18 winners emerge in Lagos Qur’an competition

No fewer than 18 winners have emerged in the 15th edition of the Lagos Qur’an Competition organised for youths in the State as a means of promoting spirituality, morality and memorization skill.

The competition is held in honour of late Alhaji AbdulLateef Adegbite, the pioneer President of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), who died nearly six years ago.The 18 reciters emerged in the various categories of the competition. The reciters were tested on memorisation, pronunciation, voice sonority, composition and dressing.

Winners of 15 Juzu female category are: Muminah Bello (third); Aabidah Tajudeen (second); Fatimah Adebiaro (first); Winners of five Juzu male category are: Fuad AbdulFattah (third); Abdullah Abubakr (second); Atukale AbdulQadri (first)

Winners of five Juzu female category are: Khadijah Lukman (third); Sidiqah Bunyamin (second); Haleemah Awwal (first); Winners of 3 Juzu male category are: Abdur Rahman Luqman (third); Abdullah Abdul Salam (second); Inran Yusuf (first); Winners of third Juzu female category are: Fatiah Zakariyyah (third); Hafsah Bello (second); Maryam Ibraheem (first)

Speaking on behalf of the family of the honouree, Bashorun Ladi Adegbite commended the organisers for hosting the programme in the name of his father, saying members of the family were proud to be associated with such a programme.He explained that the theme of the competition: “Hope for the Hopeless” matched the personality of his late father, AbdulLateef Adegbite.

He said, “I am delighted to represent the family of Dr. Lateef Adegbite not only because it’s an opportunity to remember him but a chance to continue his legacies by transmitting those core values for which he had become well known in his life. Lateef Adegbite was a legend of his time who did his best to promote the positive in all facets of his life as a youth leader, as a teacher, a lawyer, a traditional leader and for the most part as a Muslim.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Basmallah Institute for Teaching Qur’an and Islam, Ireland, United Kingdom, who was the lecturer at the grand finale, Ustadh Haroon Thanni, urged government at all levels to invest in the development of youths.

The UK-based scholar decried that many Nigerian youths were distracted, noting that government has a responsibility to empowering them.“The Qur’an is not just a hope for the hopeless, it is also for the hopeful. The government must give hope to these youths who have dedicated their time to memorise the Holy Qur’an and promote morality,” he added.

On his part, the Amir (president) of the MSSN in Lagos State, Dr. Saheed Ashafa, complained that social media was affecting the spiritual lives of Muslims. He said, “It is crystal clear to everyone that Muslim youths are far away from the Book of Allah and this is not farfetched from the influence of modern technologies and social media, Muslims generally have now made phones and other gadgets companions at the expense of the Glorious Qur’an.

“Social media and the likes have made Muslim youths relegate the Qur’an recitation and memorization the last thing to remember in their daily routine.“The way our predecessors had handled and related with the Qur’an is the same way Muslims of today are relating with our phones and gadgets and thus moving away from the creator,” he said.