this is
[Music]
the ab he frowned
in the name of Allah the entirely
merciful the especially merciful he the
prophet frowned and turned away because
there came to him the blind man
interrupting but what would make you
perceive oh Muhammad that perhaps he
might be purified or be reminded and the
remembrance would benefit
him as for he who thinks himself without
need to him you give attention and not
upon you is any blame if he will will
not be purified but as for he who came
to you striving for knowledge while he
fears Allah from him you are distracted
no indeed they these verses are a
[Music]
reminder for
the people are you ready for the
[Music]
Islam by touch yep how you doing brother
alhamdulillah what does that mean many
people some people you know they tuned
in to the dean show first time that what
do these guys speak in Arabic what
whatam Alum mean for so theam alaykum is
the greeting of peace between Muslims so
I'm just saying may peace be upon you
and you respond back to me and may it be
upon you as well yeah that's what we we
people peace wishing it for everybody
tell us uh we were talking a little bit
about what's the difference between
legally blind right and then the other
one is totally blind and totally blind
yeah many people don't know what what
what's the difference what does it mean
when you say that so so for example so
myself I'm legally blind so what that
means is is that I have Vision but my
vision is so bad you know I I really
can't see that much so my vision is so
bad and is deteriorated so much that
according to the law of the land I'm
blind so I can't drive a car um if you
give me most standard documents I want
to be able to read it to you you know
and at night uh with my specific
condition I have night blindness so at
night it's almost non-existent yeah it's
interesting we were talking a little bit
about what was that convention you were
at you missed each other the Massa yeah
the Massa I was I told you I went to the
Y Islam Booth yeah and I was I told the
brother over there and I was like listen
man when Eddie comes back or something
just shoot me a bat signal or
something you know make a loud noise so
I could find you and I could talk to the
brother but alhamdulillah we met up and
then we're able to do this we got yeah
alhamdulillah we got United now your
your wife you're legally blind yes and
your wife she's she's totally blind and
she's actually a convert to she's a
revert convert she accepted Islam yes
she did um so my wife she can't see
anything at all yeah you know um and she
accepted Islam about 12 years ago um
alhamdulillah we were friends at that
point and uh you know I I gave her dawa
and it was a conversation really it
really wasn't just like this is Islam
and that's it she was Catholic and we
would go back and forth on different
points and about a year of knowing each
other she was like I want to take my
shihad I want to be a Muslim mhm so um
so at that point alhamdulillah I I was
her only Muslim contact so I learned
more about the dean to teach her about
the dean pretty much and the dean
meaning I'm talking about Islam the
religion right so uh so a year after her
making her intention to become a Muslim
uh I walked her to a uh a mzid a mosque
in Elizabeth New Jersey and she took her
shihada yeah she took her Declaration of
Faith yeah for those people tuning in
who who don't know what that means that
simply when someone becomes a Muslim
they declare what's already innate built
in them that they they let out that that
testimony that there's nothing worthy of
worship except the creator of the
heavens and earth and the one who
brought this message the same message as
Jesus Moses Abraham and all the other
Messengers Prophet Muhammad being the
last of those Messengers The Seal of the
Prophet so that's the sh for the people
that don't know and then you started um
together with your wife you started this
wonderful project you were talking to me
a little bit how there's there's not
there's over in the world what about a
quarter million uh about 285 million
blind around the world 200 and how many
in the US uh over 10 million in North
America now you showed me a it's called
for the books where it's the touch and
feel for reading right it's called what
is it called Braille Braille I was
thinking you can just go ahead and
submit this to a Factory and there's a
lot of them but there's actually just
one yeah in in in the states in North
America there's one major bra press
that's called National bra press
literally that's what it's called yeah
and um and the thing is what people
really don't understand about Braille
and blind products in general since
we're not the mass population mhm there
aren't many people producing things for
blind people so it always is expensive
it always gets exorbitant it's really
really an expensive project or task to
take to put a book that's in print and
put it in braille but you've done that
alhamdulillah
so um so if we go back to what we were
talking about about my wife so when she
took her sh had when she when she took
her Declaration of faith and she
accepted Islam as as her way of life her
next step was I want to learn more about
Islam okay so um and she's someone who
likes to read mhm so we looked and we
looked and we tried to find resources
for her in English in Braille about
Islam and we found nothing this was 12
about 12 years ago found nothing at all
so we at that point we were in our 1920
things like that you really young so we
really didn't think about moving forward
so fast forward some time to 2016 last
year we uh she she you know she really
wanted to get more into the religion and
she also wanted to teach our kids we
have three kids and she wants to
homeschool MH um so uh so she wanted to
learn more about the religion for
herself and of course for you know for
the kids so we looked again and and we
looked and we searched high and low and
unfortunately we found nothing nothing
at all nothing no alhamdulillah we have
um we have you know in Arabic that the
actual Quran in Arabic is available in
Braille and has been available for
decades and decades yeah but um we found
nothing no no no reliable sources for
knowledge in Braille about Islam so at
that point um you know some
circumstances happened I had a lot of
time on my hands and uh and
alhamdulillah you know I I approached
her and I said said Hey how do how about
we do this why don't we take the step in
making Islam a more accessible thing to
the blind community and you and and
that's when Islam by touch was born yeah
she she she gets the credit for the name
it's beautiful name she came up with the
name so um so we just you know I told
her I was like listen why don't we take
uh a reliable English translation um and
put it in braille and just give it out
for free you know we don't we don't
charge for these books we give them out
for free mhm so uh we we you know I did
my research just to make sure that no
one no one else was doing it and I had
to learn how to actually do it myself
because we didn't have money to hire
people you know so we literally um went
on a hunt for fundraising you know went
around to different massaged a little
bit here and there and did some things
online like um I think it's launch good
they do uh they do some Muslim uh
crowdfunding yeah so we did a launch
good campaign and alhamdulillah we're
able to raise enough money to buy what's
known as a braille embosser that's
literally a printer for Braille yeah and
um and you know all the equipment we
need and the initial materials we needed
to put these books together so uh so
after about a process of eight or nine
months we uh we completed the the full
English meanings of the Quran in Braille
uh all it's 10 volumes you know so we
completed all 10 volumes of this book
and we we started giving it out for free
so 10 volumes they come out to you got a
box here that's like how many that's
like over 12 a foot yeah that's 12 x 12
box right there 12 by 12 box right there
so it's not it's not like the same size
as what you'd get a normal no absolutely
not whereas you could get a normal
translation or a normal Quran like
something you could throw in your
backpack or even something that's almost
pocket sized yeah uh with this there
aren't different sizes of Braille in
regards to making it really small
there's two kinds a braille there's just
a standard Braille and then they have
something called jumbo Braille for
people who have diabetes that have
trouble feeling with their fingertips MH
so um so we went the standard route of
course and it's just one size fits all
in regards to that so um so a book that
can fit in your pocket has to be spread
amongst 10 volumes just so that we can
make it big enough to fit enough
information in there but small enough
that someone can put it in their
backpack and take it with them if they
want to read we're going to take a break
and inah we'll be back with more
with our brother here from Islam by
touch welcome back to the dean show and
we're with nadir from ISL by touch you
got it yeah I'm I'm I'm amazed you guys
you and your wife who accepted Islam you
guys started this wonderful project you
said there's over 10 million legally
blind totally blind combined people in
the US right in in North America so
yeah how how many is there any organiz
do you know of any organization that's
reaching
out um uh to give to share this message
with those 10 million well as as far as
I know and I I've done massive amounts
of research uh we are the only Muslim
organization in North America dedicated
to the blind community over here M so uh
you know there are many other
organizations that are either secular or
you know Christian based or Jewish based
or something like that but um nothing
nothing from the Muslims mhm so uh we
are the first to do this alhamdulillah
alhamdulillah I don't know if you got a
chance to see I had a a brother who
accepted Islam and maybe a few weeks
later he was on the show he was he was
blind and we talked about it was it was
amazing he was blind and it relates to
how Allah is saying it's not the uh the
heart that's blind it's not the that are
blind but the heart you talking about uh
my man Abdul Malik CLA no not him there
was another another was another brother
yeah it was another brother no he says
that a lot he always uses that yeah the
brother and and this this uh this this
brother he he ended up uh we did this a
couple years ago it was amazing to see
him accept Islam and and the scarcity
now of materials yeah but you do one
positive thing you can listen but again
I think like your wife says in on your
website there's nothing some people like
to read yeah exactly you know the whole
thing with with Islam by touch is of
course we started with this you know
English meanings of the Quran and
Braille project that's that's the base
uh and really it's to give people
choices you know we want to have the
same choices and when I say we I'm
talking about the blind Community we
don't have the same choices as our s
cited counterparts have you know so we
want to be able to choose whether we
want to listen or we want to read uh and
have that as an option so and then also
like my wife for example she likes to
sit there and reflect so that silence
between her and the book just her
reading and read you know reading the
lines as she goes and having time to
reflect on these verses uh you know
that's that's how she gets in touch with
the dean that's how she you know really
has a feeling for the religion so that's
her preference of course but it could be
something different from someone else
and we also help with that as well um
our overall goal altogether is just just
to make Islam as a
whole accessible to both the Muslim and
non-muslim blind Community I think if
any genuine per someone's genuine and
sincere and they just even if if they
have access because many people are
reluctant to pick up a book on Islam
because there's a lot of negative
stereotypes but if anyone's sincere and
they really want to know the truth Islam
makes sense absolutely it it fits with
the innate disposition that we were
created with worship the Creator not the
creation now you have an advantage
because there you were telling me there
aren't too many uh books for the blind
to read but now your organization is
trying to make that happen and now if
you have a scarcity of books people are
going to me inclined to to read
something when you give them to them you
know if the blind instead of some people
you give them stuff they just throw it
to the side because there's so many
books they don't want to read exctly but
now someone will be more inclined from
the blind Community to read because you
don't have too many options do no that's
exactly right that's exactly right I
mean especially when it comes to Islam I
mean don't get me wrong there are there
there is a library a National Library of
Congress that has tons of books in
Braille you know but when you look up
the topic of Islam or Muslims the only
thing you could really find are either
books written in a negative connotation
about Islam in in in in uh in bra in
Braille they far oh yeah kidding me wow
they have them or
or you may find like a a biography of
Malcolm X or something like that so when
we when we went with this initiative we
really want to go hard on it for for two
reasons number one we want to make this
available to the Muslim blind Community
that's born and raised in North America
or any English-speaking country because
to learn how to read Arabic Braille is
like learning a completely different
language and no one teaches that here no
one teaches how to read Arabic Braille
in the US or Canada or anything like
that when you're when you're a child you
learn how to read in English so that's
why we want to make it available to our
Muslim counterparts so they can actually
understand what they memorize and
secondly we want to make it available to
the 10 million s blind people that
aren't Muslim that they're not getting a
true perspective of Islam you know
they're getting a perspective of Islam
from social media and and different news
outlets that may not paint Us in the
best picture yeah so why don't why not
give them Islam from The Source MH from
a Muslim you know and of course we want
to make this available to and want to
put these in blind organizations uh that
have nothing to do with Islam like guide
dog schools and training centers for the
blind uh in their libraries cuz they
have libraries and I can tell you one
thing in every one of their libraries
there's a braille Bible yeah and they
make those you know our Christian
counterparts step their game up when it
comes to Braille MH they they put them
out there in Mass
so alhamdulillah now we have something
to put next to it just to show that you
know the Muslims didn't forget about the
blind Community yeah definitely this is
very very very important I think my
brother was asking you the question
about now when a person is blind do
their their other senses get inhanced
yeah so um so there there is a
misconception on that a lot of people
figure you know if one thing gets taken
away then all your other senses just you
know they pretty much get strengthened
it's really it's really a situation of
depending on things more you you know so
if if for example your job is to lift
heavy boxes all day long you eventually
you will get stronger yeah you know so
if I'm blind and I depend on my hearing
a lot more then because I'm depending on
my hearing a lot more that sense will
get Keener and stronger and more precise
just because I'm using it more you know
um based on the fact that my eyes are
deficient so we use the other senses to
compensate for them yes amazing what
what made you decide to put this because
I've noticed it's in you have different
English translations and again that's
not the that's not the Quran this is the
meaning of the Quran the The Originals
in the Arabic I noticed you chose the
sah International which is a really
great translation compared to many
others it doesn't have the thou this the
old exact that's that's one of the main
reasons why we chose it yeah um well you
actually have you met the I I believe it
was uh the two women have you met them I
I have not had the opportunity to meet
them now uh so so we chose this
translation actually I could show you
let me just show this book right here
this right here this is volume one yeah
okay so just to explain this to you
volume one out of 10 has each one has
three uh edes inside or J so like you
know three parts of the Quran out of the
30 parts right so we went with sah
International just based on the fact
that it is fairly simple English yes
it's easy to understand but it still
maintains eloquence when it when it
passes on The Message of Islam MH so and
and of course it's in our modern day
English it's not that the and thou and
Ye Old English it's not that so uh so
that's why we went with specifically sah
International M alhamdulillah we're
going to take a break another break uh
the a show is on several satellite
channels so they need this break
otherwise otherwise we'd keep going
we're going to take that break and God
willing we'll be right back here on the
dean show don't go anywhere Salam alum
is
the welcome back to the dean show Islam
by
touch we're with the one of the founders
your it was uh your wife she's not with
us today she's also someone who accepted
Islam she comes from Hispanic background
Latino yeah my wife is Puerto Rican yeah
has she hooked up with uh the
organization Islam and Spanish um we
actually uh together I I've I've been
speaking with the brothers because one
of the next things we really want to
work on is taking a Spanish translation
and putting it in as well because there
is a massive latino Community you know
and um based on the fact that like I
said she's Hispanic it's near and dear
to her and alhamdulillah we're really
doing great things when it comes to dawa
to that to that community so I think we
should reach out to the blind Community
as well over there tell us some more any
any experiences that you've had in in
sharing this uh Dean with people in The
Blind community so um so actually when
it comes to giving dawa and this was
before of course we started Islam by
touch generally whenever we talk to
blind people friends of ours and we tell
them about Islam a lot of the times you
do get yeah man that makes a lot of
sense it's clear and alhamdulillah our
th our third board member you know the
board member of the organization she is
a you know she's blind and she came to
Islam from da for myself and my wife
alhamdulillah so um so yeah I mean it's
it's something that I feel that can
definitely resonate with the blind
community
you know um there are many people that
are blind that go through a lot of a lot
of issues like depression and you know
can't cope with their with their issue
with their disability you know um even
though you know as as I believe it's a
part of life that's it something that
Allah gave you something that God gave
you and that's it you you have it you
deal with it you learn to live with it
and you keep rolling that's it um so I
think the I think Islam in general I
think Islam in general empowers you
despite the fact that you may have
something that you may have a disability
so uh just from different aat in the
Quran different Hadith from the prophet
um you know verses and and sayings of
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
they Empower you and they they make you
understand that this is Allah's plan
this is what God has planned for you and
uh you know it's something that you
shouldn't take as a hindrance but is
it's a favor from God and it's I know
it's strange to hear that but people you
know once you actually start looking
into this religion you you start to
understand it I think most of us we take
for granted many of the gifts and the
blessings that the creator has given us
and one of those is to be able to see
you know and it's it's remarkable and
amazing that you guys are doing this
project to get this Quran out for this
verbatim word of God get it into the to
the hands of people to the blind
Community but people who can see what
what do you tell people who can see but
they're disconnected from the Quran so
um so when it comes to the people that
can see that that I mean I would always
just you keep it as simple as possible
you know Islam is not a difficult
religion or way of life if you if you
base the if you show them the Simplicity
of listen we worship one Creator that's
it the being that bought you on this
Earth submit your will to that cre to
that creator and you're good to go mhm
you know and and people with all the
other rituals that go on with all the
other religions when they hear that
they're like really is that all it is
you know and Subhan Allah um you you see
people being very receptive to just that
alone um and and that's the whole thing
we want to transfer to the blind
Community you know and we like I said
that's the whole reason why we did this
yeah but what about Muslims I'm talking
about who they can see they have the
Quran on their shelves but it just sits
on the shelves they don't have a daily a
5 minute a two-minute connection I would
say I would say stop taking advantage of
what you have available to you you know
it's I mean like I this this has not
been in existence until two months ago
yeah this bra copy of the English
meanings of the Quran but I'm talking
about someone who has they can read they
don't say yeah that's what I'm saying
though this hasn't been available for
only two months and there's people
waiting on this you have it on your
shelf you can take it with you anywhere
you want to go you could take it it's
with you you put it in your pocket and
you could bring it with you and you
don't it sits on the Shelf it collects
dust you have problems in your life and
you refuse to turn to the book of Allah
to find out how to solve those problems
you know when it's right there so that's
what I would say to my cited
counterparts just stop you know realize
the gift that you have there available
to you and take advantage of it it was
given to you for a reason so use it
because those that don't have the
ability that you have to see and to be
able to freely and easily access access
this now that we have it inshallah the
blind Community will take advantage of
it so you guys you know should be
something that you should have done you
know as a cited Community you know it's
it's a shame it's it's really is a shame
to see that people have all these issues
in life and we all go through hardships
but when you have this this Comfort
there and and you don't use it and you
don't utilize the benefit of it it's
it's it's a shame and it's a waste yeah
Subhan Allah that's that's um you can
just Ponder all day and night just one
of these blessings I I I I look and you
know just site and hearing and these
these things and um it just amazing that
uh it took you actually seven it takes
you seven to 8 hours to make how
basically the whole day a whole working
day to put just one together to to put
all 10 volumes all 10 volumes yeah yeah
so so this so I would I would literally
use like I said a br embosser which is
the brail printer right and it would
emboss these Pages you know you could
feel them of course and um and uh as it
completes I would take it I'd put this
comb this binding comb into a binding
machine open it up and just put the
pages through it and keep printing as I
go so it takes me about 6 to 8 hours to
do the whole thing
all 10 volumes so it's a lot of work
it's not easy um but alhamdulillah it's
something that we took upon ourselves
and this is just the beginning
yeah
yeah yeah it's it's um you're giving
back that's that's that's uh you know in
today's uh Society where you see many
people wasting a lot of time you know
even even someone uh in in a in a
position like yourself they could be
sitting there and like you said just
being in a bucket or a tub of depression
and you know cursing God blaming God and
not giving back to humanity you've taken
another route and it shows that when
you're when you're when you're grateful
you're thankful and then you're happy
and even in this state you know you're
you're you're happy you're um obviously
all of us go through trials but then
you're just you're spending your time
wisely with every second that you spend
on this you're on a lost time clock it's
no time lost and you're giving back it's
an act of IB worship but it's amazing
how many people have S and
know just wasting time you know one
thing I say you whenever I go and I give
a you know the talk on Friday when we go
and we pray when I go give the I I say
it's like look you know when the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that you
truly never believe until you love for
your brother what you love for yourself
yeah I said that's all we want
we want the ability to love to read like
you do we want the ability to love to be
accepted by the community as just a
normal person like you do yeah you know
and uh and then that's that's really
what it boils down to and that's really
what we're seeking you know we just we
just because I can't see yeah I can't
see well don't think that I'm deficient
in any way exactly yeah you know I mean
we have countless we have so many
different examples from our history from
Islamic history of how we elevated blind
people yeah you know all the way to the
time of the Prophet sallallahu alai
wasallam you know examples of how he
left the blind man in charge of of of
the of of Medina when he would leave the
when he would leave the city yeah and
now when we see blind people we think
they're a charity case mhm you know like
where did we go what happened but you
guys you guys are doing the work of of
you know of uh just and your wife and
your team um me and my wife they're
Priceless it's just just you two that's
that's just amazing I mean alhamdulillah
we we've been going around well I've
been going around you know my wife she's
uh we have three kids she has she's
carrying our fourth alhamdulillah um so
uh you know she inshallah she'll be
coming on the road with me once the
baby's born and a little older yeah um
but you know she she's the support she
proof read every single book yeah you
know to make sure there's no errors in
them and um and you know it's me and her
and the support that we get you know
alhamdulillah we've been I've been
traveling like I'm here in Illinois I've
been to North Carolina uh we went to
Baltimore for the ikna convention and I
went to a mosque over there and you know
people there hasn't been one person that
that's looked at the initiative that we
put forth and says wow I don't see why
we need that not one person have said
that yeah everyone that sees is like wow
this didn't exist that's the mo that's
the question I hear the most yes I'm
surprised this didn't exist or I never
even thought this was an issue yes you
know and alhamdulillah we're able to
bring this to the Forefront and show
people yes this is an issue and yes our
cited counterparts if you want to help
and be a part of this support us sponsor
books you know help us spread the world
help us spread the word of what we're
trying to do because this can be a group
effort we'll do the work just be the
backbone you know yeah so uh
alhamdulillah and we've gotten nothing
but support anywhere I go anytime I
mention this to somebody I've never
never had one bad you know one no one
said wow that doesn't make sense no
one's ever told me that so alhamdulillah
I want people from this episode to
derive so many benefits one of those is
a scene that Allah paints of a picture
in the Quran that he talks about
there'll be people who will you know
because as Muslims will believe there'll
be a day of judgment that you're not
just going to pass through this life and
not be held accountable at the end of
this life that you're just going to rain
havoc on the earth enjoy all the
countless blessings and disobey your
your maker the Creator and then he talks
about the wonderful rewards for those
who worship him alone who do good deeds
who live a life of morality of
righteousness you got to make mistakes
but Allah is the most loving kind and
merciful you turn to him alone you know
the Creator will forgive you but those
who just you know ignored the signs he
talks about people being resurrected
blind and then they'll say like why am I
blind I was able you know why am I blind
now he said cuz when you were able to
see you you didn't see the sign
that were s to you and Allah is sending
signs to people you know day and night
and if people reflect deeply the signs
are there from the Creator and and in
contrast to that right uh one thing I
always mention to people is whenever I
ask people to sponsor help us you know
provide these books yeah I say imagine
you sponsor a book and it goes to an
organization for blind people and just a
non-muslim picks it up and reads it just
out of curiosity yeah and Allah guides
them you know and that person gets
married and they have children yeah and
their children have children and so on
and so forth and then come Judgment day
cuz as as Muslims we know it's
inevitable come Judgment Day when
everyone's looking for every single Good
Deed that you could find and you're
standing in front of your creator
begging for mercy and this person that
you helped sponsor a book for to help
them guide them to Islam comes behind
you with their entire lineage that came
from that guidance and now that goes on
your scale yep you know so alhamdulillah
there's there's benefit in this you know
and we're going to conclude uh we're
well at the time the other thing I
wanted to say is the other two real
quickly were the inspiration of seeing
you and hearing about you and your wife
of putting your time now taking this
this situation you're in taking the
positive route and not wasting time not
wasting your life doing something that
is of enormous benefit for the blind
Community not just them just for you
know Humanity in in general of sharing
this message in this route and people
can take that positive message from that
from seeing and also seeing that this
life is short wasting that time at at
the end you you put on scales of how
many minutes how many hours go by in a
day and how much have I connected with
with the Creator with his book The Quran
uh with learning this Dean and how much
time am I wasting checking the social
media the Facebook just you know getting
in conversation are useless doing
useless things we all need a little bit
of entertainment you know Hal but how
much time is wasted time you know what I
mean and take the matter serious and
count you know if you were to to try to
count the blessings of Allah you just
couldn't there's too many and appreciate
those blessings you have they can be
taken away absolutely so uh Islam by
touch Islam by touch uh if you want to
support us um just learn more about what
we're doing you can go to uh our website
www. Islam by.com and if you fill out
the contact form I'm the guy literally
answering the emails so I'll see your
emails I'll see your messages and just
please um support us anyway yeah you
know so so you guys being legally blind
you can there's a distance that you can
see and still read well yeah I mean with
alhamdulillah technology has helped us a
lot yeah you know um there's screen
reading software that reads anything you
touch of course there's magnification
blow the screen up to if it
alhamdulillah you know I can I read the
emails I could check the social medias I
could do all that stuff so you know once
again uh Islam by touch.com support us
anyway and follow us on social media you
know at Islam by touch May the creator
of the heavens and earth Allah the
almighty reward you and your family and
bless you guys for doing this wonderful
and amazing work I mean both of us both
of
us chel