WEST BANK: Braille Koran gives faith to blind students

Record ID: 560157

  • Title: WEST BANK: Braille Koran gives faith to blind students
  • Date: 3rd March 2011
  • Summary: JENIN, WEST BANK (FEBRUARY 22, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF AL-NOUR SCHOOL IN JENIN VARIOUS OF SIGN READING IN ARABIC "AL-NOUR SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND"
  • Embargoed: 18th March 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank, West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA1A7LKECTIMGJ05IWCTLVLT2TM
  • Story Text: A small group of visually impaired Palestinian children in the West Bank can now recite the holy Koran which most of them cannot see.
    Under the supervision of religious scholar Obada Ali, the blind children at al-Nour school in the city of Jenin use a Braille copy of the Koran to study the holy book.
    The group of boys in Ali's class run their hands over the Braille pages, while their teacher, who lost his sight due to a childhood illness, recites verses from the holy book.
    Aware of the challenges that the children are faced with, Ali says the new Braille version of the Koran makes learning possible and easier for students who are visually impaired. He says it allows them a deeper understanding of their faith.
    "Everything you find in a regular Koran you can also find in a Braille Koran, using the Braille system, be it punctuation, numbers of verses, indexes for the Koranic suras (chapters), simple explanations of suras which tell whether they were (revealed to the prophet) in Mecca or Medina, its number in the Koran, the number of its verses -- all these things are available in the Braille Koran, and the blind student can read them and learn through them about intonation and how to recite the holy Koran," Ali said.
    One of the students, Omar Imad, said the Braille technique encouraged him to overcome obstacles in his education and continue his studies.
    "I want to become a sheikh and Imam in the mosque. Now I am learning the Koran and memorising it," he said.
    The Braille copy of the Koran was donated to the school by the Jordanian Protect Koran Association.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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