All praises are due to Allah the Lord of the World and Peace Salutations be upon our Beloved Prophet Muhammed (PBUH).

We thank Allah for giving us the opportunity of conducting our first Qur’aanic Braille Workshop for teachers in the city of London. Local statistics indicate that there are approximately over a million Muslims who are living in London. You will find Arabs, Indians, Bengali, Pakistanis, Malays, Turks, Mauritians, South Africans and other nationalities who have settled in London. Most of them are very vibrant and active in Islamic activities.

Our Hosts were the Baseera Institute for the Blind headed by Brother Elyas and Hafiz Zubair Ismail. The Qur’aanic Braille Workshop was conducted at the Newham Community Centre in Katherine Rd, Forest Gate.

There were a total of 16 males and 14 female participants. Most of the participants were Qur’aanic teachers based in London. We also had teachers from the north of UK from Dewsbury, Preston and Glasgow who attended. Three blind students also attended the workshop.

On the 17th of October, our hosts held a fund raising dinner at the London Muslim centre in White Chapel. Brother Junaid Jamshed of Pakistan and Kamal Uddin of Bangladesh entertained the guests with beautiful rendition of Islamic Songs.

Our principal Ml Murchie gave a brief talk to the audience about the importance of the need of Islamic education for the blind and disabled. He also highlighted the challenges and prejudice which the Muslim community have to overcome in order for the disabled community to be equal among society.

Presentations were delivered through PowerPoint. The teachers and students had the opportunity of observing practical presentations and participated in hands on learning.

Guest ophthalmologist Dr Helena Hurairah of Brunei gave an excellent medical presentation of the eye. Sister Sajeda Narband an optometrist discussed eye conditions and Sister Maha Khechen of Lebanon who is a consultant of RNIB spoke on daily living skills. Braille assistant Saleha Seedat, spoke about assisting the young blind in learning Braille. Special thanks to Moulana Sufyaan Iqbal for his assistance during the workshop.

At the end of the workshop, an examination was conducted and certificates were presented to all participants.

May Allah accept our efforts and reward everybody for their assistance in organising this workshop.

Ameen

(click on the thumbnails below for larger images)