Dubai: Indian sisters Fatima and Ayesha Mohtisham brought laurels to the country and Bhaktal in particular after they won the prestigious 12th annual Qur’an competition organised by Mohammad Bin Rashid Centre for Cultural and Social Understanding (MBRCCSU) in Dubai.
While Fatima, 15, topped in one of the categories defeating dozens of competitors from different nationalities, Ayesha, 11, grabbed the second prize.
The Mohtisham siblings have carried forward the legacy of their mother Faiza Siddique, who won a similar competition in Dubai in few years back and was instrumental in training her daughters for this competition.
The winners were honoured on May 20 by Shaikh Saeed Bin Hashar Al Maktoum at the headquarters of Dubai International Holy Quran Award in Al Mamzar.
Fatima, 15, memorised the whole of Qur’an at the age of 12 and is certified by Markaz Al Noor, Dubai, while Ayesha, 11, has completed five para.
Fatima, who has won several competitions before, won the competition in reciting the Qur’an’s biggest chapter, Al Baqara, which stretches to two and half parts.
After her win, Fatima, who is a grade 10 student thanked the Almighty Allah for her success. “This is mainly Allah’s grace. I would like to thank my teachers and parents. Qur’an is a book of wisdom and guidance, which is revealed through Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) not only for Muslims but for all of humanity. I urge all my friends and elders to read Quran and seek its blessings,” she told the media.
According to their father Jan Siddique Mohtisham, Fatima is studying in class 10 while Ayesha is enrolled in class 5 at Central School, Dubai. He also informed that both are well versed in Arabic and speak the language better than their mother tongue Nawayath.
More than 500 boys and girls of different age groups take part in the competition every year.
The competition takes place in March and April with the participants divided in 34 categories based on their levels of memorisation and recitation skills, including the prize for best recitation.
Image credit: Gulf News, Dubai