Indian teen aims for top prize at Quran contest

Dubai: Sitting in his hotel room, Umer, 16, an Indian boy, tries to drive a point across to his Afghan roommate in broken Arabic.

The two are among 85 individuals who are here to take part in the eleventh Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA).

Although it is his first time to travel outside India, Umer looked quite confident and hopes to win or at least succeed in leaving a good impression on the panel of judges.

Umer Bin Abdulla, a student from Karanthur Markazus Saqafathi Sunniyya, Kerala, is representing India at the competition. He has won many prizes in the state-level Quran competitions held in the south Indian state of Kerala.

He completed memorising the Quran last year from Markaz Hifzul Quran College and is also studying for the Secondary School Leaving Certificate examination. Speaking to Gulf News, the teenager from Kozhikode showed confidence in his Ustad (teacher) under whom he is being tutored at the Markazus.

The DIHQA was launched in 1418 on the Islamic calendar (1997) and will host the International Holy Quran Contest, honour the Islamic Personality of the Year, the Local Holy Quran Contest and the UAE National Memoriser Contest.

The youngest of seven children, Umer is the only one in his house to have memorised the Quran.

Proud of his achievements, the teenager said: "It would not have been possible without the patience shown by my Ustad. I still have a vivid memory of the days when I sat to memorise the Holy Quran. I was fourteen then. I used to sit the entire night with one page and recite it. The next morning I used to recite the same in front of my Ustad. He would then point out the areas that need improvement."

Umer is thrilled to be representing his country, but he is well aware that winning the competition is not going to be easy as he has be 'top notch' if he has to surpass the challenge thrown by the 84 other participants.

"Every single participant who has come here wants to be the winner. I too would love to become the 'best' but for the time-being I am quite happy to have been able to make my parents proud of my achievements," said Umer.