Programs

Global Deaf Muslim aims to provide programs to brothers, sisters, and communities in Islam worldwide to understand deaf in Islam by dismantling the barriers of communication, learning, and participation of deaf Muslims. We undertake these programs in name of Allah and we ask for his blessing upon our works. We do ask for funds and resources from sisters and brothers to make the programs to be possible.

Sponsorship for Muslim Student Association

As part of GDM mission of advancing the Islamic education for Deaf Muslims, we do provide a sponsorship to number of Deaf Muslim students in the United States to attend Muslim Student Association Zone Conference. The students will be chosen by application and lottery, which the winners will have their transportation and registration covered by GDM. GDM has a strong relationship to MSA because MSA greatly boosted the growth of GDM in its infancy. It is an once a year sponsorship. The chosen Deaf Muslim students will have a chance to meet other brothers and sisters of their peerage to learn more about Islam.

Islamic Sign Language

We aim to establish a universal hand signs for words and concepts that exist in Islam for all users of sign language to use in pursuit of the goal of uniformity in signs. To do that, we must start collecting pictures and videos of Deaf Muslims in many countries to record their signs for words and concepts in Islam to find the most practical universal hand signs to reduce confusion and time spent on translating different hand signs of a same word or concept.

After the effort of recording is done, a committee of individuals with knowledge of sign language development and linguistics will be entrusted with the responsibility to come up with a universal suggested hand signs for Islamic words and concepts. The suggested hand signs will be posted in GDM website and distributed via picture books and videos to everyone in everywhere.

Islam Video

It is known to us that our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) mentioned, and narrated by Uthman bin Affan narrated that “The most superior among you (Muslims) are those who learn Qu’ran and teach it” (B. 61 : 546).

Sometimes writing cannot bring the message across to the receiver for various reasons; sometimes a picture or a movie with messages produces more powerful messages to be received by the viewers. We, GDM, recognize the power of video for our cause. We aim to provide videos with professional sign language users explaining about Islam on many issues such as zakat, marriage, faith, and learning. The videos will be able to educate Deaf Muslims who lack sufficient reading since sign language employs a universal meaning that transcends the nations’ borders. Th videos will be posted at the GDM website and through DVDs.

Our ultimate goal, insha allah, is to provide a complete set of videos of professional sign language users translating the entire Holy Qu’ran into hand motions. That will be a mammoth task that will add one more language the Holy Qur’an is translated into, reaching to people that use a sign language as a primary mean of communication.

Conference

It is written in the Holy Qu’ran: “And who whoever is given knowledge is given indeed abundant wealth” (2: 269).

It is known that our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) mentioned and narrated by Malik ibn al-Huwairith that: “Go back to your people and teach them” (B. 3 : 25).

To foster and encourage exchanges of thoughts, experiences, discussions, and developments for Deaf Muslims worldwide, we aim to host a conference called “Deaf in Islam” from time to time at different location around the world. Since the number of Deaf Muslims is small and difficult to calculate, the conference will be an excellent opportunity for Deaf Muslims to develop a global connection for the betterment of themselves.

The conference will invite scholars, activists, imams, speakers, and delegates from all over the world to discuss what have been done for Deaf Muslims, what should be done for Deaf Muslims, and what will be done for Deaf Muslims. The conference will function as a periodic review of progress of Deaf in Islam.

Parent-child relationship

It is written in the Holy Qur’an: Those who believe and are followed in faith by their descendants, We cause their descendants to join them. And We deprive them of nothing of their work. Every individual is a pledge for what he does (52 : 21).

Umar ibn al-Khattab narrated that Allah’s messenger taught him to say, “O Allah, make my inner nature better than my outer, and make my outer nature good. O Allah, I ask Thee to give me some of the abundance thou givest to men, in family, property and children, which neither stray nor lead astray” (Tirmidhi)

The program to educate Muslim parents of deaf children is considered to be the most sacred of all programs to GDM because it is written in Holy Qu’ran and said by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that it is the duty of Muslim parents to give their children an Islamic education. There are many Deaf Muslims who receive insufficient religious education to understand the wonders and beauty of Islam.

As part of the mission, GDM aims to develop and provide workshops and information to Muslim parents worldwide in different languages about how to raise Deaf children, how to obtain secular and religious educations, to have their children to be part of the community, and how to communicate with Deaf children. We aim to make videos, audio tapes, informative packets, and workshops where Muslim parents can understand the unique needs of Deaf children and how their minds can be best educated to be good believers. We strive to reach many Muslim parents of Deaf children as possible. An educated Deaf Muslim will make Allah joyful.