Braille Islamic Books & Information
Holy Quran 96.1 'Read in the name of your Lord Who created.'
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B.I.B.I.
Braille Islamic Books & Information |
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Holy Quran 96.1 'Read in the name of your Lord Who created.' |
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Dua Kumayl - Our First Project Alhamdulillah. Our first project is completed. Through sponsorship we have raised the necessary funds in order to produce 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. One copy of Dua Kumayl in Braille has been sent to the National Library for the Blind (UK) where it appears in their catalogue and is 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 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. |
| 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. |
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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.
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Where are we now? |
We are looking into the feasability or our next project, the production of Braille prayer instructions that can be worn by the new muslim whilst praying. As you know new muslims often need to read the prayers from a booklet until they are learnt by heart, this will inshaAllah be the equivalent in Braille.
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? |
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| Are there any existing organisations for blind muslims? |
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| What Islamic material would we select for transcription into Braille? | Initial ideas include:
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| What are the costs of employing an external company for the transcription work? | Not obtained any recent quotes |
| 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. - 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. |
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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.