MANAMA, BAHRAIN – 19 October 2013 – A Bahraini secretary and mother of four, as well as a Bahraini supervisor and father of three, each won $100,000 in the Thimaar Grand Prize Draw which was held earlier this week at Ithmaar Bank’s headquarters.

Salwa Abdul Razzaq and Naveed Mohammed Butt received their winnings from Ithmaar Bank Acting Chief Executive Officer, Ahmed Abdul Rahim, at a ceremony attended by Chief Operating Officer, Ravindra Khot, and Assistant General Manager, Retail Banking, Mohammed Janahi.

Thimaar, Arabic for fruits or harvest, is a Sharia-compliant account that was introduced by Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, to encourage people to adopt a more responsible spending/saving pattern by offering cash prizes, along with an expected profit rate and other benefits as additional incentives to save.

“I was delighted to meet the two Thimaar Grand Winners and present them their prize money,” said Abdul Rahim. “It is truly heart-warming to realise just how much joy and happiness we’ve been able to bring to our customers’ lives,” he said.

“I am also particularly pleased to note that Thimaar has been able to encourage more regular, disciplined saving patterns, and that Ithmaar has continued to make significant contributions to improving our customers’ lives,” said Abdul Rahim. “We remain as committed as ever to growing closer to our customers and to continuously improving both their banking experience and, whenever possible, their lives,” he said.

Razzaq and Butt both said they felt “blessed” and that they were “overwhelmed” when they received the news.

“I was shocked when I received the call from Ithmaar telling me I had won $100,000,”said Razzaq. “I thought I was dreaming,” she said. Razzaq, who lives in Isa Town, said she plans to use part of her winnings to help the less fortunate as well as invest in her youngest daughter’s higher education.

“I’ve won Thimaar prizes before – but this is by far the largest prize I have ever won,” said Butt. “I believe this is a result of my mother’s blessings and I hope to use part of the money for charity as well as to send my mother for Umara (pilgrimage),” he said.