Islamic schools and centers, found in various Muslim communities, haven't been accommodating all kinds of learners within their programs. The Muslim community from the Naperville/Aurora area took it a step further to provide Islamic education for special needs kids. With the tremendous vision and efforts of MUHSEN (Muslims Understanding & Helping Special Education Needs) Weekend School—families with special needs kids were made inclusive to the community.
MUHSEN, which means “one who shows excellence and compassion,” is a non-profit dedicated to serving the community to establish a more inclusive “Special Friendly” environment for brothers and sisters of all disabilities.
Muslim families with disabled members have been long neglected from the community including mosques. As seen on the MUHSEN website, in certain Islamic centers, the lack of knowledge on disabled members of the society went unnoticed for a while. Ignorant and insensitive remarks towards those children and families would result in the neglect of the child and his/her Islamic education.
“A lot of these students that attend are getting the services that they need Monday through Friday for traditional academic learning. However, when it comes to the most important education, which is fulfilling the obligations we have as Muslims for enriching our deen, unfortunately we as a society, as a community have been lacking,” one MUHSEN Weekend School volunteer said.
What Muslim communities at large don’t understand about special needs kids is that they, too, seek the same opportunities as other Muslim kids including Islamic education. These kids know what they are capable of more than anyone else and that’s truly why they’re special.
“I initially thought I don’t know if they’re going to understand what we’re trying to teach because it’s so foreign to them. But they get it. They honestly get it. These kids, they amaze you. Their accomplishments? They’ll jump leaps and bounds…And you have to give it, because being part of this ummah, that’s a responsibility on everyone,” MUHSEN Weekend School Lead Anjum Mohsinuddin said.
According to Mohsinuddin, the goal of the MUHSEN Weekend School is to introduce basic Islamic concepts including Arabic alphabet, the Qur’an, Islamic Studies and who their god is—the parts of Islam most Muslims take for granted.
To truly love the special people of jannah as the Prophet (pbuh) did, we must make opportunities for them and understand their existence as an integral part of the ummah—making them feel no different than the rest of the community.
If you wish to see this happening in your community, visit muhsen.org.
