TAIPING: "I'm sorry mother, I now understand why you left me here."
This was the hearfelt statement from a student from Maahad Tahfiz Wa ta'alimul Quran Arrahimiyah here, who had believed that his mother abandoned him six years ago when he was 12.
Identified only as Abdullah, 18, from Selangor, the boy said six years ago, he followed his mother and her friend to Taiping for a holiday.
However, when he went to the toilet, his mother and friend had left him.
He was picked up by a man shortly after, who asked him to follow him to a tahfiz.
"At that time only God knew how angry and hateful I was.
"The man, who called himself an ustaz invited me to follow him and live together in tahfiz.
"Even though I was reluctant, I had to do so since I had no one, and no place to live," he said to reporters when met after a breaking of fast at the Taiping Medical Centre (TMC) here yesterday.
Also present was TMC general manager, Zulkifli Abdullah.
Abdullah said he had a hard time following instructions and rules while living in the tahfiz.
"Several times I wanted to escape but failed because I had no friends and I didn't know my way around Taiping.
"After some time, I began to accept the learning here, which prioritises religious knowledge in addition to respecting parents.
"I used to be mischievous, rebellious and angry with my mother.
"But now I understand why my mother left me here. She wanted to change me for the better, to become a religious person who memorises the Quran," he said.
Meanwhile, the mudir of Maahad Tahfiz Wa Ta'alimul Quran Arrahimiyah, Khairul Arif Mohd Khalid said Abdullah's mother had actually planned for her son to study at the tahfiz and she had arranged for the boy to be picked up.
