King Salman bin Abdulaziz during patronizing King Faisal International Prize Ceremony on Wednesday in Riyadh
Upon HRH’s arrival, the King was received by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah and advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques; Prince Turki Al-Faisal, chairman of the board of King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies; Prince Faisal Bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Emir of Riyadh; Prince Bandar Bin Saud Bin Khalid, deputy secretary general of King Faisal Charity Foundation; Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al Faisal; and several other princes and officials.
Then, King Salman met the winners of all categories of the Prize, welcomed them in Saudi Arabia and congratulated them for winning King Faisal International Prize in its various categories.
Photos were later captured depicting the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques with the winners. The ceremony commenced by reading verses from the Holy Quran. After that, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal delivered a speech welcoming the audience, the winners, and honor guests. Prince Khalid highlighted the significance being given by the monarchs of Saudi Arabia ever since the period of its founder King Abdulaziz for promoting various categories of knowledge and sciences. “King Abdulaziz had sent teachers and preachers to all parts of the Kingdom in his bid to make knowledge as the foundation stone of this great nation,” he pointed out.
The Secretary General of King Faisal International Prize Dr Abdulaziz Al-Sabeel presented the winners of the prize from all categories.
Then, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the audience watched a visual presentation of each of the winners along with their efforts and achievements.
Thereafter, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud handed prizes to the winners. King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam was awarded to Sheikh Dr Saleh bin Abdullah bin Humaid, the Adviser at the Royal Court, member of the Commission of Senior Scholars, Imam and Preacher of the Grand Mosque and President of the Jeddah-based International Islamic Fiqh Academy.
The Islamic Studies Prize was awarded to Prof. Abdullah Bin Yousif Al-Ghunaim, president of the Kuwaiti Studies and Research Center in recognition of his efforts to document Muslim geography heritage.
Al-Ghunaim was awarded the prize in recognition of his geographical books: “The Pearls” and “The Arabic Geographic Heritage”, in addition to his unprecedented record of earthquakes in his book: “Arabic Register of Earthquakes.”
Arabic Language and Literature category’s Prize was awarded to Prof. Mohammed Al-Ghazawani Muftah from Morocco and Prof. Mohammed Abdul Muttalib Mustafa from Egypt.
Moreover, in the Medicine category, the prize’s theme was “clinical applications for the next generation in genetics”. It was awarded jointly to Dutch Professors, Dr Han Grrit Brunner and Dr Joris Andre Veltman.
King Faisal International Prize for Science in Biology was awarded for Professor Stephen Philip Jackson from UK and Prof. Dr Vamsi Krishna Mootha from the United States.
In consecutive statements, the winners touched on their scientific and research efforts.
King Faisal International Prize winners are evaluated only based on merit and their works are meticulously examined by specialized selection committees. The strict selection procedure meets international standards, and many of the laureates who have been awarded the prize went on to receive other prestigious prizes, such as the Nobel Prize.