Al-Isharah

Who we are

Through parent led consultation we found that the biggest concern for Muslim families with Deaf children was whether their children would be able to grasp core Islamic education with their visual language needs.

It has been found that many families did not know sign language to it’s full capacity but rather a gesture based form therefore families struggled in explaining such topics.

Our organisation aims to break down complex Islamic concepts and Quranic Arabic into a format that engages and works with Deaf educational needs. Every Child Matters is a government policy that focuses on the well-being of children and young people from birth to age 19.

This is central to the development of the programmes within Al-Isharah.

The Government’s aim is for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to:

• Be healthy
• Stay safe
• Enjoy and achieve
• Make a positive contribution
• Achieve economic well being

Alongside this we are keen to support the aims of Every Muslim Child Matters, in particular, exploring Islam and citizenship and to celebrate the cultural diversity of Muslims living in the UK. Al-Isharah works with the Muslim Deaf community to make resources accessible and cultivate independent thinking.

We support the exploration of the Islamic faith and in particular how this fits into multi-cultural Britain today.In January 2009 we were commissioned by Tower Hamlets Council Prevent fund to research and profile the diverseness of Deaf Muslims in London and to document their experiences.

Our work has successfully engaged a minority of Deaf children often isolated due to cultural taboos around Deafness and disability. We look forward to your support in the development of our work.