Hafiz Muhammad Danbirni from Kano State represent Nigeria at Dubai International Holy Quran Award 2003 where he emerged as the winner of the 1st category. He was second from Nigeria to attained this position since the commencement of the Musabaqa in 1997, with FADLU ALARAMMA GWANI KURA being the first- and- SULAIMAN ABDULKARIM ISA ZARIA being the 3rd in 2014

NIGERIAN REPRESENTATIVES AT THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL HOLY QURAN AWARD (DIHQA)

1418[1997]RUFA’I UBA HAMZA GABARI KANO

1419[1998]SANI AL-MINSHAWIY KANO

1420[1999]????????????????????????????????

1421[2000]SURAQAH SABI’U SA’ID KURA 3RD DH100,000

1422[2001]FADLU ALARAMMA GWANI KURA 1ST DH250,000

1423[2002]MUHAMMAD TAHIR ABDULLAH MAIDUGURI 4TH DH65,000

1424[2003]HAFIZ MUHAMMAD DANBIRNI KANO 1ST DH250,000

1425]2004]MUHAMMAD MAHDI ABDULLAH KANO 7TH DH50,000

1426[2005]IBRAHIM AHMAD MUHAMMAD 5TH DH60,000

1427[2006]MUHAMMAD LAWAL MUHAMMAD

1428[2007]ALI AL-ADAWIY 8TH DH45,000

1429[2008]ABDURRAHMAN ADAM SHU’AIBU KADUNA

1430[2009]ABDULMALIK ABUBAKAR IBRAHIM MAIDUGURI 3RD DH150,000

1431[2010] MUSTAPHA ISHAQ

1432[2011]IDRIS SA’EED ISAH KANO 2ND DH200,000

1433[2012]ABBAS MUHAMMAD ZAKARIYYAH BAUCHI

1434[2013]HARUNA MUHAMMAD MUHAMMAD SOKOTO

1435[2014]SULAIMAN ABDULKARIM ISAH ZARIA 1ST DH250,000

1436[2015] ALIYU ISMA’IL GOMBE

1437[2016] KASIM RUFA'I ZARIA

1438[2017] MUHAMMAD INUWA ADAM UMAR KANO

1438[2018] MUHAMMAD BELLO ABUBAKAR KADUNA

1439[2019] ABDULGANIYY AMINU KATSINA

Khaleej Times published the following piece on 16th November, 2003.

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/nation/general/al-azhar-gets-dh1m-islamic-personality-of-the-year-prize

The ceremony concluded with the distribution of prizes by Gen. Shaikh Mohammed. The first position in the international competition went to the 19-year old Nigerian Hafez Mohammed Danbirni who received a cash prize of Dh250,000, the second prize of Dh200,000 was given to Walid Ali Mohammed Al Naehi from Libya and the third prize of Dh150,000 went to Al Zain Mohammed Ahmed Al Zain from Sudan.

The fourth prize of Dh65,000 was won by the 20-year old blind contestant Mohammed Murshid Ul Haq from Bangladesh. He started memorising the Holy Quran for the love of God alone when he was eight years old, and he completed it in four years. Born blind, Mohammed depended on his hearing ability and his strong memory to memorise the Holy Quran by repeating verses from the Holy Quran read to him by several people. Mohammed, who is studying at a religious school in Bangladesh, plans to open in the future a special school for teaching the Holy Quran to the blind to help them see the light of faith as he did. The fifth winner was the 20-year old Bahraini Anas Eisa Ahmed Al Amadi, he received Dh60,000.

Another blind participant, the 19-year old Qatari Ahmed Nawaf Al Mijlad, won the sixth prize of Dh 55,000. Ahmed became blind when he was a kid. He began the memorisation of the Quran when he was six years old and took seven years to complete it. He is now studying at the religious institute in Qatar.

The seventh prize amounting to Dh50,000 was awarded to Hassan Ali Moemen from Somalia, the eighth prize of Dh45,000 was presented to Mohammed bin Ali Ibrahim Mareer from Saudi Arabia, the ninth prize of Dh40,000 went to Kanty Ibrahim from Ivory Coast and the tenth prize of Dh 35,000 went to Mohammed Ali Hadi from Denmark.

Gen. Shaikh Mohammed presented certificates and cash prizes to the other participants at the competition. Contestants who scored in the competition grades above 80 were rewarded Dh30,000 each, those who got marks between 70 and 79 were rewarded Dh25,000 each, and contestants who scored below 70 received Dh20,000 each.