Deaf in Islam Conference at Georgetown University
Sponsored by Georgetown Office of Campus Ministry, Imam Yahya Hendi, and Global Deaf Muslim

Topics: Family, Knowledge, and Deaf
Date: April 24
Time: 9am to 5pm
Location: MCCA McShain Lounge at Georgetown University

Contact:
Dr. Huda Totonji hat9@georgetown.edu  for hearing,
Rym Ferahtia rymferahtia@gmail.com for Deaf

Interpreters will be provided
Foods and drinks will be provided
Open to all!

Discuss about Deaf family, deaf in hearing family, Deaf in Islam, and how Deaf Muslims can learn more about Islam

Written by Mobeen Vaid

Breaking the Silence- Global Deaf Muslim Fundraiser

Sunday, February 21^st, 2010- Global Deaf Muslim (GDM), in conjunction with the ADAMS Center, held its annual fundraiser at the ADAMS Center last Sunday.  A crowd of approximately 250 people filed in to hear and watch a night spent raising awareness and funds for Global Deaf Muslim, an organization dedicated to providing services and support for deaf and hard-of-hearing Muslims around the world.

The ADAMS Center Youth Coordinator, Joshua Salaam, began the night by mentioning an incident that happened to him a few months back.  A mother had contacted Salaam in regards to services for deaf Muslim youth- her daughter was deaf and had expressed a feeling of estrangement with the broader Muslim community.  In response to this request, Salaam searched the web and came across GDM’s website and read about an event at Galludet University.  Salaam picked up the mother and daughter and took them to the event.  At the fundraiser, Salaam recalled his thoughts when he arrived on Galludet’s Campus, “it was at that point that I realized I was handicapped, not them.”  He sat and watched as a room of Muslim youth communicated with each other, joking, telling stories, and enjoying their time together entirely using Sign Language.

After Salaam spoke, Hamza Khan, a local member of the ADAMS Center, spoke about his experiences growing up as someone hard-of-hearing.  Khan recalled his days as a child- confused looking at those around him, watching others laughing and speaking to him while he smiled back in ambivalence to what was being said.  After this pattern of responses continued for some time, Khan’s parents became concerned and took him to the doctor.  At the time Khan was only a year and a half old, and the doctor was unable to find any abnormalities after conducting an evaluation.  It was only when Khan entered elementary school that the school administration scheduled him for an audio evaluation test.  Eventually, with the help of a speech therapist, hearing aids, and learning American Sign Language, Hamza Khan began speaking by the age of 7.  Since then, Khan has dedicated much of his life to helping others undergoing the same difficulties he went through and advancing the cause of deaf and hard-of-hearing muslims globally.

Nashiru Abdulai, president and founder of GDM, took to the front of the room following Hamza Khan and signed a speech that few would forget.  Abdulai’s speech was spoken through an interpreter and he told the audience about his goals for GDM.  Abdulai introduced the GDM board which is composed of working professionals with degrees in social work, human resource development, chemical engineering, and more.  Abdulai mentioned the dire need for facilities that cater to the needs of deaf muslims- he expressed disappointment over the difficulties that deaf muslims have to encounter. “Friday Khutbahs, conferences, and popular community events rarely have deaf interpretation on site,” said Abdulai.  Abdulai went on to say that this feeds into a feeling of alienation from the Muslim community and said he hopes to use GDM as an outlet to communicate these needs to Muslim organizations worldwide.

Mobin Tawakkul, a board member and Director of Communications for GDM, furthered Abdulai’s sentiments and spoke of the need to consider the families of Deaf Muslims as well.  “Many parents are simply unequipped to deal with the challenge of having a child who is hearing impaired,” Tawakkul said.  Tawakkul hopes to develop a program for parents of Deaf Muslims to “acculturate them to the needs of deaf children and connect them with other parents who are dealing with the same challenges as they are.”

The keynote speaker for the fundraiser was Imam Mohamad Magid, Imam and Executive Director of the ADAMS Center as well as the active Vice President of ISNA.  Imam Magid provided a thorough analysis of Deaf Muslims and their role in the muslim society according to scholarly tradition.  Magid spoke of two approaches that scholars typically took- the first was one of sympathy, where scholars took pity on the deaf and gave them numerous exceptions without highlighting any major role that they could play in society.  The second approached called for responsiveness by the community to cater to their needs and implored Deaf Muslims to be ambitious and not allow their hearing impediment to get in the way of accomplishing lofty goals.  Magid referred to the first approach as “mistaken” and spoke about how Islam honored the disabled in the Quran. Magid mentioned how Allah referred to Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum, the famous blind companion, as “al-a’maa” or “the blind man” and not with his name.  The scholars concluded that one of the reasons this was done was to honor all those who would come after Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum with disabilities and for them to know that their voice should not be suppressed and that even though people might not always pay them attention, God always does.

Magid concluded his speech powerfully by giving his unequivocal support for the work of GDM, and told Abdulai and the other GDM members in attendance, “I want to be your Imam.”

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The Global Deaf Muslims would like to recognize and thank all those who volunteered and assisted with making the event possible.  After the blessings and assistance of Allah, volunteers from the ADAMS Youth Group, ADAMS Center Administration, and AlMaghrib Institutes Qabeelat Nurayn all played crucial roles in the formulation of the event.  May Allah accept from everyone’s efforts in His path.  Ameen.

Please check the picture gallery from GDM fund-raising effort at ADAMS on Feb 21, 2010.
ADAMS gallery

A post about ADAMS will come soon.

We give thanks to everyone who attended to the event and donated to us!

UPDATE FROM CANADA

Join us on Facebook!
The CAMD Deaf Muslims Group currently has 81 members from Canada and across the world. The group is used to provide a forum for discussion on issues relevant to Deaf Muslims in Canada . Individual members are free to post comments, questions and/or initiate discussion with other members. Everyone are encouraged to join at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=360254725370&ref=ts

Islam Class in ASL
CAM-D and Masjid Toronto/MAC are currently working with Masjid Toronto on providing Islam in ASL classes. The first class will be held on Sunday March 7, 2010 from 2pm-4pm at Masjid Toronto. All are welcome to attend.

Deaf Muslims email list
CAMD and GDM Canada have set up a global email list so that Deaf Muslims across the world can send and receive emails about issues concerning Deaf Muslims. Send your name, address and email address to GDMCanada_Coordinator@camd.ca to join for FREE!

Please circulate this through your networks to help us reach Deaf Muslims in Canada and visit www.camd.ca .

The deaf Muslim Group – CAMD is now on facebook. Our goal is to bring together deaf Muslims in Canada. We are committed to providing services to deaf Muslims to learn about Islam and to raise awareness of the issues that are important to Deaf Muslims within the Muslim community Insha Allah. Please sign-up for the group and start sharing your issues and ideas.

Here is the link for this facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=name&id=537105067#/group.php?gid=360254725370

Regards,

Rabia Khedr
CAM-D – Canadian Association of Muslims with Disabilities
www.camd.ca

Check this out!!!

Objective:
Procure funds to support the purchase of an office space as well as funds for projects to assist and educate the deaf Muslim Community.
Dinner Provided, interpreters provided

Contact: mbenta21@gmail.com, vaid.mobeen@gmail.com

***

As salaamu ‘Alaikum.

My name is Hakim and as the Director of Fundraising, I am issuing the following announcement on behalf of Global Deaf Muslim. We have worked very hard to try to secure the necessary funds from our main sponsors, however I regret to inform you that we are unable to meet our budgetary targets for the Dubai Conference 2010 and have no choice but to postpone it indefinitely. Our goal to provide about twenty speakers and panel members, thirteen sign language interpreters, and accommodations for those deaf participants who are unable to afford them. We followed our main sponsors’ recommendations and received the necessary approvals from the ministries of the Dubai government but our main sponsors are unable to commit within the current time frame.

We know that many of you are disappointed and we are truly sorry. We all wanted this conference to be a success. We worked diligently over the past year, publicizing this event for fundraising and staying up all night writing tons of letters and answering emails. We did our best and planned but we know that “Allah is the best of planners.”

Even though we are no longer hosting the conference this year, we have made a lot of progress. We have networked with many deaf Muslims around the world, and these connections are a tremendous asset since we can now get information to them quickly online. We have also secured non-profit status approval from the US government. We have learned a lot from our experiences and will operate more efficiently Insha’Allah (God Willing).

We are now stepping up fundraising efforts and reaching out to more potential sponsors, including ministries of the UAE federal government. Raising the necessary funds for our conference will take time. In the meantime, we have reimbursed those of you who paid for registration. If you haven’t received your refund already, then please contact us as soon as possible.

We would like express our profound thanks to the volunteers for the Dubai conference for their participation and due diligence in assisting us. We are also very grateful to our deaf communities in the US, Australia, from the Middle East, Africa, and Europe for believing in us and being so generous with their time and effort.

We hope for your continued support in our future endeavors.

From the Board of Directors, Global Deaf Muslim.

February- Washington DC

March Michigan

April Georgia and Florida

June New York and Chicago

Email us if you are interested in helping us, tell us of state you are from at contact@globaldeafmuslim.org

Regards