Tony Osauzo, Benin
Edo State will be represented by 10 contestants at the National Qu’ranic competition slated for December 28 in Gombe State.
The Coordinator, Edo State Qu’ranic Competition (Musabagah), Sheik Ibrahim Oyarekhua, announced this, on Sunday, at the Otaru of Auchi’s palace in Etsako West Local Government of the state.
He made the revelation while speaking with journalists shortly after the end of the state Quoranic competition.
Oyarekhua explained that 104 persons participated in the competition with 60 winners emerging in five categories, adding that 10 others would be selected among the winners to represent the state at the national edition of the competition.
“Ten contestants will represent the state in the male and female categories. The ten would be picked among the 60 participants who will emerge from this completion.
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“We will pick first and second finishers in all the categories; they would be camped from December 3 – 26 before embarking on the journey to Gombe State.
“The essence of the camping is to make aware of the challenges in the categories they are going to feature in the championship.
“We will invite the national judges from the North to help us train them. This has always given us an improvement on the level of our performance and we have been winning prices since we started participating,” Oyarekhua said.
Alhaji Oyarekhua, who is also the Chairman, Edo State Muslim Welfare Board, disclosed that the participants would be given monetary allowances during the period of camping, adding that they would leave the camp for Gombe on December 27.
He commended Governor Godwin Obaseki for giving enormous support to the state Musabaqah, saying that his support had enabled the state to do well at both the state and national Qu’ranic recitation events.
In his speech, the Otaru of Auchi, Aliru Momoh Ikelebe III, urged Nigerians to use the knowledge of Allah to do good deeds so as to earn favour and win paradise.
“Recitation of the Qu’ran is an entertainment; if you have it in your heart when it is being read, whether you understand the language or not, it gives you the good pleasure of Almighty Allah when you heard it being recited.
“The message goes to the root of the heart,” he said.
He expressed hope that the participants would win laurels at the competition.
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In his comment, an Islamic scholar, Abdulfatai Enabulele, explained that the competition is aimed at maintaining the standard of Islam in the state so that children would be able to memorise and understand the message of Allah as contained in the Holy Qu’ran.
“It is also to encourage the younger ones to strive to understand the Quoran, which is the word of Allah, memorise it and understand the meaning so that when they grow up they will not forget the words of Allah; it is also to help teach their children,” he said.
He commended the Otaru of Auchi and other traditional rulers for providing the platform for scholars to participate in the competition and urged them to continue to practise well so that they would be victorious at the competition.