Braille Quran donated to Michigan Islamic Centre

Washington, Apr 6 (UNI) The Kukaldosh Madrassa in Tashkent, Uzbekistan has become one of the few institutions to publish Braille editions of the Quran, which enable the blind to read Muslim Scripture.

The Madrassa, which has for centuries prepared young Muslims for leadership roles, donated an eight-volume Braille Quran to the Islamic Centre of America in Dearborn, Michigan, a US government publication said.

The Dearborn mosque is one of the oldest and largest in the United States. The Braille Quran was sent to Dearborn and officially presented to the Islamic Centre on Wednesday by Brad Hanson, deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Tashkent.

Imam Sayed Hassan Qazwini, accepting the Braille Quran, said there could be no better gift. He gave Hanson a letter of gratitude addressed ''to the people of Uzbekistan,'' for ''the most appreciative gift of all, Al Qur'an.'' The mosque, located in the suburbs of Detroit near the Ford Motor Company, has hosted a number of Uzbek participants in the US State Department's International Visitor Program.

The Madrassa, known as the Kukaldosh Islamic Secondary Educational Institution, dates back to 1569, when it was founded by Darveshkhon. It is an architectural gem of Tashkent, and has educated Muslim youth since it began, except during the Soviet period.

In addition to religious instruction in the Quran, Hadith and Arabic, the Madrassa offers a broad educational program that includes Uzbek language and literature, science, mathematics and computer science.

A few years ago, the Madrassa began publishing Braille Qurans.

However, 600 years earlier, in the 14th century, a blind Syrian scholar, Zain Din al Amidi, devised a similar method by which he could study books through touch. He was a professor at Moustansiryeh University in what is now Iraq.

UNI