Qaria Rubina for law against honour killing

LAHORE: Pride of Performance winner Professor Hafiza Qaria Rubina has welcomed legislation against honour killing and feudalism to remove the tag of extremism from the country.

Speaking at the Pakistan Islamic Education Centre in Garhi Shahu on Sunday, she said the majority of Pakistanis were moderate, but were not allowed to take part in policy making.

She said girls were keeping pace with boys in memorising the Holy Quran by heart in spite of limited resources. She said that she set up the centre to help girls memorise the Holy Quran. She said that she even motivated the students at the Kinnaird College, where she was professor of Arabic, to learn Qirrat and understand the Quran.

Ms Rubina has taken part in various international Qirrat contests held in Kuala Lumpur, USA and Saudi Arabia.

She regretted the government was not helping girls interested in Arabic and Qirrat, nor providing incentives to private institutes.

She suggested that Arabic teachers should be invited from Saudi Arabia or other Arab countries to train Arabic teachers in Pakistan.

She is the first woman in Pakistan to receive the President Award for Pride of Performance in Qirrat (1996). She learnt the Holy Quran by heart at the age of nine. She won the first prize in a Qirrat competition held by Pakistan Television in 1971. She was only 16 when she first represented Pakistan in an international Qirrat contest in Malaysia in 1975.

She also took part twice (1980 and 1983) in international Qirrat contests held in Kuala Lumpur. She has been reciting the Holy Quran on PTV for the last 30 years. staff report

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