Winners of Hadith Competition to represent Nigeria in Morocco

Winners have emerged in the maiden Hadith Competition sponsored by the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema in Prophet’s (Muhammad) Hadith held during the week at the Abuja National Mosque.

Adam Hassan Mohamed from Borno State emerged the winner in the first category, memorisation of the 40 Hadiths, the transmission chain and the texts with 19.35 points. He got N200,000 cash prize for his effort. Ibrahim Umar Abubakar from Kano State scored 19.6 points, got N300,000 cash prize in the second category of memorisation of the 20 texts of the Hadiths with rulings, while and Yakub Bello Mohammad was the winner in the third and the toughest category of memorisation of 20 texts, rulings, benefits, jurisprudential positions and applications). He also got N300,000, scoring 19.70 points out of 20.

The winners, who received plaques and certificates, will represent Nigeria at the grand finale in Rabat, Morocco later in the year.

The Convener in Nigeria, Professor Ibrahim Makari Ahmad, also one of the Imams at the Abuja National Mosque, described every participant as a winner, noting that the margin of wins were just in decimals.

He disclosed that the competition is to promote the Sunnah (way of life) of the Prophet, the position of the Sunnah as the second primary source of Islamic legislation.

He added: “This competition is the initiative of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Africa Oulema which has its headquarters in Rabat, Morocco and headed by His Royal Majesty, King Mohammed VI.

“173 participants were selected from across the 36 states and the competition hopes to promote the study, memorisation and application of Hadiths

“It is also to encourage African youths to pay attention to the story of Hadith of Prophet Mohammad (may the peace of Allah be upon him) and for them to imbibe his characteristics.

“This is the maiden edition in Nigeria. The competition was held in 48 branches worldwide with each branch expected to conduct this between June 22 and July 31, 2024. Each participant is expected to participate in the three categories (memorisation of the 40 Hadiths, the transmission chain and the texts, memorisation of the 20 texts of the Hadiths with rulings) and memorisation of 20 texts, rulings, benefits, jurisprudential positions and applications).”