A Ghanaian, Mohammed Kamal has won the first-ever Africa-level contest on the hadith (verbal religious ethos and actions) of the Prophet Mohammed (SAW).

The competition held online was organized by the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema under the auspices of His Majesty, King Mohammed VI of Morocco.

The contest was started at the foundation’s country branches where winners of first positions in three categories of the competition were picked to represent each branch.

The virtual grand finale saw the participation of over 120 finalists from 48 African countries with another Ghanaian, Abdallah Alhassan emerging 4th.

Ghana won against candidates from two Arab countries such as Mauritania and Sudan, and majority Muslim countries such as Niger, Mali, Chad, Senegal, and Nigeria.

These countries have a time-honoured, deep-rooted tradition of nurturing and grooming students from early stages through "rote memorization", and intensive studies of various fields of Islamic sciences making Ghana's success a significant milestone unprecedented in sub-Saharan Africa.

Another significance lies in the category of the competition itself – which is reserved for seasoned scholars of hadith - as it entails proficiency in memorizing 20 religious ruling-centred hadiths - while relating what they imply in various branches of Islamic jurisprudence.

Speaking in an interview, the winner Mohammed Kamal stated that though the contest was challenging, prayers, hard work and commitment to Allah saw him through to win the most challenging category.

He called on fellow students to at all times respect their teachers and take their studies seriously and read hard.

On his part, the President of the Ghana Branch of Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulama, Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim expressed his excitement about Mohammed Kamal's achievement congratulating his family and teachers.

He also praised his hard work and commitment to mastering the Hadith and making the Ghana Branch of the foundation proud.

He encouraged Ghanaian Islamic students to uphold the teaching of the Prophet and learn the Quran adding that Ghana has a brighter future ahead.

He called on the students to be involved in the activities of the Quran and Hadith competition which will encourage them to take the reading of the Quran and Hadith seriously.

He further encouraged parents to take circular and Arabic education and encourage their wards to participate in competitions

He also congratulated all the participants, the organizers, teachers and those who contributed towards the success of the competition.

Similar online grand finale of the 5th annual Quranic memorization contest held recently, another Ghanaian Muhibba Mohammed Khamis, took the youngest female contestant position.