Brilio.net – Memorizing the Koran is a very noble and beneficial act of worship for Muslims. However, what if we can’t hear the sound of reading the Koran? Can we still memorize it? The answer is yes, we can.
That’s what deaf students do at a special Islamic boarding school in Yogyakarta. They use sign language as a way to learn and memorize the Koran.
This Islamic boarding school for the deaf is called Darul Ashom which is located in Kayen Hamlet, Condongcatur Village, Depok District, Sleman Regency. As the name suggests, this boarding school is used by all students who are deaf or have disabilities related to hearing problems. The students come from various regions with various backgrounds, ages, and different understandings of each other.
Even though many students were in front of the Koran, the atmosphere at the Darul Ashom Islamic Boarding School remained quiet. There was no sound of conversation as they set the table, only finger gestures to each other.
The tables were arranged in rows, divided into several groups. Each student opens a copy of the Koran, according to the page they are memorizing. Yes, that’s the daily activity at the boarding school for the deaf.
photo: Brilio.net/Syeny Wulandari
The administrator and founder of Darul Ashom Islamic Boarding School for the Deaf, Abu Kahfi, said that this Islamic boarding school was inaugurated on September 19 2019. The background to the establishment of this Islamic boarding school was because of the journey he went through and met many deaf friends.
It is said that around thirteen years earlier, while still living in Bandung, West Java, he saw a number of deaf people with very little knowledge of religion, some even had no knowledge of religion at all.
“In Bandung, this was the first time I met a deaf person, when I asked Allah, I didn’t know him, the other friends of his didn’t know Allah either,” said Abu Kahfi when met by brilio.net, at the Tahfidz House for the Deaf Darul Ashom.
(brl/wen)