MTQ Nasional 2026 to host international seminar on the Quran and AI in Semarang

The 31st National Quran Recitation Competition in Semarang will include an international seminar on how Quranic scholarship can respond to the age of artificial intelligence.

The seminar will take place on Sept. 13, 2026, at Semarang State University, as a side event to the national competition running from Sept. 11 to 20 in Central Java. Muchlis M Hanafi, director of Islamic religious information at Indonesia's Religious Affairs Ministry, said the event would help make the competition more than a contest.

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There will also be an international seminar on the Quran and, well, artificial intelligence, AI.

Its theme is "Spreading the Light of the Quran in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Transforming Digital Preaching from Central Java for Golden Indonesia 2045." Muchlis said the theme connects the central message of the national competition with current developments in AI. The discussions will examine how technology, particularly artificial intelligence, can be linked to preaching and Quranic values.

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Spreading the Light of the Quran was chosen because it aligns with the theme of the National Quran Recitation Competition. That theme was then linked to the age of artificial intelligence.

The planned speakers include representatives from Al-Azhar University in Egypt, academics from Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, and national speakers and academics from Central Java. Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar is expected to open the event.

Muchlis said the seminar forms part of an effort to build the competition into an ecosystem for Quranic learning and talent development. He said the event already covers more than the art of recitation, including interpretation, communication of religious messages, academic writing and calligraphy. The seminar is intended to broaden that scope while ensuring Quranic scholarship can engage with changes in the modern era.

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This is not merely a competition. We are truly serious about making the National Quran Recitation Competition an ecosystem, an ecosystem for nurturing and developing Quranic talent.