Sawt Al-Hikma Center of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation continues its efforts in support of youth and their capabilities, and provides room for them to spread their ideas and creativity and present their views on various issues. The center announces the launch of the third season of its competition for 2021, under the title “In the Best Manner.”

 This year’s competition title was inspired from the verse {Invite all to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and kind advice, and only debate with them in the best manner. Surely your Lord alone knows best who has strayed from His Way and who is rightly guided} [Surah An-Nahl – 125]. The competition focuses on constructive dialogue as a means to spread peace and rapprochement between people of different opinions and the consolidation of tolerance and acceptance as a deep value rooted in the souls.

 The center invites young people of both sexes from all countries of the world to take initiative and participate in the competition and contribute in spreading the culture of dialogue.

 Competition Idea

 The idea of ​​this year’s competition is for the contestant to produce a video of him/herself (not less than 20 seconds and no more than 60 seconds), in which he/she presents a message to the audience about the best way to dialogue and have a calm discussion with the other, whoever this other is, and whether the reason for disagreeing is intellectual, ideological or otherwise.

 Competition Topics

• Dialogue between people of different religions
• Dialogue between people of different schools of thought within the same religion
• Dialogue with people of other religions who adopt a negative view of Islam and Muslims “Islamophobia”
• Dialogue with Muslims who have fallen victims to extremism and have deviated from Sahih al-Din
• Dialogue between people of religions and those who reject religion in general

 How to Participate

 Anyone wishing to participate in the Sawt Al-Hikma competition must do the following:

1.   The participant will shoot a video clip of himself/herself, in which he/she presents his/her own message for dialogue with the other, according to one of the topics of the competition.
2.   The contestant publishes the clip on his/her account on one of the social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.), accompanied by a hashtag (#Sawt_Alhikma_Competition) and a mention in one of the Sawt Al-Hikma Center accounts based on the language of the video.
3.   The contestant asks his/her followers in the tweet linked to the video clip to support him/her by liking, reposting, commenting on the video, and sharing their opinions about it.
4.   The participant sends an email to the competition email, Competition@www.sawtalhikma.org, which includes the following:

•         Contestant info (name, country, city, email, mobile number).
•         The link to the clip posted on his account on social networks, provided that the post is available for the general public, and the post remains available until the winners are announced.

 After that, the competition organizers will review the sent clip, and if it meets the criteria and guidelines, Sawt Al-Hikma accounts on social media will retweet or share the video from the contestant’s account, and thus the clip will be officially considered in the competition.

 Participation Criteria and Guidelines

 Technical Criteria:

• The length of the video clip should not be less than 20 seconds and no more than 60 seconds.
• The contestant himself/herself must appear in the video clip while conveying the message.
• The contestant can use any additional techniques as part of the clip (writing on the screen, animation, short video clips, etc.)
• The video clip is owned by the participant and there is no other owners’ copyright, especially if there is music.
• The video clip should be of high definition, and the sound is clear and audible.
• The contestant must deliver his/her message in one the official languages of the OIC ​​(Arabic, English, French) or translated into it.

 Objective Criteria:

• The video clip must be consistent with the message of the competition and address one of its topics.
• The video clip does not contain any explicit violation of the teachings of the Islamic religion.
• The video message should focus on the concept of ​​dialogue, and avoid topics with political dimensions.
• The video should not criticize any of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation member states.

 Technical Criteria:

• Image quality and clarity
• Style of presentation
• Clarity of the idea
• Persuasion
• Creativity of the idea
• Language

 Interaction Criteria:

 The jury will consider the amount of audience interaction with the video clip (via the contestant’s account or through the center’s accounts) and the extent of the discussions, spread and viewers’ opinions about it:

• Audience views in the video
• Number of views the clip has achieved
• Amount of interaction by commenting, sharing and liking

Copyright and Property Rights

• The Sawt Al Hikma Center has the right to translate the videos participating in the competition into languages ​​other than their original language and the right to republish them.
• The center has the right to reuse the videos separately or in combination with other clips and publish them on its accounts or by any means it deems appropriate.
• No participant in the competition has the right to claim payment or set requirements on the video clip after submitting it to the competition.

 Jury and Selection of the Winners

 A jury consisting of specialists in several fields will review all the entries sent to the e-mail of the contest, evaluate them according to the previously mentioned criteria and guidelines, and choose which video is formally entered in the competition by re-publishing it on the center’s social media accounts. Any clip that does not meet the criteria will not be published by the center and will therefore be considered out of the competition.

By the end of the participation deadline and when all the entries that meet the criteria are published, Sawt Al-Hikma will select the names of three contest prize winners from the names of all participants whose works met the competition criteria. The draw will take place in a virtual ceremony that will be broadcast live and will be available for everyone to watch it live.

 Competition Prizes:

Each of the three winners will receive an all-expenses-paid Umrah trip, or an amount of money equivalent to the value of an Umrah trip.

Competition Deadlines

• April 13, 2021 AD (Ramadan 1, 1442 A.H.): The competition is open.
• May 12, 2021 AD (Ramadan 30, 1442 AH): Deadline for receiving
• entries.

«Sawt Alhikma Competition 2021 announces an extension to the deadline for receiving entries until the morning of Shawwal 20, 1442 AH.»

• May 22, 2021 AD (Shawwal 10, 1442 AH): The publication of video clips that meet the requirements will start on the Sawt Al-Hikma social media accounts.
• June 8, 2021 (Shawwal 27, 1442 A.H.): The draw will be held and the names of the competition prize winners announced.

 * If you have any questions or inquiries regarding the details of the competition, you can contact us via the center’s accounts on social networks or via the competition e-mail.

Our sincere wishes of success to all.