Ready to take Quran's message to the world

Dubai: Wide-eyed Huthaifa Saeed Samantar, a 10-year-old Quran recitation contestant from Australia, expressed his fear as he took to the stage for the second time in the contest.

"I come up next, I'm so anxious," he said through a nervous smile, before he began to compete at the Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA).

Huthaifa, who is of Somali origin, lives in Sharjah with his parents and five brothers and he prides himself on the fact that he's the only one in his family who has memorised the Quran completely.

"My older brother is still learning the Quran, even though we both started around the same time, but I beat him to memorise it first," he said proudly.

Huthaifa started learning the Quran at the age of seven, and it took him less than two years to fully memorise all 30 chapters.

"When I first started, it was hard. I could only go through half a page or a whole page. But as time passed it got easier. My parents encouraged me all the time, so that made me even more determined to memorise it," he said.

He learnt to memorise the Quran at a local Islamic centre in Sharjah, which prepared participants mostly for competitions in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. "This is my first time to compete at international level. I never expected to be part of this competition. A month ago my dad called my mum and told her, ‘Tell your son that I've enrolled him in Dubai International Holy Quran Award'. That was a day after he enrolled me. I was so scared at first, but I sat in front of the Quran for hours preparing myself, and now I'm somewhat confident that I will do all right."

Huthaifa wants to be an Islamic scholar when he grows up. "My dream is to study the Islamic religion in a Sharia school in Saudi Arabia," he said.

Taking responsibility

It took 19-year-old Islam Omar around two years to memorise the Quran in a remote village in France.

The freshman law student plans to serve his religion in the future and to spread the message of Islam in Europe. "We need to reflect on the positive and peaceful messages of Islam to the world," he said.

For 20-year-old Mosaab Eisa Ali from Bahrain memorising the Quran carries with it a responsibility. "It enriches my soul and my life, but I also need to use this privilege to spread the message of peace to all of humanity," he said.

Ali started learning the Quran at the age of eight and completed it when he turned 17, he said.

Abdul Shafi Al Eisati, from the Netherlands, started memorising the Quran at the age of nine and finished when he was 11 years old. Three of his brothers are also attempting to memorise the Quran.

The 18-year-old high school student is yet to make up his mind on what he will do once he graduates. "I participated in this competition to encourage youngsters to achieve this prestigious award," he said.