Dallas, TEXAS (April 19, 2012) – This year’s 15th Annual YM Quiz Competition in Dallas, TX continued its yearly success of assembling and accommodating a large number of young Muslim kids across the Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) metroplex.
 

The purpose of this event was to foster and put to test the Islamic knowledge of participants at various levels. The first year of the YM Quiz program was a modest Islamic quiz event at the Islamic Association of North Texas (IANT) 15 years ago, and, by the mercy of our beloved creator Allah (SWT), it has expanded its horizon as well as increased in the number of students year after year. This year around 1,000 students participated in the quiz.
Preparation for this grand event started 4 months before it took place, during which all the logistics and infrastructure were meticulously planned. Many of the scholars and Imams of the DFW area participated as judges, and, along with the students, made this program a huge success. ICNA is grateful for their participation and cooperation, and we ask Allah (SWT) to grant them tremendous reward. Our host (IANT) has been the venue for this event for the majority of the years that ICNA has held the quiz competition, and we are very thankful for their cooperation and continuous support of the competition.
As the volume of participating students has increased over the years, it was again decided to split the whole program into two different days. On April 7th, 2012 the competitions for Qirah, Hifz, Calligraphy and Adhan were held, and on April 14, 2012 the competitions for Written and Presentation were held. Under the close coordination of various educational leaders of the DFW metroplex, the syllabus for the written exams was chosen using various books and authors for the different levels. Books were made available at Islamic Books & Gifts in Richardson two months before the event, thus helping worried parents avoid last minute purchases and allowing them to prepare their children well ahead of time for the quiz competition.

Day one of the event arrived like the first wave of blooming flowers in the season of spring. One saw children of all ages rushing through the doors of IANT eager to participate and share the excellent knowledge they had acquired thus far. Students from first to twelfth grades hovered into their respective classrooms. Scholars & imams of the DFW area were present an hour earlier, participating in the breakfast meeting and rehearsing their roles. ICNA brothers were present to answer any last minute questions. Curious musallees also participated in this wonderful program, and they played a crucial role as volunteers. Facilitating the morning rush of participants, seasoned volunteers were quick to disperse them into their respective classrooms, adorning their chests with their name badges. Each classroom had a volunteer or two helping the judges and as well as keeping the participants under control.
As time passed, participants started trickling out of their classrooms with a sense of achievement and glee. When questioning a first grader, he responded with full confidence that he would win his first prize. Upon asking the excited parents about their children’s performance, they were quick to thank ICNA for arranging such a wonderful program and praising the organization and early publicity of the event, which allowed for them to best prepare their children.
Day two arrived and all the excited students rushed into the venue with their parents one more time. Imagine a place accommodating nearly 1,000 students with their parents. Again seasoned volunteers and ICNA members worked hard to make this event a huge success. MashaAllah, by the mercy and affection of our beloved creator Allah (SWT), day two ended with even more success.
After the initial written & presentation competition was over, the prize and trophy distribution began for all the happy winners. Excited faces of children displaying their hard earned trophies made it worth the investment of time, money and hard work that went in to this program. In addition, each child received a certificate of participation, a medal for participation, a souvenir on behalf of ICNA and delicious pizza and juice.
This unique program brought children from various institutions like IQA, BHA, Furqaan Academy, Peace Academy, ISI and many more schools including many public schools to one venue. This was a major achievement for ICNA Dallas, and only possible by the mercy and grace of our beloved creator Allah (SWT).