Jamadiul-Awwal / Jamadiul-Akhir 1423 H August 2002 Volume 15-08 No:188

Miscellany

When in Oman, Dig for Gold
UAE resident owns rare copy of Quran
Warning to Asian Imams in Emirates
Performance in SSLC Examinations 2002
Dubai to host Kaifi Azmi Award for Urdu poetry

Studies have revealed the presence of commercially viable quantities of gold in Oman’s Yanqul Wilayat. Chairman of the Oman Mining Company (OMC), Ahmed bin Hassan al Dhaib said the Bishara gold mine at Sai’e was projected to produce around 1,530 to 2,500 kg of gold and around 344 to 375kg of silver for five years. Following a Royal Decree which declared the Bishara gold mine as a public utility project, the company had embarked on planning its development and defining the ownership of lands in coordination with the Wali’s office to compensate their owners. Production at the mine would start at the end of this year.

A rare copy of the Holy Quran, believed to have been written during the early years of Islamic rule in India is presently in the UAE and the owner is now looking for a collector who could keep it safely for posterity. ‘Quran Al Majid’, as the author has titled it, could be an invaluable addition to any collection, not just by virtue of its age, but also because of its size - just 3 cms in length and 2.1 cm in width with a thickness of 7mm. The small, but elegantly designed book is kept in a brass case, ornate with calligraphic embellishments engraved in gold and vibrant shades of enamel. This rare piece was handed over to P K Ismail, a long-time resident of Mumbai, by his mother before her death. Ismail too did not know the value of this small book until an Iraqi calligraphist in the UAE deciphered the time of its production from the scripts on the book’s cover page. According to the date given on the cover, the book was written in the Hijri year 770.

The Ras Al Khaimah Department of Islamic Affairs and Awqaf has issued a second warning to imams and muezzins of mosques to remove all the satellite dishes installed in their houses which are located in mosque compounds. Abdullah Al Qurasi, who heads the Department’s Mosques Affairs, said the move to remove satellite dishes from the roofs of all the houses which belong to the mosques had been taken after the department received many complaints from people about the blaring noise from the television sets at the houses of imams and muezzins. Most of the imams and muezzins in the emirates are Asians and their families turn up the volume on their televisions, disturbing the people at prayer. Anyone who has a satellite dish on the roof of his house within the mosque compound will be asked to remove it immediately, failing which he will be asked to vacate the premises and live elsewhere.

Islamic Voice is making a humble attempt at assessing the performance of the Muslim managed high schools in Karnataka in SSLC Board Examinations held during March 2002. Muslim managed schools being mostly patronized by the community could serve as some index of the community's status in education. Furnished below is the data we could collect. This is far from satisfactory considering the fact that Bangalore alone has over 170 Muslim managed high schools, though a vast majority of them are run as business proposition and do neither want nor flaunt their minority character. In several cases data is incomplete and NA (Not Available) is the only way we could have filled the slot. We intend to expand the reach to all the schools in the state and then cover other South Indian states over the years. Cooperation of our esteemed readers in approaching the schools will be welcome. You are requested to send us the names, addresses, phone nos., e-mail addresses and names of the office bearers for the purpose.The data being furnished is very sketchy

Editor

Top

The Kaifi Azmi Interna-tional Award for Service to Urdu Poetry and Literature will be given at the mushaira that is scheduled to be held on September 6 this year in Dubai. The recipient of the award, which is likely to become a yearly give-away, will be someone who has been actively involved in the promotion of Urdu language. Senior members of the sub-continental community of Dubai, who have long been patrons of mushairas held here, will form the panel of judges. Kaifi Azmi was a veteran known for his poetry. A seminar has also been planned a day before the mushaira which will focus on “the future of Urdu poetry in the light of the growing disinterest in the younger generation”. The subject of this seminar will be floated in the form of a question to the public through all forms of media. They will be asked to fax or e-mail write-ups on what they see to be the future of Urdu poetry. Those with the best entries will be invited as guests to the seminar as well as the mushaira. For further queries, the organisers can be contacted on 050-6544831 or dubaimegamushaira@hotmail.com

News | Community Roundup | Editorial| Comments| Investigation| Muslim Perspectives| Men, Machines and Methods| Community Development| Children's Corner| Quran Speaks to You| Hadith| Our Dialogue| Religion| Miscellany| Opinion| Living Islam| From Darkness to Light | Matrimonial| Jobs| Archives| Feedback| Subscription| Links| Calendar| Contact Us

Al-Nasr Exports

Preserve Flowers