Deaf Du'aat from Qatar Visit Area Deaf Muslims
Lots of conversations were taking place in the lecture room, but the room was relatively silent because everyone was speaking in sign language. On September 4, 2014, fifty people gathered at Dar Al-Hijrah in Falls Church, Virginia to celebrate deaf culture and learn from visiting deaf daees from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Ali Al-Sennari, Chairman of Qatar Cultural and Social Center For Deaf traveled from Qatar. Fellow board member and his hearing interpreter, Saleh Al-Jarhab, accompanied him. Their mission includes introducing Qatari deaf abilities and skills to the society and developing deaf members' minds and culture through a ‘’variable matrix of purposeful programs and activities.’ They are also working on an Arabic Sign Dictionary.
The Global Deaf Muslims, led by Nashiru Abdulai, Founder and President of GDM, served as host for the visiting du'aat. Three sign language interpreters worked simultaneously during the workshop to translate from Arabic sign language to American Sign Language and into spoken English. Eighty percent of Arabic Sign Language is different from ALS.
Both groups aim to create a global Islamic sign language for deaf Muslims all over the world, so they can give dawah without needing to translate words. “We are trying to start an Islamic Sign Language dictionary, since our interpreters struggle to translate such as words like bismillah, subhanallah and so on need to have sign languages recorded,” shared Abdulai.
“I hope the Islamic Sign language or a Muslim Sign Language is one— because our God is one, our Prophet is one, our Holy Book is one,” said Al-Sennari in an interview with the Muslim Link.
In Qatar deaf children attend school until they become adults and are accommodated by the government with jobs, especially in the IT field and benefits. Al-Sennari thinks Islamic education should be available to deaf people as well like hearing people. The deaf are not dumb and they can learn and are motivated in their Islam, he said.
They were joined by Abdul Munim, an active deaf daee who came from Saudi Arabia who also gives dawah on YouTube. Abdul Munim is sponsored by the Advocacy Foundation of Deaf in Riyadh and he gives dawah to the deaf Muslims in America.
Attendees found the translation of one form of sign language into another fascinating. Some are very active in their body language while signing, some softer just like when people are speaking, some have a soft voice and others have a harder tone. Facial expressions and gestures are also a part of getting the message across.
The visitors said they found that American Muslims co-mingle where as the culture in Qatar was different and segregation was emphasized.
In a room full of deaf people, if one did not understand sign language one felt incapable, perhaps understanding the needs of the deaf with more empathy.
Al-Sennari reminded everyone if they are thinking about evil and the devil tempts you risk punishment. He added that Allah will forgive your sins if you ask Him and the believers should not dwell on their past sins but must focus on the present. He urged the audience to find a connection with Allah in their own lives.
Forgiveness was a big theme in his presentation, as was building a relationship Allah, and becoming a part of society by not secluding oneself. “Being alone by yourself is not beneficial, interact with society, have good relations with each other and stay with the community, Al-Sennari signed. The message of the Jummah was emphasized. He advised about the rights of friendships, concealing their faults and ones’ responsibility is conveying the deen to our friends and family.
He mentioned gifts from Allah like water, and being Muslim is a blessing. ‘Money will not save you, its Allah who saves you… Allah should be on top of your priority list…Having Allah in your life is like medicine for you were some gems from his presentation.
Another reminder from the lecturer was that newspapers and information are resources but they are just publications, the Qur'an is written for us and is God’s words. “Silly magazines will not improve your life and there are no blessings in reading and memorizing popular news,” he reminded his audience.
“My emphasis [is] be in touch with deen, work hard in learning and keep your children in deen. Your job to learn as much as you can and children should earn from us not from other sources. Did you preserve our religion our job first is teaching our children good for Ummah and ourselves,” conveyed Ustadh Sennari with fluid hands and soft gestures.
Amina works in the DC Jail and she has many inmates who are deaf she so is talking classes to learn ASL. She hopes to become an interpreter and sign khutbahs and talks for the deaf. She enjoyed the event as a hearing person, learning from the visiting daees.
The daee from Saudi Arabia, Abdul Munim said he was not a scholar but had studied under many shuyukh. He urged the audience to follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad and said that those who read and recite Qur'an those are the people who will be saved. He emphasized unity and reminded deaf Muslims not to change the Qur'an or its meaning.
He spoke about extramarital relationships and socializing with opposite sex and gave advice based on marriage in the Quran. Some takeaways were to go back to the Qur'an to see what is good and correct when friends may be sharing things about Islam or saying things that you do not know if they are true or not.
Boys and girls, young men and teenagers hung on to each word that was signed by the Islamic callers who had traveled from so far away. Men and women —some deaf, some hearing—with deaf children came to attend the workshop.
A local treasure and attraction for the deaf is Gallaudet University, a global international deaf university in Washington DC, ‘a world leader in liberal education and career development for deaf and hard of hearing students’. Attending Gallaudet is an eye-opener for the international students where they see a deaf president, deaf policemen, a deaf provost, and deaf professors. A 'I can' ethos prevails instead of 'I can't.' The United States is a leader in deaf leadership and with the formation of the Qatari Center for the Deaf, Qatar is also joining the ranks of deaf leading the deaf.
Several deaf Saudi students who study at Gallaudet University attended the lecture. It was a pleasure for them to see Arabic Sign Language and receive Islamic reminders in Arabic Sign language. There are about 50 deaf students from Saudi Arabia in DC. Bader Al-Suliman, a father of three who is in his second year in computer programming, is from Riyadh. He sends his children to an Islamic school but misses the Islamic programs for deaf in Saudi Arabia. Like many deaf students in Saudi Arabia, he will go back to teach. Until the age of seven, students attend Islamic classes in Arabic Sign Language in Saudi Arabia, he told The Muslim Link.
Metropolitan Deaf Muslims Executive Director, Issatu Santuraki was also at the event. She looks forward to the universal sign language and says many deaf are illiterate—they can’t read or write— and this would be tool to help people worldwide. She saw the difference in Arabic Sign language, she understood the body language of the visitors but needed the interpreters for a majority of the lecture. Having a global sign language would benefit people everywhere.
“GDM arranged this event upon [the visitors] requests to come and talk about Islam. Our deaf community wants to understand Islam well and we take every opportunity offered to learn,” commented Nash of GDM, the moniker that is most used for Abdulai. He met the brothers in Qatar at the first international forum for deaf Muslims in Doha last year that they had collaborated on. “It was very successful and from there we learned that a majority of deaf Muslims from around the world understand little about Islam,” he shared.
The group will travel to France, Britain, and Belgium for the same session. “They would love to go to another state as many deaf have been asking but due to lack of time and our own busy schedule, we hope to see this first and then try to arrange more if that is helpful to our community,” he conveyed. Abdulai is originally from Ghana but is also a proud Virginian.
He said that masajid in the are have been improving with their accommodation for deaf Muslims. Although curiosity has increased and most masajid are welcoming, very few have made tangible efforts to arrange for sign interpreters.
GDM has been working on an ASL Quran project. “Alhamdulillah, we now have a team that includes deaf signers, scholars and interpreters that are working on the Qur'an in ASL. We continue to raise funds to add more deaf signers and also to train our team well.” This year at the ISNA convention, GDM asked several popular speakers to learn how to sign their name is ASL and filed their videos to raise awareness about deaf Muslims and the need for Islamic resources in ASL.
GDM has chapters in Minnesota, Virginia, California, New York, Texas, and chapters forming in Chicago, Ghana, and Canada. GDM also provides weekend Islamic class, ASL classes, Ramadan and Eid programs, zakat, and social services to deaf people. A popular project is the annual Umrah trip took to Saudi Arabia. The team is actively working on the next international forum in Kuwait in December 2015 and with the Qatari Government to bring Deaf Qataris to visit the US.
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