Ghana wins first-ever Africa-wide Hadith contest

 A Ghanaian Arabic stu­dent, Mohammed Kamal, has emerged winner of the grand finale of the first-ever Africa-level contest on the hadith (verbal religious ethos and actions) of the Prophet Mohammed (SAW), marking a significant milestone in sub-Saharan Africa

The Ghanaian candidate, who is a student of the Institute of Is­lamic Research Nima, a suburb of Accra displayed amazing intellectu­al abilities and strong competitive spirit to beat over 120 finalists from 48 African countries.

Also another Ghanaian, Abdal­lah Alhassan, emerged at the 4th position, a statement issued by the organisers copied the Ghanaian Times said.

This comes on the heels of yet another milestone chalked in a similar online grand finale of the 5th annual Quranic memorisation contest held recently, where a Gha­naian candidate, Muhibba Moham­med Khamis, took the youngest female contestant position.

The grand finale of the contest held online was organised by the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema in Fez, Moroccan recently under the auspices of His Majesty, King Mohammed VI of Morocco.

Mr Kamal and Khamis will receive cash prize and certificates in December during the annual ordinary session of the Foundation in Fez, Morocco.

Speaking to the Ghanaian Times, Mr Kamal noted that he was proud to win the competition for Ghana, and expressed gratitude to his teachers, family, friends and all you supported him in the endeavour.

He called on other students to study harder “so that we achieve the knowledge we are seeking.”

The President of the Moham­med VI Foundation Ghana branch, Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim, com­mended Kamal and Alhassan for the feat chalked noting that, “it’s a source of pride for Ghana, we will not relent in our efforts, and it will inspire us to work harder to achieve more laurels.”

Moreover, he called on Muslims to take the studies of Hadiths (the practices and sayings of the Holy Prophet of Islam Moham­med) very seriously, adding that understanding the Hadiths was the foundation for the comprehension of the Islamic religion, because the Hadiths is the interpretations of the Holy Qur’an.

The contest started at the foundation’s country branches – from where the winners of first positions in the three categories of the competition were picked to represent each branch during the virtual grand finale.

What makes this victory a significant one for Ghana is that the Ghanaian contestant slugged it out against candidates from two Arab countries such as Mauritania and Sudan, and majority Muslim countries such as Niger, Mali, Chad, Senegal, and Nigeria. Unlike Ghana, these countries have a time-honoured, deep-rooted tra­dition of nurturing and grooming students from early stages through “rote memorisation”, and intensive studies of various fields of Islamic sciences.

Another significance lies in this category of the competition itself – which is reserved for seasoned scholars of hadith – as it entails proficiency in memorising 20 religious ruling-centered hadiths – while relating what they imply in various branches of Islamic jurisprudence

 BY TIMES REPORTER

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