Masjid Al-Rahma mosque in Pulikkal, Kerala, which was inaugurated Monday, offers sign language interpretation of Friday Qutaba prayers, the Times of India reported Tuesday.
RELATED:
India's Kerala Becomes the First State to Install Sanitary Napkin Vending Machines in Schools
“This is the first time in the country and perhaps first in the world that such a mosque for the hearing impaired has taken shape,” Musthafa Madani, Secretary of the Ability Foundation, told PTI, Times of India reported.
The Ability foundation is the NGO that birthed the initial idea for the mosque. Madani had the idea of opening a mosque with sign-language interpretation when he came to find out that many hearing impaired students were skipping prayer meetings because they had difficulties following sermons, Times of India reported. Construction on the mosque began in October of 2016.
During the Friday prayers, all sermons will have sign language interpretation available. Sign-language interpreters will be a regular part of the mosque's staff.
"Even when people with other disabilities benefit from religious talks and preaching during Friday namaz, the hearing impaired are left out. We hope this mosque would prove a blessing for them", said Musthafa Madani, chairman of Ability Foundation.
"There are also large LCD screens installed on the mosque’s walls so that all attending the prayers, including women, even in the back rows, will be able to follow the prayers seeing the screens,” he said.
The Ability Foundation is an NGO dedicated to bringing self-sufficiency to differently-abled students. Currently, of the 300 differently-abled students at the NGO, around 200 are hearing impaired.
“It [the mosque] is a great boon to the deaf and mute students, who have never heard in their life. We have been able to give them their biggest joy,” says Madani.
According to the World Health Organization, South Asia has among the highest rates of disabling hearing loss in children in the world, with around 12.3 million children affected in the region.