Quest that led to great fulfilment

Dubai: With the help of a good samaritan, Mustafa V. Saryon, 20, was able to fulfil his dream of memorising the Quran, which later inspired him to establish the first Quran memorisation centre in his country.

When Saryon, a Liberian participant at this year's Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA), was gripped by the passion to learn the Quran, his search for an institution that would give him the right grounding left him without answers.

"There were only weekly Quran classes being held at specific mosques and this would have taken me ages to achieve my goal," he said.

But Saryon, who comes from a poor family, got lucky when a Lebanese businessman extended financial support to him and his friends to study the Quran at a boarding school in Gambia that specialised in teaching the Quran.

Saryon said he was introduced to his benefactor through a Lebanese imam.

"Although the preacher was hosting a weekly Quran gathering for youngsters at his mosque, he couldn't commit [himself] to teaching us every day," he said.

After memorising the Quran at the age of 16, Saryon, who is participating in an international contest for the first time, and five of his friends were sponsored by the same man to study Arabic and Islamic theology, jurisprudence and law for two years in Ghana.