Perseverance: Muhammad Dhiauddin (centre) posing with his family after receiving his doctorate.
JOHOR BARU: Despite living his whole life with partial hearing loss, Muhammad Dhiauddin Ahmad Termizi never allowed his disability to stop him from pursuing a PhD in tahfiz education.
The 29-year-old imam at Masjid Kangkar Pulai said he was born with a hearing impairment in his left ear.
“Specialists have offered me hearing aids but every device felt unbearably loud and uncomfortable. Maybe it is a nerve-related issue.
“I eventually decided not to use them and only applied for a people with disabilities card in my 20s after learning that I was eligible,” he said when met during Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s (UTM) 69th convocation ceremony.
“I started to lose my vocal strength during the early part of my PhD in 2021.
“Although it did not affect my studies, my voice became weak, difficult to project and I would feel easily fatigued.
“Ear, nose and throat specialists conducted examinations but found nothing abnormal while two years of speech therapy offered little improvement,” he said.
He added that the changes affected him emotionally.
“I used to be very confident and always at the front but when my voice weakened I could not step forward anymore.
“During big events, I would stay quiet unless I really needed to speak.
“I credit my wife (Siti Sarah Mohd Noor Haq Poh) for her patience and steady support throughout my journey.
“Sometimes, I feel sorry for her because whenever she talks to me, I am often quiet,” he said.
Still, Muhammad Dhiauddin, who is from Temerloh, Pahang, continued with his Al-Quran revision routine, which was once effortless but now takes much longer than before.
“Previously, I only needed around 30 minutes to recite one juzuk but now, even one page can take up to five minutes.
“Since I am currently serving as an imam, I also have to perform my recitations slowly during prayers to conserve my voice,” he said.
The eldest of seven siblings said he chose to become an imam to follow in the footsteps of his father, who is a teacher and imam in their hometown.
Also not allowing life challenges to get in the way was single mother Nurfarhain Mohamad, 40, who received a PhD in civil engineering.
Nurfarhain said she went through the darkest moment in her life while in the midst of completing her doctorate, which she started in 2014.
“My daughter was only five months old when she suffered internal bleeding that almost took her life.
“The doctors told me that even if my daughter survived, there was a high risk of her losing some brain function.
“My daughter was in and out of the hospital for about two years. It was the most difficult thing I had gone through,” she said.
Nurfarhain said that thankfully, her daughter eventually recovered and is now healthy.
