Africa-Press – Gambia. Anas Ibn Malik Islamic School student has won Gach Global’s Qur’an recitation competition after besting over 269 participants across the country.
Abdoulie Mamud Kanyi secured first place in the first edition of Gach Global CEO Abubakary Jawara’s D1.5 million nationwide Qur’anic competition for young people named after his late father, Ba-Jaeja Jawara, held at Masjid Bilal Boarding School.
The D1.5 million was distributed among the 20 best students. Mr Kanyi, the overall winner of the reading of the full Qur’an, was awarded a certificate and a cash prize of D100,000; the runner-up, Abdoulie Muhammed, was awarded D60,000; and Sainey Badjie, the winner of the best reciters category, was awarded D70,000.
About 269 students in the country participated in the recitation contest.
The competition commenced in February at Kerewan where 32 Qur’anic students were selected, followed by Janjangbureh, Gambisara, Mansakonko, and the West Coast Region at the Supreme Islamic Council grounds and the Masjid Bilal Boarding School, respectively. The competition was coordinated by the Soninke Scholars League.
The president of the league, Sheikh Essa Muhammad Jawara, said annual Qur’anic competitions produce several memorisers (huffaz) who can compete favourably with any of their counterparts anywhere in the world.
He thanked Mr Jawara for his “unwavering support” for Gambians and Islam and said the competition is limited to a certain age group because it wants to promote young Qur’anic reciters. Jawara advised the participating schools to avoid age cheating.
The league’s vice president, Sheikh Mouhamad Kabbah Musa, commended Mr Jawara for funding the competition and urged him to continue spending his wealth on the promotion of Islam.
Yusupha Jawara, deputy CEO of Gach Global Group, said Mr Jawara has made a commitment to spend part of his wealth on promoting Islam and supporting the poor.
“This is why when the organisers of this Qur’anic competition contacted him, asking for a D200,000 donation to stage the competition, he insisted that it had to be countrywide, and he instantly pledged D1.5 million,” he said.
The President of the Gambia Supreme Islamic Council, Alhaji Sheikh Essa Darboe, said the initiative has exposed the brilliant work scholars are doing across the country. He commended all the winners for a brilliant recitation of the Qur’an, adding that Mr. Jawara has been doing tremendously for Gambians of all walks of life, but the Qur’anic competition has stood out as the highlight of his good deeds.
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