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Blind Thai Wins Int'l Qur'an Award
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"We have to
remember that there will sometimes be obstacles and tests on the
path of memorization but we have to be patient and try to
overcome these challenges," said Busakorn.
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By
Fatima Asmal, IOL Correspondent
JOHANNESBURG, October 19, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – A Blind young man from
Thailand
has been awarded a prestigious international Qur'an award for learning
the Noble Qur`an by heart.
Mohammad
Islah Busakorn, who enrolled at the Madressah
Noor for the Blind in
South Africa
in 1997, won first prize in the Mahir bil-Qur’an (Skilful with the
Qur’an) contest organized by the International Organization for
Memorizing the Qur’an (IOMQ) in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia.
"Al-hamdu
lillah (all praise be to Allah) the judges thought I was good, but I
hope that I’m good in Allah’s Sight as well," said Busakorn.
Busakorn,
together with 9-year-old Humairah Rawoo, the only female participant,
was selected to vie in the competition by an IOMQ representative, who
recently visited South Africa.
Turning
Point
Though
he lost his eyesight at the young age of seven, the distress was a
turning point in Busakorn's life.
Determined
and defiant Busakorn started memorizing some surahs at nine and
managed to memorize the Qur’an in Thailand
at 11, under the supervision of an Imam.
He
did not attend school as the only blind educational institute in the
area was a Buddhist one.
"I
stayed home and started listening to tapes of Qur’an
recitation," he said.
"I
didn’t have any intention of becoming a hafidh (memorizing
Qur`an)," he added, explaining that the huffadh (those who
memorized the Qur'an) in Thailand
are something of a rarity.
Curious
to learn about Shari`ah and Islamic teachings, he went all the way to
South Africa when he knew from his brother about an Islamic institute
for the blind and visually impaired; namely, Madressah Noor.
He
said he learnt tajweed (rules of Qur'anic recitation) both, from tapes
as well as in the school.
Asked
what advice he had to offer to huffadh, Busakorn said that it was
important to remember that the Qur’an was the best of everything.
"We
have to remember that there will sometimes be obstacles and tests on
the path of memorization but we have to be patient and try to overcome
these challenges."
Principal
of Madressah Noor, Hassen Murchie, is proud of his student.
“It’s
a feather in the cap for our institute and our country, in the sense
that he was in the company of huffadh of 60 different nationalities,
but still achieved a ‘mumtaz’ (excellent) grade," he said.
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