Three Ways To Make Your Islamic Center More Accessible
by Ryan Ahmed and Mahmoud Soliman
To start off the new year, The Muslim Network organized an event titled “Accessibility in Action,” featuring representatives from Muhsen, Deaf Apparel, and Islamic Center of Passaic County (ICPC). The main focus of this event was to bring awareness to the issues Muslims with disabilities face and discuss ways to make both our physical and virtual spaces more accessible to them.
The event began with an informative discussion by Deaf Apparel founder, Wali Mahmood, where he spoke about the importance of learning sign language and the positive impact it can have on the deaf. Representative Areej from Muhsen discussed their mission to make Muslim communities across North America a better place for those with special needs by implementing specific programs and classes designated to serve and educate disabled persons. The presentation that followed covered a variety of tangible steps we can take to carry out the responsibilities of making our mosques and Muslim community centers more welcoming and easily accessible for those with special needs.
Our attendees and panelists suggested three ways to do just that:
Subtitles:
If your center live streams your Jummah Khutbah or general lectures, then use one of the many speech-to-text AI programs available (note that this is not a paid sponsorship nor an explicit endorsement of any of these programs): Otter.ai, Soapbox, Notta, Amberscript, and Deepgram to add subtitles to your stream. And if you’re uploading videos to your website or social media pages, make sure they have subtitles included or a transcript written in the caption. This will provide your Deaf and hard-of-hearing brothers and sisters access to greater Islamic knowledge that will help strengthen and grow their faith.
Family Bathrooms:
Bathrooms are one of the basic necessities of life. But unfortunately, some within our communities do not have the same access to them due to conditions that make it difficult or impossible. This becomes especially difficult when the individual who helps them is not of the same gender. A family bathroom makes public spaces more accessible as they no longer have to sit in discomfort while waiting to get home to relieve themselves.
Sensory Rooms:
It is important to remember that everyone sometimes needs a place to unwind, especially those who may often feel overstimulated. Time in a sensory room provides a sense of calm and comfort, and allows people a chance to mentally recharge in social settings. It may seem like a relatively costly endeavor, but it’s well worth it as it allows those who may be on the spectrum or have other special needs the chance to interact socially for longer periods of time without feeling overwhelmed.
You can use a spare room that your center may have, put up some blackout curtains and noise insulators, and even consider using calm colors for the design. Your facility doesn’t have to break the bank when putting a room like this together and will only further create accessibility for the underserved members of your community.
These are just a handful of items but note that this list was not comprehensive of everything a Muslim center can do to become more accessible. Other ways include braille signs, wheelchair ramps, ample seating areas for those who need chairs, sign language interpreters, etc. There are even additional organizations you can coordinate with. Global Deaf Muslim USA supports Deaf and hard-of-hearing Muslims by providing lectures and classes in ASL. And Islam By Touch prints and distributes braille Qur’ans across the country, all for free.
Every Muslim has a right over their brothers and sisters and so we must all do our best to fulfill those rights to the best of our abilities.