Winners emerge in Hadith Competition in Abuja

*To represent Nigeria in grand finale in Morocco

By Folorunso Alagbede, Abuja

Winners have emerged in the maiden Hadith Competition sponsored by the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema in Prophet’s (Muhammad) Hadith which was held on Tuesday at the Conference Hall of the Abuja National Mosque.

Adam Hassan Mohamed from Borno, with 19.35 points with N200,000 cash prize, emerged the winner in the first category (memorisation of the 40 Hadiths, the transmission chain and the texts).

Ibrahim Umar Abubakar from Kano State scored 19.6 points and went home with N300,000 prize in the second category (memorisation of the 20 texts of the Hadiths with rulings).

Also, Yakub Bello Mohammad, the winner in the third and the toughest category (memorisation of 20 texts, rulings, benefits, jurisprudential positions and applications), got N300,000 for his efforts, scoring 19.70 points out of 20.

The winners, who equally received plagues and certificates, according to the convener of the program in Nigeria, Professor Ibrahim Makari Ahmad who is also one of the Imams of the Abuja National Mosque, will hoist Nigeria’s flag at the grand finale scheduled to hold in Rabat, Morocco later in the year.

Professor Makari Ahmad, while commending the participants for their efforts, described every participant as a winner, saying the margin wins were just in decimals.

He explained that the competition is aimed at promoting the Sunnah (way of life) of the Prophet, the position of the Sunnah as the second primary source of Islamic legislation.

His words, “This competition is the initiative of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Africa Oulema which has its headquarters in Rabat, Morocco and it’s headed by His Royal Majesty, King Mohammed VI and he’s the organiser. “The winners here will represent Nigeria at the international competition to be announced by the board later.

“A total number of 173 participants were selected from across the 36 states. The essence of the competition is to promote the study, memorisation and application of Hadiths

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

“This is the maiden edition of the competition in Nigeria. The competition was held in 48 branches worldwide and each branch is expected to conduct this between June 22nd to July 31st, 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),” the convener stated.