     4ever | Wednesday, December 20, 2000 - 01:27 pm
Quran award winners say door opened to higher education
Dubai |By Eman Abdullah | 18-12-00
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Abdul Aziz Abdullah Adam, from Somalia, winner of the top prize. ©Gulf News
The top three winners of the Dubai International Holy Quran Award said the prize will help them pursue higher education in Islamic studies. Abdul Aziz Abdullah Adam, 21, from Somalia, winner of the Dh250,000 first prize, said he expected to be among the top three, but not the winner.
"It was a great moment when I learned I had won," he said. Abdul Aziz is an Imam in a mosque in Ajman and came to the UAE two and a half years ago. He is married and has a year-old son, Omar.
"My wife was here and my mother, brothers and sisters were watching on TV. They were filled with happiness when they saw I had won first prize. I talked to them on the telephone afterwards.
"The prize will help me pursue higher education. It has been a dream to study at a large university such as Al Azhar, the Islamic University in Al Madinah in Saudi Arabia, or Africa University in Sudan.
"I have always wanted to study, but wondered who would support my family. I will send the Dh250,000 to my mother who will take care of and support them while I study," he said.
"I may buy a house in Somalia and give some money to my two brothers and six sisters, and of course my mother. Two of my sisters have finished memorising the Holy Quran." Abdul Aziz began memorising the Holy Quran when he was six and finished when he was ten. His father died when he was 11 and his mother has supported the family.
"When the war started we moved from Mogadishu to an area far away where we sheltered with our tribe. My mother dealt in cattle to support our large family. Despite our poverty we lived happily," he said.
Bashir Omar Abid, 20, the second-place winner from Chad, won Dh150,000 and said the prize would help him pursue a university education. "It was an unforgettable moment. I have taken part in local competitions and won the top position.
"The Dubai Holy Quran Award was always my target because it signifies that the person who wins this is the best in the Islamic nation." Bashir said he would give some of the money to his mother who encouraged and helped him memorise the Holy Quran.
"The prize will help me finance my higher studies at a reputed university for Islamic studies," he added. Bashir attends evening classes and is in his final year at secondary school. In the mornings, he works as a teacher of Islamic Education in a private school to support his small family - a wife and a five-month-old son, Abed.
Suraqat Sabiu Saidu, 20, of Nigeria, moved confidently in his wheelchair to receive his Dh100,000 third prize from Sheikh Mohammed. "I will now be able to study further at university," he said in a voice charged with emotion.
This is my dream, and I hope it will come true in one of the Islamic colleges in Dubai and the UAE. I am eager to learn Arabic better and to study Islamic jurisprudence in an Arabic curriculum because in my country Islamic studies is taught in English." Suraqat comes from a poor family. His father is a farmer and his mother makes handicrafts and sells them to support the family. |
