A group of Indonesians with hearing impairments teamed up with a local Islamic organisation on a project to produce sign language videos, translating all 114 Surahs of the holy Quran. The initiative, called the Quran Indonesia Project, released its first video on YouTube before the start of Ramazan. So far, they have produced four more Surah videos and one of the azaan, the Muslim call to prayer.
Every year, as Ramazan approached, 25-year-old Surya Sahetapy and his close friends would start feeling depressed since they wanted to help more Indonesians study the holy Quran.
In Indonesia, many Muslims learn all 114 Surahs by listening to audio recordings. However, it has become a challenge for the deaf community.
“My deaf friends and I felt depressed because we did not have any way to help other deaf people to access Islam,” he said in an interview to the New York Times, accompanied by a sign-language interpreter.
The Quran Indonesia Project started with celebrities reading verses from the holy book in 2015 but has moved on to include videos of sign language translations.
In Indonesia, many Muslims learn all 114 Surahs by listening to audio recordings. However, it has become a challenge for the deaf community
“While many deaf Muslims in Indonesia can read and memorise some scriptures, they’ve little access to Islamic scholars who can communicate with them,” Surya Sahetapy said.
They’re also planning to release an educational board game about the basics of Islam as well as 10 sign-language DVDs explaining some prayers. The initiative is to help deaf Muslims not just memorise verses but understand their meaning.
“The videos also have their own message: If you want deaf Indonesians to learn Islam, they must learn sign language. Islam is not limited to what you read, but much more what you understand,” Tahepay said.
The idea for a sign-language holy Quran began in 2017 when Sahetapy met Quran Indonesia Project Founder & Executive Producer Archie Fitrah Wirija.
The holy Quran project has become one of the few educational resources for deaf Indonesians. There were 2.9 million deaf citizens as of 2015, according to the Central Statistics Bureau, although activists believe the number is actually much higher.