Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA) Guide 2026

Introduction

When the Dubai International Holy Quran Award was established in 1995, it set out to create what had never existed before: a Quran competition that matched the spiritual weight of Quranic excellence with financial recognition substantial enough to change lives. Today, DIHQA offers $1,000,000 per winner in both the male and female categories — the highest cash prize in any Quran competition on earth. On a single Ramadan evening in Dubai, a young Hafiz or Hafiza can receive more prize money than most Islamic scholars earn in a lifetime.

But DIHQA is far more than its prize money. It is the only major international Quran competition that has introduced a dedicated female category at the highest level with equal prize recognition, setting a new standard for women’s Quranic excellence globally. It is the event that draws competitors from every continent during the holiest month of the year, under the patronage of one of the world’s most influential Muslim leaders.

This guide covers everything about DIHQA — its structure, prize breakdown, how to qualify, what judges look for, and why it is considered by many to be the most transformative competition in the world of Quranic memorisation.

What Is DIHQA?

The Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA) is an annual international Quran memorisation and recitation competition held during Ramadan in Dubai, UAE. Organised under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and run by the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD) of the Dubai Government, DIHQA is one of the most prestigious and financially significant Quran competitions in the world.

Established in 1995, it has evolved from a Gulf-regional event into a global competition drawing participants from over 130 countries. It receives significant media coverage through Dubai-based channels and is followed closely by Islamic education communities worldwide during Ramadan.

DIHQA 2026 — Key Facts

The 2026 edition continues the landmark structural reforms introduced in the 28th edition that fundamentally expanded the competition’s reach and impact.

Source: IACAD Dubai official announcements; ilmify research, April 2026

Prize Structure

DIHQA’s prize structure is the most generous of any Quran competition in the world, with a total pool exceeding AED 12 million annually across all categories.

To contextualise DIHQA’s scale: the King Abdulaziz competition in Makkah carries a top individual prize of approximately $133,000 (SAR 500,000); Qatar’s Katara Prize has a QAR 1.5M total pool. DIHQA’s single-winner main prize exceeds both.

Competition Branches

The Female Category: A Historic Milestone

Prior to DIHQA’s reform, the international Quran competition landscape had a structural gap: women competed in lower-profile sections with substantially smaller prizes. DIHQA’s introduction of a $1,000,000 female prize category — equal to the male prize — represented a fundamental shift.

For Islamic schools running Hifz programmes for girls, this matters beyond the prize itself. It establishes an internationally recognised destination for female Hafizas — a visible milestone that motivates Hifz students from Indonesia to the UK. The knowledge that DIHQA’s female category exists changes how girls in Hifz programmes think about their studies: not as a private spiritual achievement, but as preparation for the highest levels of public recognition.

How DIHQA Is Judged

DIHQA’s judging panel is drawn from the leading Quran scholars of the Islamic world. The evaluation framework for the main Hifz category assesses four dimensions:

DIHQA, as a UAE event with strong Gulf cultural influence, places notable emphasis on the melodic artistry of recitation alongside technical Tajweed correctness.

How to Qualify and Register

DIHQA operates through a national selection pathway for most participants. Countries send official representatives selected through national competitions organised by their Ministries of Islamic Affairs or equivalent bodies.

For countries with formal national competitions: Your national competition is the qualifying event. Winners are nominated for DIHQA. Contact your country’s Islamic affairs authority.

For diaspora communities and countries without formal pathways: IACAD provides provisions for underrepresented countries. Contact iacad.gov.ae before Ramadan for guidance.

Registration timing: Registration typically opens 2–3 months before Ramadan. For DIHQA 2027, monitor iacad.gov.ae from October 2026 onwards.

DIHQA vs Other Major International Competitions

Source: Official competition authorities; ilmify research, April 2026

Conclusion

The Dubai International Holy Quran Award is a statement about the place of Quranic excellence in contemporary Muslim life — that memorising the Book of Allah is an achievement worthy of the highest recognition, for men and women equally. For Islamic schools with serious Hifz programmes, DIHQA represents the pinnacle of what their students can aspire to.

Building a programme serious enough to produce DIHQA-level competitors starts with tracking every student’s memorisation progress from the first day — every sabak, every revision session, every Tajweed correction.

👉 See how Ilmify tracks Hifz progress from first lesson to competition readiness →

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