Social media platforms documented video clips of a Quranic ceremony performed by an Egyptian reciter in Gazipur, Bangladesh, attended by thousands of citizens.
The reader, Sheikh Mahmoud Kamel Al-Najjar, was surprised by the huge number who attended the ceremony, telling the Egyptian newspaper Al-Watan, "It was a unique party. What I saw was a sense of honor in the Qur'an, and that our Lord raised us and honored us with the Qur'an, and an affirmation of the existence of peoples who value and sanctify the Qur'an and honor and respect the people of the Qur'an."
Al-Najjar was born in the Tami Al-Amdid Center in Dakahlia Governorate, northern Egypt. He began memorizing the Qur’an when he was 6 years old, and completed memorizing it at the age of ten.
The Sheikh graduated from the College of Islamic Call, and obtained a master's degree from the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion, Department of Da'wah, Al-Azhar University.
12 years ago, Sheikh Mahmoud used to travel to India, Pakistan, Kuwait and Turkey, and thousands came to enjoy his reading and his voice, according to the Egyptian newspaper.
For years, Bangladesh has been organizing competitions for the Holy Qur’an, attended by prominent Qur’anic reciters and personalities from various countries of the Islamic world, and witnessed by thousands of people interested in Qur’anic affairs and programmes.
Official government officials, imams of mosques, scientific and religious figures, teachers of the Holy Qur’an, university students and professors, and other social segments also participate in these Quranic forums.