Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

05 September 2024

3-minute read

A hadith mentions: ‘You are only sustained because of the weak people amongst you’. Islam acknowledges the role of everyone in society, even people with special-needs. A forerunner in the progress of the community in inclusion of people with special needs is the Lenasia Muslim Association. The LMA’ special needs class started in 2006 and caters for learners with all types of disabilities from autism to down syndrome, slow learners, and even those with developmental delays.

Endeavouring to acknowledge the efforts of their special needs class, the LMA is hosting a jalsa for these differently-abled learners. Sister Zubeida Karodia from the LMA stressed the importance of educating special-needs children at madrassah and spoke about their upcoming jalsa taking place on the 14^th September at 5pm. The theme this year is on outer space; highlighting the beauty of deen and the miracles of Allah SWT. While teaching special needs children is definitely a “challenge”, the purpose of the jalsa is to create awareness and showcase the talents of these special needs children in order for them to thrive.  Everything is explained to the kids beforehand to give them an understanding of why they are doing what they doing, and they are very excited and enthusiastic, with preparation being compared to the buildup to Eid. “Our teaching is not only the teaching of the child; it is what we have learnt from our children as well”, said Sister Zubeida, adding that all people with special needs want is, “to be included, to be accommodated, and to be accepted’.

There are multiple rewards, joys and challenges of raising children with special needs and assisting and allowing them to reach their full potential. Sister Fadhila Akoojee has two special needs boys herself and described what it feels like being their parent. They are the “the light of my home”, she says and while raising such children is “definitely a challenge”, she feels “blessed” to be their mother, trying to always treat them like normal children. When her boys were younger and she took on the difficult task of focusing on their education, Sister Fadhila tried to identify their cognitive abilities so that they could reach their full potential. Initially, she couldn’t find the correct school for her elder son; they went from school to school where they had difficulty diagnosing and highlighting his challenge. It was then that she understood that her special needs children’s love for deeni learning was far greater than schooling and education. As a parent, she says, “you are the only one who understands your child” as you know what they can and can’t do. She even attempted to put her son into a mainstream school but had to take him out after just a week, as she found that abled-children didn’t know how to interact with him. While we teach those with disability how to interact with others, so called ‘normal’ children are not taught how to interact with differently-abled kids.

The jalsa, which takes place every alternate year, is a culmination of years of work and the LMA special needs class are requesting for the community to come out and support them. The motto of the LMA special needs class is, ‘do your best and leave the rest to Allah’.

Listen to the full interview on Sabahul Muslim.