Memorising the Quran widened my curiosity

Dubai: Fifteen-year-old Bilal Khalifa is beginning to realise the immense responsibility of representing his country at this year's Dubai International Holy Quran Award. Every country has an opportunity to send contestants to the annual international award, which has 85 participants this year. The competition began yesterday and will continue till the 20th of Ramadan. The Egyptian national, who was attending the last series of Islamic lectures organised by DIHQA, said he is looking forward to the competition. Being the only child among his siblings to have memorised the whole Quran, he said his love for the Quran and continuous encouragement from his parents has motivated him to memorise and reflect on the meaning of the Quran. His religious journey started at the young age of four and he was able to master the complete recitation at the age of seven with the continuous follow-up of a number of prominent Islamic scholars. His siblings are also in the process of memorising the Quran. "Initially it was my parents wish for us to memorise the Holy Quran, especially my mother. I feel proud to fulfil their wish," said Khalifa with a smile on his face. Khalifa, a grade 11 student at a public school, said he is interested in the field of science and would want to earn a degree in engineering, as well as to serve his religion as best as he can. According to him, memorising the Quran disciplines the individual because it has moral values for the self, towards family and friends, and towards all humanity. "I was raised firstly by the lessons in the Quran, which deal with every single matter of our daily lives. Also the process of memorisation has widened my intellectual curiosity and academic excellence," he said. Organisers pleased with initial tests. In a statement released by the organisers of DIHQA, they were pleased by the results of the initial tests done for the participants. However, two of the contestants might be disqualified. The Competition unit of DIHQA appointed Dr Osman Bin Mohammad Sadeghi from Saudi Arabia as Chairman of the Evaluation Committee and Salama Kamel Juma Qenawi from Egypt as Vice-Chairman of the Committee. - (GN, 19 Sep 07)