Dubai: Indian sisters Fatima Mohtisham and Ayesha Mohtisham were among a handful of non-Arab participants at the 12th annual Quran competition organised by Mohammad Bin Rashid Centre for Cultural and Social Understanding (MBRCCSU), where Fatima topped in one of the categories defeating dozens of competitors from different nationalities, while Ayesha grabbed the second prize.
The siblings along with several others were honoured on Saturday by Shaikh Saeed Bin Hashar Al Maktoum at the head quarters of Dubai International Holy Quran Award in Al Mamzar.
Eldest of the two, Fatima, 15, memorised the whole of Quran at the age of 12 and is certified by Al Noor Centre, Dubai, while Ayesha, 11, has completed five parts.
Quran is divided in 30 equal parts or Juz as they are called in Arabic for the convenience of memorising it. The complete book contains 114 chapters, the length of each varies from a couple of verses to hundred of verses.
Fatima, who has won several competitions before, won this year in the category of memorising the Quran’s biggest chapter, Al Baqara, which stretches to two and half parts.
Speaking to Gulf News, Fatima, who is a grade 10 student said: “First I thank Almighty Alah for this honour. This is mainly Allah’s grace and secondly I thank my teachers and parents. Quran is book of wisdom and guidance, which is revealed through Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) not only for Muslims but for all of humanity. I urge all my friends and elders to read Quran and seek its blessings.”
According to Siddique Mohtisham, father of the girls, both Fatima and Ayesha, are well versed in Arabic and speak the language better than their mother tongue.
Ayesha, who has currently finished memorising five parts of the Quran, grabbed the second prize in the category of one part.
Among those honoured on Saturday were those who completed memorising the whole of Quran, including 12-year-old girl Anwar Yasir Ghadbaan, who was the youngest to memorise the whole of Quran this year.
According to Anwar’s mother, the grade seven student took just four years to complete the enormous task.
More than 500 boys and girls of different age groups and nationalities take part in the competition every year and according to Norma Suleiman, General Manager of MBRCCSU, the competition keeps getting better every year.
“We are pleased to see so many boys and girls participating and today we are so happy to honour them all for their dedication to the service of the holy book. This is a very important part of our year round activities and we encourage people from all nationalities to take part in this,” said Suleiman, while speaking to Gulf News following the award ceremony.
She added that the Quran competition is part of the centre’s efforts to give back to the society, and this year being the year of giving, greater efforts were made to celebrate and honour the participants.
“We believe our efforts will encourage students to memorise and learn Quran better and spread its message of tolerance and love,” she said.
The competition takes place in the months of March and April, with the participants divided in 34 categories based on their levels of memorisation and recitation skills, including the prize for best recitation.
