Nigerian representatives in Hadith competition in Morocco emerge

Winners have emerged in the maiden edition of the Hadith Competition sponsored by the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema in Prophet’s (Muhammad) Hadith. The event was held on Tuesday at the conference hall of the Abuja National Mosque.

While Adam Hassan Mohamed from Borno garnered 19.35 points to emerge winner of the N200,000 cash prize 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 to clinch the N300,000 prize in the second category (memorisation of the 20 texts of the Hadiths with rulings).

Yakub Bello Mohammad, also from Kano, came tops in the third and toughest category (memorisation of 20 texts, rulings, benefits, jurisprudential positions and applications). He also received N300,000 cash prize for his efforts after scoring 19.70 points out of 20.

The winners also received plagues and certificates. In addition, according to the convener of the programme in Nigeria, Ibrahim Makari Ahmad, a professor, they will represent Nigeria at the grand finale of the competition scheduled to hold in Rabat, Morocco, later this year.

Mr Ahmad, also one of the Imams of the Abuja National Mosque, commended the participants for their efforts and described, every contestant as a winner in his or her own right.

He said the Hadith competition is aimed at promoting the Sunnah (way of life) of the Prophet, the position of the Sunnah being the second primary source of Islamic legislation.

The professor said, “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.