MUSLIMS have been urged to become partakers in the revival and preservation of a dying legacy of Islam, the memorisation of the Holy Qur’an, as part of the necessary steps at ensuring a society peopled by learned and righteous individuals.
The Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Professor Afis Oladosu, made the plea last weekend at the second graduation of Ali Institute for Qur’an Memorisation (AIQM), Ibadan, Oyo State.
Thirty-seven young Muslims, male and female, who had committed the entire Qur’an to memory, were celebrated and certified at the event.
In his lecture entitled ‘Living by the Qur’an: Roles of Memorisers, Parents and Society’, Professor Oladosu, who was represented by Dr Mas’ud Busari, recalled that the early preservation of the Qur’an was done through the art of memorisation.
According to the don, for the 23 years of Muhammad’s prophethood, Allah revealed the Qur’an to His Messenger in fragments, and the method of preserving this divine message was by committing it to memory.
He lamented that many Muslims in contemporary times were not enthusiastic about learning the Qur’an, let alone committing its content to memory.
The Qur’an, he said, had been translated into virtually all languages of the world, and as such, no one had an excuse for not understanding the word of Allah.
Professor Oladosu commended the proprietor of the school, Malam Ali Abdus-Salam, for his commitment to the perpetuation of the art of memorisation of the Qur’an and praised the graduands, their parents and well-wishers for sharing in the “noble cause.”
The spiritual father of the day, Sheikh Dawud Zubayr Ajide (Babanikotun), who is the director/founder of Madarasatu Nahdatul Islamiyyah, Ikotun, Lagos, urged the parents not to get carried away by the feat recorded by their children but ensure that the young hafiza improve their skills through continuous recitation of the Qur’an.
In a remark, the chairman of the Muslim Community of Oyo State (MUSCOYS), Alhaji Ishaq Kunle Sanni, commended the parents for allowing their children to undertake the memorisation of the Qur’an.
Alhaji Sanni, who was a guest of honour at the event said: “The world is in turmoil and the only way by which we can be in order, to be sure of hereafter for our children, is for them to understand the Qur’an and live their lives according to its dictates.”
He called on well-to-do Muslims and indeed the entire ummah to support the project of building of the institute’s permanent site, which has been estimated at N50 million.
Wife of the Oyo State deputy governor, Professor Amdalat Olaniyan, congratulated the parents on having the wisdom to perform such a highly rewarding act as allowing their children to memorise the Holy Qur’an.
The proprietor, Malam Ali Abdus-Salam, who put the ages of the 37 graduating students at between 10 and 20, implored their parents to assist the hafiza to hone their skills through daily revision of the Qur’an.
He also urged the graduates to propagate the pristine teachings of Islam and “take the Qur’an as your life partner from now by consistently reciting and living by it.”
