New initiative brings Quran to Gaza's hearing-impaired
The Future Society for Deaf Adults in the Gaza Strip is offering religious courses for the deaf and hearing-impaired, teaching them the Quran for the first time.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In an attempt to teach the Holy Quran to the deaf in the Gaza Strip, the Future Society for Deaf Adults (FSDA) offers religious and awareness courses aimed at interpreting the Quran using sign language. The initiative was first launched on Feb. 2, 2013. Courses are offered for deaf youth ages 12-18, targeting 500 deaf people in Gaza.
The courses are funded by the Sheikh Eid Bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Foundation and are given at the Dar al Quran al Karim Wa Sunnah, which has 14 branches in the Gaza Strip. Each class consists of 20 students.
Mervat Hamdan, 14, is one of the students who enrolled in the courses. She was able to memorize a few verses of the Quran.
Hamdan talked to Al-Monitor using sign language; her teacher Mervat Sayam interpreted the conversation. “I am very happy to have memorized a few Quranic verses. "The FSDA offered us a booklet with image interpretations of the Holy Quran in sign language and text in Braille, as I also suffer from impaired vision,” she said.
