Hajah Rugayah Sulong Among The Excellent, Glorious And Distinguished
By Rahimah Abdullah
KUALA TERENGGANU, March 25 (Bernama) -- Datuk Hajah Rugayah Sulong can be categorised as being one of the excellent, glorious and distinguished Malaysians.
Besides having brought glory to the country on numerous occasions with her high quality reading of the al-Quran, Hajah Rugayah is generous in sharing her knowledge although she is over 64 years old and has not been in good health following a stroke several years ago.
The eight-time winner of the national-level Quran Reciters Assembly and four-time winner at the international level is still guiding the new generation in the art of reading the holy book according to `taranum' and appreciating the contents of the al-Quran.
In Terengganu, the art of the `taranum' is synonymous with the name Hajah Rugayah as no one has been able to surpass her achievement in the art for the past four decades.
Meeting her for the first time, one may think that Hajah Rugayah is unapproachable. But after engaging her in a conversation, one will find that she is very friendly and a very interesting person who can talk on various topics.
The mother of seven children has been involved in the art of `taranum' since her school days.
Her first achievement was when she emerged as the `taranum' al-Quran champion at the school level when she was in standard four at Sekolah Melayu Kampung Tengah, Petai Bubus, Jeram, near here.
After completing her schooling up to standard six, Hajah Rugayah, who was then 14 years old, began to learn the art of `taranum' in reading the Quran more seriously and learning the `tajwid'.
Her ability in this field was strengthened further when she married a `taranum' teacher, Megat Usman Chik, when she was 16. Megat Usman died eight years ago.
"My late husband, who had learnt the art of `taranum' from a teacher, Haji Mohammad Awang Kechik, had given me much guidance," she said.
When she was 19, Hajah Rugayah began to participate in the Quran reciters assembly at the state level and in 1963, she became women's champion of the International-level Quran Reciters Assembly.
Success after success came after that until she quit participating in the Quran Reciters Assembly after winning the national championship eight times and four times at the international level.
"Before, when I wanted to go up the (Quran Reciters Assembly) stage, I made sure I was well-prepared and calm to prevent making any mistakes in the reading," she said.
In appreciation of her achievement which had brought glory to the country, Hajah Rugayah was given various awards which included the "Tokoh Kemerdekaan" for the Marang district-level in 2004, Terengganu's "Tokoh Maal Hijrah" as well as a state honour which carried the title "Datuk" from the Sultan of Terengganu in 2004.
Although she no longer participated in the Quran Reciters competition, Hajah Rugayah continued to pass her knowledge to the young generation where a few of them had carved their own names in several quran reading contests.
She now taught the art of "taranum" at mosques and surau in Kuala Berang and Bukit Payung near here and also at her home on Mondays and Fridays.
"I accept and welcome whoever has the interest and commitment to learn, regardless of their age," she added.
Hajah Rugayah was a little disappointed because there were fewer men interested to learn the "taranum" compared with women.
"I hope this activity can be extended not only for purpose of competitions but to be made a daily habit as part of the religious requirements," she added.
She was also disappointed that her own children were not very interested in ensuing the knowledge which she and her late husband had acquired lived on.
However, Hajah Rugayah was happy that with government assistance and availability of places at mosques and surau, the activity attracted the younger generation.
"Nothing can make me happier than to see the young generation master the art of taranum," she added.
-- BERNAMA
Malaysian Qur'an-Reciter: Madam Rugayah Sulong
I only recorded the ones who got the first, second or third place. I've got like 20 more files to upload, inshallah...
