Disabled status does not prevent Azizah Saari from studying the Al-Quran
NILAI: Despite experiencing difficulty in learning al-Quran normally, it did not break the spirit of Azizah Saari, 41, who is hearing and speech impaired to study and finish the holy book.
Adhering to the principle ‘where there is a will, there is a way’, Azizah sought an opportunity to learn recitation of the Quran in sign language from a class organized by the Al-Quran Education Foundation for Special Children (Faqeh) which she found out through social media during the implementation of the Movement Control Order. (MCO) two years ago.
“I started in Ramadan 2020, I found out there was a tadarus program without voice and continued to participate, it was the first experience in my life, before I only remembered the letters. During school, the teacher taught using voice but I couldn’t follow, now I have finished twice then join the class.
“So when I entered that class, I had fun and loved the Quran, at the beginning I only knew the letters and now I can read correctly. All this time I was looking for a class like this but I couldn’t find it, Alhamdulillah, it’s not too late to learn,” he said, who was helped by a sign interpreter to communicate with reporters after the Koran Khatam Majlis OKU here today.
Azizah, who works as a factory operator in Penang, informed that she learns the Quran using the hand code of the Quran, which means that she only needs to remember it through the letters without reading through the line marks with the help of an instructor or known as an experienced ‘dai pekak’.
According to her, the program organized by Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) provided great benefits to people like him to continue to approach the Quran in the right way.
The visually impaired from Kuala Terengganu, Aina Solehah Zainuddin, 8, who has known the Quran since she was three years old, was happy to have the opportunity to recite the Quran en masse through the program today.
“I’m happy to read a lot today, my mother (mother) taught me to read the Quran in Braille all this time, it’s easy to read, I enjoy it, after prayer I will read it, today I read the Quran for the first time,” she said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Board of Directors of USIM University Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri said the initiative to organize the program aimed to cultivate the Qur’an among the disabled, thus giving them the opportunity to show their strengths.
He said the uniqueness and diversity of the method of reading the Quran was seen with the visually impaired being assisted by Mashaf Quran Braille while the hearing disabled read it silently by indicating the letters of the Quran and the Quranic Hand Code signals.
In other developments, he said the Quran Signal application developed by USIM last April received a favorable response with almost 2,000 users having already uploaded the application.
The Quran Isyarat application is the first in the country aimed at making it easier for disabled people with hearing problems to read and study the Quran, thus promoting the balance of life of the disabled community based on Maqasid Syariah and the Islamic approach.
