UAE | Heritage and Culture
Quest for knowledge keeps Balde going
His memorisation of the Quran is considered one of the rarest traditional methods practised nowadays, but for Guinean Mamodu Balde, it was the only option.
- By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:01 September 15, 2008
- Image Credit: Supplied picture
- His memorisation of the Quran is considered one of the rarest traditional methods practised nowadays, but for Guinean Mamodu Balde, it was the only option.
Dubai: His memorisation of the Quran is considered one of the rarest traditional methods practised nowadays, but for Guinean Mamodu Balde, it was the only option.
His story is not unique for the memorisation bit or for travelling all the way from Guinea-Bissau to participate in a competition, but for challenging the pangs of extreme poverty and the hardships to get to this stage.
Making an earnest appeal for sponsorship of his higher education, 18-year-old Balde has travelled abroad for the first time, to participate in the Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA) - hoping to be among the top 10 winners for this year's 12th edition of the competition.
Balde comes from a West African country that is considered to be among the least developed and one of the 10 poorest in the world.
Yet, that poverty-stricken population includes a person who has been determined since the age of seven to bring changes to his life.
Most people in Bissau are farmers.
Owing to a lack of academic and Islamic institutions in Guinea-Bissau, seven-year-old Balde left his village, parents and his younger sister to pursue his basic and secondary education in the neighbouring city of Guinea-Konakry.
In Konakry, he stayed for four years with his grandparents and attended an Islamic institution based on the curriculum from Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Fluent in both Arabic and French, Balde was influenced by the early teachings of his mother on Islam. He sought to pursue the learning of the Quran, in keeping with his mother's wish to have her children as excellent memorisers of the Quran. He also said that his mother always believed that Quran provided a way of life.
Following the death of his grandfather, Balde was more-than-ever committed to memorise the Quran. However, his pursuit of that interest required him to travel daily over long distances - an expensive proposition for him by all means.
Balde then sought the help of Shaikh Othman Jadi at a remote village. Jadi himself was a participant at the DIHQA in its fifth year.
'Generosity'
"I was kindly fostered at Jadi's house, along with 15 other students who had a situation similar to mine. I lived with him and his wife for two years. They housed us and provided us with our meals. I will always be grateful for his generosity," said Balde.
During this time, he did his schooling from morning to afternoon and then memorised the Quran from 3-7pm daily.
Upon completing the memorisation in two years, he moved to another Islamic centre to further his studies in Quran, Sunnah, and Sharia.
He devoted his entire time to studying in the morning at a regular school and in the evening at an Islamic institution.
Before participating in the DIHQA competition, Balde moved back to his hometown Bissau to finally reunite with his family.
"I did all my travelling to educate myself and to get a chance to learn Quran properly - the way it should be learnt," he said.
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