‘Our responsibility to understand these texts’: Muslim student Mohammed Basith wins Ramayana quiz

Ramayana, which is a Sanskrit epic from ancient India, is a story that many youngsters have been hearing since they were babies. Though it is commonly taught as a part of Hindu mythology, a student from the Muslim community broke all shackles and won a quiz on the Indian epic.

A Muslim student named Mohammed Basith M recently won a quiz on Ramayana, stunning everyone with his deep knowledge and understanding of the Hindu epic, which was written during ancient times by Saint Valmiki.

If you ask Mohammed Basith M about his favourite sloka in the epic Ramayana, this Muslim youth, without any second thought, would recite the verses from "Ayodhya Kanda" which describes Lakshmana's anger and Lord Rama's consolation to his brother explaining the worthlessness of kingdom and power.

The student doesn’t just have an intricate understanding of the Ramayana, he can also recite the verses Adhyatma Ramayanam fluently, explaining the detailed message and meaning behind the sacred lines. It must be noted that the Adhyatma Ramayanam is the Malayalam version of the epic written by Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan.

This in-depth knowledge of the great epic has helped Basith and his college mate-friend Mohammed Jabir P K to emerge as winners in a recent Ramayana quiz competition conducted online by publishing major DC Books, as per PTI reports.

Basith and his friend Jabir, who are students at the KKSM Islamic and Arts College at Valanchery, were two of the five winners of the quiz conducted last month to mark the ongoing 'Ramayana Month'. They are a part of an eight-year programme called the Wafy programme at their institute.

The win by the Islamic college students in the Ramayana quiz caught wide media attention following which people from various walks of life began congratulating the duo.

The students said though they knew about the epic since their childhood, they started reading and learning about Ramayana and Hinduism in-depth after joining the Wafy course, the syllabus of which has the teachings of all major religions.

(With PTI inputs)

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