Nearly two years of the pandemic became a blessing in disguise for Iffat Aziz. While many students cursed the Covid-induced lockdowns as classes and exams went online, this girl from Kurla, Maharashtra, remained relaxed. She gave her final MA (English) exams online and utilised the rest of the pandemic time to pursue a childhood dream: to become a hafiza (a female who has memorised the entire Quran). A male who achieves this feat is called hafiz.
Now, she carries a rare distinction of being a high scorer at the MA (English) final exams, 2020 of Mumbai University — 8. 6 cumulative grade point average (GDPA)— and a hafiza. Amini-celebrity in her middle-class neighbourhood in Kurla West, she is being feted by community leaders. Senior cleric and Islamic scholar Maulana Salman Nadvi hailed her as an inspiring character for other girls in the community at a programme at Islam Gymkhana last week.
“She combines the best of deen (religion) and duniya (world). Besides excelling in the exams for Masters in English literature, she has memorisedthe Quran. Normally, this memorisation is done in childhood or teenage when the mind is impressionable, and memory is sharp. This must be appreciated,” says senior Shia scholar Maulana Zaheer Abbas Rizvi.
Daughter of Azizullah Khan, a transporter, Iffat says she got the inspiration to memorise the Quran from her parents. “Both my parents are hafizs. I too had begun memorising the holy book when I was in school but left it unfinished as the burden of homework and classes increased. When I got plenty of time on hand during the pandemic, I decided to get back to the unfinished task and complete it,” says Iffat who counsels international students online and also runs an online library.
How much memorisation of the Quran helps in her studies of literature and philosophy, the other subject she likes a lot? “The first benefit is that it sharpens memory. The Quran tells you to reflect and contemplate. Literature gives flight to your imagination. It makes you creative, compassionate and brings you closer to nature, “she says.
Growing up in a household where religion had a huge influence, Iffat, who wants to become a lecturer, bats for education in English medium. “I am not against Urdu or any other vernacular language, but to give children a head start, we must try to teach them in English medium and also teach them mother tongue as an additional subject. I have seen that many students who clear SSC (matriculation) in a vernacular medium suffer from an inferiority complex once they reach college and the medium changes into English. You can’t deny that English is the link language and understood internationally,” she explains.