Every $250 We Receive Helps Us To Produce An English Translation of the Quran in Braille.

The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said “Read the Qur’an, for it will come as an intercessor for its reciters on the Day of Resurrection” (Bukhari & Muslim)

When Yadira Thabatah converted to Islam 16 years ago from Catholicism, she was eager to learn everything she could about her new religion. The only thing slowing Yadira down was that the 37-year-old mother of four living in Fort Worth, Tex., was born blind. When she and her husband, 36-year-old Nadir Thabatah, who is legally blind but has partial vision, looked for high-quality, English-language resources that she could read, they found nothing.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said “Indeed the one who recites the Quran beautifully, smoothly, and precisely, will be in the company of the noble and obedient angels. As for the one who recites with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its verses, then he will have twice that reward.” (Bukhari & Muslim)

So in 2016, she and Nadir decided it was time for some DIY action. They spent eight months converting a popular English-language translation of Islam’s holy book into braille characters, then used LaunchGood to raise money to buy a braille embosser and began producing Quran translations right in their garage. In the past five years, under the auspices of their nonprofit, Islam By Touch, the couple has sent more than 650 braille Qurans to U.S. mosques for distribution to visually impaired Muslims as well as to individuals directly around the world. They have also launched an app to help visually impaired Muslims learn about their faith, setup Dawah booths at blind conventions with blind accessible materials, and do workshops online and in person to educate the Muslim community on how to interact with disabled people with respect and dignity. 

The first time Yadira was able to read the Quran for herself was when she was proofreading her own braille rendering of an English translation.

“I actually cried. I’m a reader by nature. Going from being Muslim for about a decade and never having read the Quran, the word of Allah, to actually giving this amazing opportunity to other blind people. I can’t put it into words.”

Testimonials

Salaam, I received my English Braille Quran published by Islam By Touch last year. I have been reading the Quran and am very happy with the translation. I took one volume to an event and showed it to the people there. It is good to know that you are offering this most precious book in our hands. I had received 2 copies and I gave one to another blind person. As a blind individual, I feel that learning Braille and reading is very important, as it gives us the chance to understand much better. Listening is good for memorizing but not understanding. Thanks for this wonderful service." - Yasmin R.

“Hello, I wanted to thank you very much for sending along the Braille and audio files of the Quran. I've copied the audio to my Victor Stream reader and am able to navigate it just fine.  I copied the Braille files to my Braille Edge display and so far, am able to read and navigate them without difficulty. Ms. Yadira, I'm also completely blind and I am also finding Islam through a wonderful lady I plan to marry. Finding both Braille and audio files of the Quran in English from your organization is truly a gift from God and at exactly the right time. Again, I am so glad to have found you and your organization. Thank you for any thoughts or help you can provide for someone exploring Islam and thank you so much for what you and your organization are doing for blind people everywhere. Regards,” - Chris

Islam By Touch Current Projects and Initiatives: 

1. Producing and distributing the English Meanings of the Quran in braille: This is ongoing and we will always be doing this. We ship the braille Qurans all  around the world. The sponsorship cost for a full set of the English Meanings of the  Quran in braille is $250. That is just the cost for materials and domestic shipping. This  does not include the cost for international shipping.  

2. Islam By Touch app: We had this app developed for blind and visually impaired people who don’t  know how to read braille. Maintaining this app, making an app for android, and adding  more books to it is the goal. App maintenance alone is a few hundred dollars for every  update. Porting the app to Android would cost over $30,000.  

3. Giving Dawah to the Blind Community: We go to blind conventions and set up a Dawah table in the main exhibition hall.  We are the only organization who offer blind accessible Dawah material. Between the  costs of materials, travel expenses, food, etc. the cost is about $5000-$7000 minimum a  trip. 

4. Educational Workshops and Programs on “How to Treat Disabled People With  Respect and Dignity”: We were doing this in person before Covid, and inshaAllah will resume once the pandemic its under control.

Our Mission

Islam By Touch is a registered 501c3 organization which aims to make Islam accessible to the blind community. The organization’s current campaign is focused on producing and distributing copies of the Braille Quran in English Translation (Saheeh International) for free.