Winners have emerged at the 17th edition of the biennial Lagos Qur’an Competition, popularly known as #ReciteLagos, organised by the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, Lagos State Area Unit.
The grand finale of the competition was held on Sunday in honour of the pioneer president of MSSN and the former Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, late Dr AbdulLateef Adegbite.
During the event, which had the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’d III as the Spiritual Father of the occasion, 17 reciters emerged champions in various categories.
Winners of the 20 Juz category were AbdulQuadri Atukale (Somolu Area Council) who emerged first; Umar Muhammad (Ikorodu), second; Bilal Abdurasheed (Iba), third.
In the 20 Juz category (individual) for females, Abidah Tajudeen, emerged first while Mu’minah Bello came second.
Abdussalaam Aliyy from Ifajo Ijaiye won the first position in the 10 Juz category while Muhammad Taiwo from Alimosho came second and Somolu’s representative, Uwaymir Sherifdeen, emerged third.
On her part, Rahmah Ismail from Bariga took the first position, followed by Lagos Mainland’s Hafsah Bello and Rumayzah Adegbindin from Alimosho, third in the female 10 Juz category.
12-year-old Bashir Tukur from Ifelodun put up a sterling performance to come first in the keenly contested three Juz category. He defeated Haroon Abubakar from Otto Awori and Yusuf Saeed from Apapa who emerged second and third respectively.
In the female category of three Juz, impressive Asmau Bello from Lagos Mainland took first position while Hawau Isa, Agboyi Ketu, came second and IrodatuLlah Abideen, Iba, clinched third.
Amir (president), Miftahudeen Thanni, said the theme of this year’s competition, ‘Qur’an, the making of a great nation’, was chosen to emphasise that Nigeria’s challenges are summontable.
“Islam is a complete religion that has solutions for all problems. Obviously, there is a need for divine intervention in the affairs of the country,” he added.
Chairman of the occasion, Mr Tunde Folawiyo, commended the youths for memorizing the Qur’an.
“I thank you all for sustaining this event. The new generation has taken over the baton and you have continued to propagate Islam and made it attractive for children to learn how to recite the Qur’an,” he said.
Delivering a lecture at the competition, a former member of the House of Representatives, Usman Bugaje, warned against the division of Nigeria.
He explained that the people are calling for decentralisation because of perceived discrimination and poor sharing of resources.
These challenges, the lawmaker said, could be addressed by following the dictates of Islam.
He said, “Islam expects us to deal fairly with every human being. It is our character that gives us an edge, let us keep to the ethics of Islam. In Islam, you don’t discriminate or look down on people.
“Even if there are people who want to leave Nigeria, the Muslims have no reason to separate. We have more reasons to move closer.
“There are a lot of things that are wrong in Nigeria – environmental issues and distribution of wealth. The idea of separation should not be for the Muslims. It is by coming together that we can be able to deliver on our mandate.
“Even if there are problems, we should be able to settle our differences and move on.”
Children of the honoree, Remi Folawiyo and Ladi Adegbite, commended the standard of the competition.
“I have no doubt that my father will be happy that this kind of programme has continued in his absence. I am pleased that we can come together to hold this,” Remi Folawiyo added.
Ladi Adegbite said, “Everybody is a winner. This shows that it is not only those with Arabic as their mother tongue that can recite the Qur’an very well. I commend the MSSN Lagos chapter for a fantastic job.”
Reacting, one of the winners 12-year-old Bashir Tukur said he was impressed with the impartiality of the judges.
“This has given me so much exposure. I am glad that I participated. I feel very happy,” he said.
