KUCHING: Sarawak has received the Al-Quran in braille to assist the visually impaired to improve on reading and memorising the holy book.
The Malaysian Huffaz Association, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, has been proactive in helping the poor and disabled groups across the country, encouraging them to read and memorise the Al-Quran.
Its chairman Hairulfazli Mohammad Som said, this time, the association is helping the visually impaired group in the state by providing them the Al-Quran books in braille.
“This is the first time we delivered the Al-Quran braille book to the blind communities in Sarawak. Before this, we mostly delivered to parts of Johore, Kuala Lumpur and other locations in the peninsula.
“So I am happy that we are able to deliver the holy books to Sarawak, and it is a new experience for me as well,” said the association’s chairman.
He saidthe association is a non-government organisation (NGO) made up of working people, from lecturers and government officials to millionaires, who are willing to contribute to society.
“We are a group of people where we gather those who have memorised the Al-Quran and use their skills and knowledge to help the Muslim community to read the book.
“We are still a new organisation established in 2019. We have also done welfare programmes when the pandemic hit the country, mostly helping the disabled communities.”
Hairulfazli then explained that in Sarawak there are not many Al-Quran books in braille codes for the visually impaired people to read.
He mentioned that the Al-Quran braille books in Malaysia are limited due to the production cost and the machine use to print braille codes is expensive as it is imported.
“It is unbearable to see, say one or two Al-Quran braille books used by around 30 blind people, so it takes time for them to take turns to read.
“Thus, my association as well as other contributors have provided funds to respective visually impaired associations to print the braille codes, as much as RM1,000. We try to help them as much as possible,” said Hairulfazli.
He hoped that this can help the visually impaired Muslim community to fulfill their religious needs.
He also urged communities to lend a hand to any disabled associations or communities that in need of assistance.
