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B.I.B.I. Braille Islamic Books & Information

Holy Quran 96.1 'Read in the name of your Lord Who created.'

Dua Kumayl - Our First Project

Alhamdulillah. Our first project is completed. Through sponsorship we have raised the necessary funds in order to produce 10 copies of Dua Kumayl in Braille. In addition to the dua we have included a short introduction explaining the origination of the dua, we expect this will appeal to muslims and non-muslims within the blind community.

We have already sent one copy of Dua Kumayl in Braille to the National Library for the Blind (UK) where it will soon appear on their catalogue and be available to be taken out on loan.

If you know of any other libraries, organisations or individuals that would like to be considered to receive their own copy then please do let us know.

If you can assist us in a new project then please do make a donation.

If you are in a position to sponsor a whole new project or large part of a project then we welcome your ideas as to what that new project should be.

Our Objectives

InshaAllah our aim is to transcribe a variety of Islamic information into Braille and then distribute this information to the blind community in the UK and worldwide. Through our research we have determined that there is a shortage of Braille information on Islam, and in particular there is a shortage of Braille literature about the Ahlul-Bayt (as) and the light of truth. Through our simple efforts InshaAllah we will increase the diversity of Islamic Braille information that we aim to make relevant for non-muslims and existing muslims within the blind community.

Long Term Goals

InshaAllah looking further ahead we would like to establish the following:

Set-up a proper association to assist the blind and visually impaired in gaining knowledge on Islam.
Set up a network by which we can help the blind and visually impaired in their studies, for example by offering a question and answer service in Braille.
Help sighted volunteers to learn Braille, thereby increasing the resources available.
Establish our own Islamic Braille Library for worldwide book lending.
Set up our own transcribing centre so we can work independently.

Where are we now?

We are commencing on our first project, the production of Dua Kumayl in Braille. In addition to the dua we have included a brief introduction. InshaAllah this highly spiritual supplication will bring joy to the hearts of muslims and non-muslims alike from within the blind community.

We have established a link with the Scottish Braille Press, with whom we will be working with for this first project.

We will soon identify our second project too InshaAllah.

We have been very blessed also to have received communication from brothers and sisters within the blind muslim community. In addition we have been very happy to hear from individuals who work with the public and are interested to know if we can help them in assisting others. For example, we have heard from a community worker who cares for a muslim lady who can only read Braille, and an airport worker who is in charge of airport Mosques and wishes to provide a Braille selection for the passengers.

We have been greatly encouraged by the feedback received so far.

We now believe that this B.I.B.I. project will prove to be valuable to a number of individuals and so we are determined to continue with it and make it work. We still believe that there is a great shortage of Islamic Braille material, the communications we have received from brothers and sisters in need only backs up this view.

We continue to build on our knowledge and have updated the questions we were looking into below:

Questions Raised

Answers to date

What Islamic Braille material is currently available?

the Holy Quran in Arabic Braille is available.
the National Library for the Blind (UK) stock a limited number of Islamic books, many are very old, and possibly only one title is concerned with the Ahlul-Bayt (as). Through further investigations it is also clear that a number of these publications were written by non-muslims and are not always accurate. The NLB do stock a copy of the Holy Quran in English. Click here to view the list of Islamic Braille titles available through the NLB.
await information from Iran on Braille material produced and whether this is all in Farsi Braille.

Are there any existing organisations for blind muslims?

identified one Sunni organisation in South Africa
not yet found any Islamic organisation producing Braille material in the UK. Searched the list of Blind Associations on the RNIB website, could not see any Islamic Braille associations at all, although there were associations for Christianity and Judaism. Some Christian associations are established to the point of producing Braille information in other languages in order to attract new members from muslim countries. The Bahai organisation have their own Braille library, according to website information they have already produced over 140 titles.

What Islamic material would we select for transcription into Braille?

Initial ideas include:

information regarding the Ahlul-Bayt(as)
information inviting non-muslims to Islam
Dua Kumayl and an assortment of Duas and Ziarats

What are the costs of employing an external company for the transcription work?

Have requested quotes.

1) £1.50 per page of transcription into Braille and then 10 pence per copy made. One page refers to one page of Braille. For example if we had one page of hadith from the Ahlul-Bayt (as), only a few short hadith would fit in one page, and we requested 50 copies, the cost would be £1.50 plus £5.00, a total of £6.50

2) Received a second quote which is based on the number of words in a document. Depending on the size and layout of the document in question this second organisation may be cheaper.

Roughly, if you have a document of 20 pages in length and you want 50 copies of the document, the estimated costs are about £130 with quotation 1 and nearer £100 with quotation 2.

3) Third quote now received, also based on word count.

	Braille
Word Count	Origination £	Cost per Copy £
100	£17	£0.65
250	£17	£0.75
1,000	£58	£1.00
5,000	£234	£1.10
10,000	£465	£1.55
20,000	£916	£3.00

Having a book transcribed into Braille incurs the extra cost of binding, but this is reasonably priced Alhamdulillah.

Longer-term can we purchase our own Braille transcription equipment?

This is a possibility that will be considered properly at a later date. Initially we will start with a few transcriptions and then see how the interest takes off. Cost of software and hardware required will run to a few hundred pounds.

How will be distribute the material?

- the National Library for the Blind have replied to say that they accept gifts of books to be added to their library. I have a contact with whom to discuss this with once we have a shortlist of book titles to be transcribed.

- we have contacted a number of local organisations for the blind and await to hear whether any would be interested in receiving free Braille Islamic books. Have heard back from some organisations to say they would like to receive our Islamic Braille material.

- we have contacted B.A.M.B.I., an organisation promoting the learning of Braille and Moon and the production of literature for the blind. No reply, will try again.

- we will attempt to build up our own database of individuals who are interested in receiving our Braille material. Some contact details already received.

How you can help

As you will appreciate this project is at it's infancy stages and therefore we really need your support in the following:

- Please let us know of any organisations currently producing english Braille Islamic information. InshaAllah we can then ask them for advice and call on their experience. In addition we do not want to use resources producing Braille material that already exists, rather we want to produce new Braille material that the blind have not had access to up until now.

- Please let us know of any individuals or organisations that you think would like to receive our literature. Please indicate whether they are muslims who want to increase their libraries, or whether they are non-muslims who you think will be interested to learn about Islam. Please remember to provide us with an email address or postal address. We will assume that we can write, and that our correspondence will be transcribed by the receiver, unless you specify that it is a necessity for us to communicate in Braille.

- Please let us know of any Braille transcription companies that may be able to offer us good rates. If you yourself work for such a company please do get in touch if you are able to offer cheap or even free services.

Making a Donation

Please note that this is a non-profit project, we simply want to take donations and turn them into Braille material which we will distribute. Any donations received will be spent solely on the project. May you receive many blessings for your kindness, and many rewards for spreading the light of truth to those who would otherwise be left in the dark.

Sending Your Donation by Cheque

We have set up a separate bank account that will be used solely for the B.I.B.I. project. We will happily supply copies of bank statements and/or the accounts on request.

Please make cheques payable to 'L.Turner' and post to the following address:

B.I.B.I.
PO BOX 452
High Wycombe
HP12 4WD
England

Ideally we would like to receive cheques in UK sterling, however, we can accept cheques in any currency although they will have a reduced value as we will need to pay for the currency conversion.

Making Your Donation Directly into the B.I.B.I. Bank Account

Our account is held with Nationwide and you may visit any branch and leave a donation in our account, you will need the following account details:

Bank/Building Society: NATIONWIDE

Branch: High Wycombe

Sort Code: 07 0116

Account No.: 2990 8941

You may also go to your own bank and ask them to make the donation for you, again you will need to supply your bank with our details.

If you have any questions regarding making a donation towards the production of Braille material on Islam please do email us. ZAYNAB5@AOL.COM

B.I.B.I., PO BOX 452, High Wycombe, HP12 4WD, England

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