamic Jurisprudence from the American Open University with the highest honors, and his PhD in Islamic Jurisprudence from the Graduate Theological Foundation. He studied amongst scholars such as Sheikh Ben Baaz, Sheikh Ben Uthaymeen, and Sheikh Ben Jibrin. Sheikh Waleed memorized the Quran in the ten recitations according to various methods, he also completed the four irregular recitations. He received an Ijaazah by many scholars with continuous chains linked to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The chain of narrators of Dr. Waleed is of the shortest to the Prophet (PBUH). 

Sheikh Wissam Eltom (Judge)

Our next judge was Sheikh Wissam Eltom began his education in Computer Sciences at Balamand University in Lebanon. He later turned his attention in studying the Quran Sciences in University of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, institute of Qur’an Qiraa’at in Egypt and later received his PhD in Makased University in Lebanon. He’s currently the head of “Attibyan” Institute in Montreal for Quran studies and 10 Qiraa’at, head of the Qur’an sciences department in IOU University, and an advisor of the President of the Union of International and the Arab world for Qur’an reciters, Dr. Ahmad Neinaa. In 2001, Sheikh Wissam received the Ijazah “Sanad” linked to the Prophet Muhammad in memorizing the Noble Qur’an in the 10 ways (sugra and kubra) of Qiraa’at from “Allama” Imam Ahmad Abdul Aziz Al Zayat, ranked as the leading “sanad” internationally, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif Scholar, Egypt.