This year we had 7 entries, Allahu Akbar. I thnk that's the most we have ever had.
Please do have a read, vote, and then offer your comments in this thread as I'm sure the writers, having spent time writing their stories for you, would appreciate any feedback you can offer.
Thank you, and get reading and voting and commenting!
So keep it here. Then people can continue discussion in the same thread about the entries if they like. Mods can later move it to other thread if they see it better.
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
Finally the moment is here, but before we get there - let's take one final moment to think and appreciate the efforts of all the writers in this years Writing Competiton 2016/2017.
It's been a journey so far. Thoughts and ideas bled ink onto paper to form stories. Stories which resonate, inspire, grip, tickle and soothe to say the least. The skill our members have developed in this competition have given us much to be proud about. The entrants themselves are the pride of this forum, and though I have to announce a Winner - for me, every single entry is a Winner in their own right.
And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for in sha Allah.
1st Place Winner - Sister Herb for her story, A King Without A Crown - Congratulations, you are this years WINNER mashaAllah
Second Place Runner Up - NBegam for her story, Human Life Is Very Precious
Third Place Runner Up - Aamirsaab for his story, Rusty
Fourth place - Noraina for her story, Blank Paper
Fifth place - Zeal for his story, Tom
Sixth place - Muezzin for his story, Ghoul.
There is one entry which we decided would not be included in this years competition - this was the Poem titled "Emotional Abyss" and this entry will be entered into the Poetry Competition which the mod/admin team will announce in due course in sha Allah.
If you have not had the opportunity to read the stories so far, fear not. You can read them HERE.
Well it´s over again. Thanks for everyone who read my story, whose voted and for every other writers. This was interesting competition as here were so many and different stories. They all were good ones of my mind.
I have to say that I was very surprised about the results as I didn´t expect I could win for two consecutive years.
Sister Herb, you can print this on high quality paper and put it on your wall in sha Allah. (click the image to open in a new tab, and download - This is a REAL certificate [large file size for print] for you Sister Herb, masha Allah.
For future competitions, I can make the PSD file available for future hosts to edit in sha Allah.
Congratulations to all the winners! and a special mention for the host, brother Scimitar. You have all done really good, .
We will be gifting a few rep points to each participant and the host. We were also planning to get some real gifts but unfortunately, it could not be arranged until now. We hope, in the future, we can reward with some real valued gifts.
I am speechless! Thank Allah for now my fingers do the talking . . .
The entries, I would not have been able to guess who wrote what in a million years! Also it happened when I was mostly unavailable on the net. and it appears that will be the case for the foreseeable future
I would like to suggest that the title of the thread be changed so that it is an announcement to all members, not just to those who come in this thread.
...or..
have a little bubble on the main page announcing the winner..
I would not have known if I did not enter this discussion thread, honestly..
If I could vote, I would have voted Rusty. The story was brilliant - quite simply brilliant in every way.
Honestly speaking I could not fault it and I was left wanting to read more. Aamirsaab - you got a story on your hands bro - which I would like to read more of.
Your choice of name for the Muslimah, Hal, was sneaky - short for Halima. So many sci-fi movies have an "Hal", sometimes an hologram, other times some sort of AI, and yet at other times, an holo-matrix. The word Hal, seems to be suited to the sci-fi world, yet your use of it was unique, which I found really quite endearing.
Speaking of Hal, the character development was instant - I was thrown into the midst of the story, and immediately understood the main character, Hal, was no ordinary girl, but a strong willed and physically able individual who had the strength to make men look like girls. She had grit, grunt and growl... impressive.
For the AI mecha exoskeleton, I didn't have to work my imagination. Being familiar with Sci-Fi, I noticed your description of the mecha was reflective of Iain M Banks stories with a touch of the old Asimov. Asimov gave his AI robots some human qualities, such as loyalty, and I found this theme prevalent in your story.
The action scenes were intense, and brutal - and knowing that a Muslimah was fighting this epic mecha rumble, coupled with her AI exoskeleton was interesting. Particularly the conversations between the two. At one point, there was almost a Vulcan mind merge where the AI and Hal are finishing each others sentence off - that was really exciting.
Hal's struggle for survival in a post apocalyptic world was unique and championed the human spirit. I think this story has lots of subtle mind blows attached to it, which when really reflected upon left me feeling like this was just the start of an epic in scope story which is more of a tease - an intro - to an otherwise fantastical tale of survival, faith, companionship and loyalty.
Basically bro Aamirsaab - my hat comes off in respect. I nod my head in acknowledgement of your skill and say to you, Sir, please - please - write this book.
Honestly - I want MORE.
EDIT:
format_quote Originally Posted by Zeal
My little brother will be overcome with joy
WOW mashaAllah haha, how old is he? Tell him I said I really liked his story and smiled because it took me back to when I was a child and had one heck of an imagination. For that, I thank him. His short story allowed me to reconnect with me innocent inner child again
Congrats to sister herb, 2 years in a row! I loved the fairy tale like feel your story had, and I agree with Noraina's earlier assessment in that it resembles stories we read/heard as children way back when. And I'm pretty sure others felt the same way - another deserved win under your belt!
It was great to see a whole bunch of new authors enter too - noraina, nbegum and Zeal ('s brother!). I am hoping more will follow in your footsteps and that you will all enter the next writing contest.
Unlucky muezzin - I guess the world just ain't ready for that level of horror bro!
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
Unlucky muezzin - I guess the world just ain't ready for that level of horror bro!
Well, I did find myself going back to his story, Ghoul, more than three times. That's gotta count for something because I didn't want to like it - I ended up liking it a lot... that was the other story I liked most.
I guess Muslims don't like the horror genre much, and so it's to be expected that the votes would not be in favour - but for a piece of creative writing, heck, it was actually bloody engrossing. And in my empty moments, I found his story coming back to bite my ass lol.
Ya know what? for that alone - I give Muezzin two thumbs up and a nod of appreciation.
As for the others who didn't pay mind to his story - y'all missed out on some rather hairy experiences lol. Your loss though, not mine - I'm still recovering lol. Muezzin's story left me feeling uneasy for days - and that is the desired effect of horror... totally nailed it in that way.
Great work Muezzin.
In sha Allah, sometime over the weekend I will write my review of Ghoul also.
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and greetings.
....
aamirsaab, sister herb, Finding MEMO, noraina, Muezzin, AabiruSabeel, MidnightRose, ardianto liked this post
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in the future, we can reward with some real valued gifts.
and it appears that will be the case for the foreseeable future
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