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| Invitation card to Aisha's graduation |
Normally
I don't write about my family in the social media, but I'm breaking the
rule today. I wish to inform you, my friends and my elders, that my
daughter Aisha is going to graduate as a memoriser of the holy Qur'an
this morning. To those who don't know what this means, Aisha can now
recite any portion of the Qur'an by heart ("offhead"), a milestone we
Muslims regard as an important feat. It signifies educational
attainment, commitment, hope, perseverance, focus, talent,
righteousness, blessings, etc.
We call the person capable of doing that a Hafiza (female) or a Hafiz (male).
Even
prior to the current accomplishment, Aisha has participated in some
Qur'anic recitation competitions, including state and national ones,
where she won prizes. In the pictures here she can be seen (in the
middle) with some fellow reciters (Hafizai) in the Sultan's Palace in
Sokoto when they went to that city for a national competition as part of
the Kano contingent (being a 300L student at the Kano State University
of Science and Technology in Wudil).
Earlier, she had won the first prize in the state competition in Kaduna (where we live).
I
am also proud to say she is going to participate in the 33rd national
Qur'anic recitation competition coming up in Gombe on 5th January.
That's one.
I
must also announce that Aisha's younger sister Mariya has graduated as a
Hafiza since last year. The young lady, whom we call Mommy because she
bears my mother's name, is in SS3 class now and is regarded as the most
intelligent child in my street because she has consistently, without
fail even once, come first in all her exams in the western-type (Boko)
schools and the Islamic schools from nursery to date.
Also,
their elder sister, Fauziyya (my first child) and three brothers (all
three of them university students) have graduated from Qur'anic school
("Sun yi sauka", in Hausa) a few years ago. They have also gone very far
in the memorisation of the Holy Book.
Meanwhile,
we're having the two ceremonies we always organise when this kind of
event happens: a walima or feast at the Islamiyya today and another one
my family is organising at home tomorrow.
Am I
soaringly happy and proud? "Fadi bata baki" (i.e. to say it is a waste
of breath). I thank the almighty Allah for giving me a family I am
eternally proud of. Education, more than silver and gold, is priceless.
So I break the bank to give education (temporal and spiritual) to the
kids because when I am gone and no more, it should be their greatest
inheritance.
I am certain you, too, my friends
and elders, bear these sentiments in you and are similarly committed to
giving your wards this type of legacy. May God assist us all as we
strive to build upright families.
