UAE | General
Fluency in the Quran was his ticket to Dubai
Ahmad brings pride to Filipino Muslims
- Sara Janahi and Siham Al Najam, Staff Reporters
- Published: 00:00 August 27, 2010
- Image Credit: Supplied
- TALHA AHMAD
- NAME: Talha Ahmad
- AGE: 15
- COUNTRY: Philippines
Talha Ahmad's trip to Dubai was his first ever trip to a such a faraway land.
Fluent in his recital of the Quran, Talha had never visited an Arab country before, and cannot converse much in Arabic.
What brought him here from the Philippines was the draw of his faith.
As one of the contestants in the Dubai International Holy Quran Award, Talha has had a chance to meet Muslims like himself from around the world, and from places he has never been to before. Talha Ahmad was surrounded by many of his family members who reside in the UAE.
"We are very proud of him, he will bring pride to all the Muslim Filipinos," said Talha's uncle, who serves as his interpreter.
Talha, who comes from Tugaya in the province of Lanao del Sur in Mindanao, has grown up in a predominantly Muslim community that closely follows Islam. He wanted to learn the Quran since he was a child, especially that his mother always played the Quran on a tape recorder during his formative years.
"His mother used to play the Quran in a tape recorder when she was pregnant with him. She always wanted to have a son who memorised the Quran, even before she was married," said his uncle.
Talha started learning the Quran at the age of eight and was one of the fastest learners in school.
"He learned the Quran in only one year in the Philippines. He was in an Islamic school where he finished his primary education," said his uncle.
Talha's father is a Quran teacher in his town, and he was his main teacher and supporter. Talha also belongs to a family of five brothers and two sisters, all of whom have memorised the Quran to a varying degree.
"He wants to be a Quran teacher himself, and teach his children and other children to memorise and recite the Quran," explained his uncle.
Talha had participated in many Quran competitions in the Philippines, where he usually landed the first position. This was his first time to compete on an international level.
"He competed seven times in the Philippines, and always won the first position. He is worried because this is his first time alone in a country that he doesn't know, but he is prepared."
Learning Arabic
Although Talha can recite the Quran well, he still finds difficulty in expressing his feelings and thoughts in Arabic. Despite having grown up in the Philippines, he wishes to move to an Arab country in the future in order to learn the language.
"To tell you the truth, the teaching of the Arabic language in the Philippines is very weak. There isn't a good Arabic teacher that will teach proper grammar and language. It is a big problem in the Philippines," said his uncle.
Talha wishes that more Muslims from the Philippines would learn the Quran and not ignore their religion. He also wishes that they will be more "patient about the situation of Muslims" in the Philippines
ISLAM IN PHILIPPINES
- Oldest monotheistic religion in the country
- Muslims number 5% (4.9 million) in a population of 98 million
- Not racially distinctive from other Filipinos
- Primarily in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
- ARMM is only region that has its own government
- Arabic and Malay are spoken by some; most speak indigenous languages unique to those areas
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