THE Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Rafiu Ajakaye, has advised Muslim parents to inculcate the habit of reading of the Holy Qur’an in their children.
Ajakaye gave the advice when he was being presented with an award for his commitment and dedication to the resuscitation of Qur’an reading culture among Muslims of primary school age at the first Walimot-ul-Qur’an and Prize-Giving Day of the Platforms Montessori School, Ota, Ogun State.
The chairman of the school’s Parents Teachers’ Forum (PTF), Mr Ashimiyu Olayiwola, who made the presentation of the award to Ajakaye, urged other Muslims to emulate the virtues which the management of the school noticed in Ajakaye in faraway Kwara State before honouring him.
In a reaction, Ajakaye said: “One of the key requirements for better living is sound understanding of the word of Allah, the Holy Qur’an. So, what we are witnessing today at this school is a sign that we still have people who are deeply interested in training children that will be sound in both British and Islamic curricula.
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“The timetable for most, if not all, primary schools now is designed in a way that if proper care is not taken, the culture of Qur’an recitation may wane totally in our society.
“A Muslim child who we send to a standard school will finish by 4.00 p.m. daily. He or she will, soon after that, be loaded with homeworks. Some of them will sleep off while trying to do the homework. Where, then, is the time to go to madrasah (a college for Islamic instruction)?
“My advice to parents is that we should all resuscitate the culture of Qur’an recitation and memorisation and inculcate it in our children by sending them to schools that operate on quality British and Islamic curricula.
“Therefore, what the proprietor of Platforms Montessori School, Hajiya Fateemah Adeola-Yusuf, is doing by including Qur’an classes in the timetable is a great effort at placing our children and society on a strong pedestal of morality and sound academics,” he said.
On her part, Hajiya Adeola-Yusuf advised Muslims to partake in the revival of the culture of Qur’an memorisation and mastery of its recitation as part of efforts at rebuilding the society and correcting the pervasive ills therein.
The school graduated five pupils who have mastered the art of Qur’an recitation.