ABDULRAHEEM AODU encounters the cerebral and precocious Salim Abdulkareem, a six-year-old who completed the recitation and memorisation of the Holy Quran in a record of one year. The kid, who has a spartan upbringing, also tells Blueprint why he wants to venture into medicine for a career
He looks petit and may not properly get noticed when he passes by. He cuts a very gentle and innocent look, a feature not too common with children of his age. Restlessness is never part of him, as volunteered by a family source. But beneath his small frame is a compact intellect which stands him out from his peers. But the precocity of six-year-old Salim Abdulkareem manifested at the modest Prof. Ango Abdullahi International School, Zaria, Kaduna state, where the boy snappily memorised the Holy Quran in a record of one year. An incredible feat!
How it started He commenced the scholarly venture in May 2016 and wrapped it up about the same time in 2017. Th e accomplishment, according to the school, is a rare feat, considering the fact that two years are usually set aside for the brain-tasking exercise. Of course, notwithstanding the rate at which Tahfi zul Qur’anic (Quran memorisation) schools sprout up in the Northern part of the country, this exceptional performance is still a major amazement to Zaria residents, and has left many astonished. For those conversant with this trend of knowledge acquisition, it could take a decade to actualise this dream even in Borno, the origin and source of Hafi zul Qur’an schools in Nigeria.
To achieve stardom, the young and cerebral Salim unbelievably started the learning process from the scratch in May 2016 at the school, and was able to complete and memorise it before May 2017. Speaking to our reporter on this tasking task, the school’s Administrative Offi cer (Boarding Section), Malam Hamza Jibril, explained how the pupil was brushed up, as well as the modalities and methodologies adopted to realise the success story. “Salim was brought to this school by his parent in May 2016.
His father, Prof. Abdulkareem S. Ahmed is a lecturer at Chemical Engineering Department, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria. “When Salim was admitted into this school, he did not know the Qur’anic alphabet talk less of how to recite the Holy Qur’an. We therefore had to start coaching him from the scratch. “His father not only brought him to this school, but also gave the school authority all rights over the child. Sometimes, the father would not allow Salim go home for holidays; he would insist that the pupil be allowed to be engaged in some kind of lessons.
Th is is what made him exceptional among his colleagues. “Salim completed his memorisation in April 2017, having been brought to this school in May 2016. In view of this, he completed memorisation of the Holy Qur’an in less than one year. “Despite the fact that he had fi nished the memorisation quickly by April 2017, we still realised that his memorisation requires some little touches or corrections here and there, which we dwelled on and to God be the glory, we have succeeded in making all the necessary corrections,” Hamza recalled.
Other feats recorded by the school Although some of Salim’s colleagues have also completed the memorisation, the teacher said they are still being supervised guided where necessary, to enable them complete the task before the stipulated period of two years. While acknowledging that the school has been producing pupils who memorised the Qur’an, Jibril added, “this is the fourth or fi fth time we are producing pupils who memorised the Qur’an and whenever we are invited to attend a competition either locally or internationally, our students are always among the winners.
“Last year, one of our students, Aliyu Shamsudeen, a three-year old pupil won second position in the 2015/2016 edition of World Qur’anic Recitation Competition in Saudi Arabia. We are now planning to feature Salim in one of the competitions between August and September this year in Saudi Arabia. It will serve as an excursion to him.” “One thing I forgot to tell you is that the boy(Salim) did not only memorise the Holy Qur’an but he can also write it because the coaching goes with writing. We coach them in traditional method using small board (Allo) so that as they cram, they also write. “He is a boarding student under special target, he was expected to complete it in two years but he was fortunate to fi nish memorisation before one year,” he added. Salim’s choice career/challenges Speaking in an interview, Salim told Blueprint that his ambition is to become a medical doctor in order to treat the sick, assist people and contribute his quota toward ensuring a sound and healthy society for national growth and development. “I want to become a medical doctor and my ultimate goal is to contribute to national growth and development of my dear country, Nigeria. If my dream is actualised, I want to be assisting people by treating those who come to me with sicknesses.
“I will be happy if this dream of mine comes true, however, I believe with dedication, commitment and encouragement from my parents and my teachers I’m sure of becoming a doctor,” he said. Recounting rigour of the process while the learning lasted, Salim recalled that the major challenge he passed through was the routine of waking up at night to further perfect his mastery and prowess of the art of Quran
For Salim’s father, Prof. Abdulkareem Sala’u Ahmed of Chemical Engineering Department, ABU Zaria, it’s a joy that knows no bound, as he urged the school’s staff to sustain the pace while also praying God to assist the school in sustaining the tempo for the benefi t of the larger society. “I am highly impressed about the progress recorded by the school, because, what I can see from the test, these pupils have truly completed the Holy Qur’an and they are also doing fi ne in Hadith.
It is really exciting that under one year that they came here, they have been able to complete the Holy Qur’an,” he said. Th e don called on parents to be mindful of the responsibilities vested in them by Allah in children upbringing. “We must be mindful of the fact that the responsibility of proper upbringing of children lies in the hands of parents, therefore, they should take it seriously. “We should try as much as possible to ensure that our children memorise the Holy Qur’an and endeavour to seek for other Islamic knowledge.” Quran as basis for quality education Another parent, Prof. Mohammed Dewu of Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT), ABU, Zaria, in his remarks, expressed delight at the school’s activities.
“What I saw in the school is actually encouraging, especially here in the Northern part of the country, this is an excellent move. Th e school combines both Islamic and Western education. “My visit to nursery, primary and secondary section of the school showed that the school puts more emphasis on Qur’anic memorisation which is actually good and commendable. I want to use this medium to appeal to northerners to come up with a programme where schools can imbibe the habit of inculcating the Holy Qur’an in children at onset. “Th ey should make sure that before a Muslim child starts any education, let him/her fi rst memorise the entire Qur’an, this will give the child an upper hand over others in terms of educational pursuit,” Dewu reasoned.
