Tuesday in Dubai: Visit to the Mosque and coffee with Dr. Hussain

We all dressed as modestly as we could for our visit to the Jumeirah Mosque, the only Mosque that allows non-Muslims to go inside. The Jumeirah Mosque has a program (the Sheik Muhammed Center for Cultural Exchange) specifically designed to increase understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.

The tour guide (a British born individual who converted and immigrated to Dubai) first showed us the cleansing ritual Muslims perform before their five daily prayers. Mat, one of our students, volunteered to take part of the ritual. They wash their hands, mouth, nose, face, arms to elbow, head, and feet to knees – each three times in that order.

Women have to cover their heads to enter the mosque and everyone must take off their shoes. Inside, the guide briefly explained the five pillars that are the foundation of Islam: Declaring that there is no God but Allah, praying five times a day, charity, making a pilgrimage to Mecca, and fasting during Ramadan. Another guide, Taj, gave us a demonstration of the prayer ritual, which lasts about five minutes.

Afterward, I asked the guide how the Muslim faith regards people with disabilities. She said her religion regards every child and child of God and that it was her view that Muslim mothers of children with disabilities consider such children as God’s gift and God’s test of their faith.

Later in the day, Dr. Hussein granted our students the opportunity to have coffee and informal discussion with him over coffee.

Students with Dr. Hussain

He encouraged them to ask any questions they wanted about Dubai’s disability programs and any other questions they had. He briefly described the efforts of a few dedicated individuals, beginning in 2006, to develop a comprehensive service system for people with disabilities in Dubai across the lifespan. The original plan, called “Takamul” (meaning completeness), includes the following components:

• Early intervention

• Inclusive education

• Employment

• ITAC (technology)

• Research and development

• Accessibility

The plan is modeled after the University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) that are members of AUCD, my association. In fact, AUCD was invited to provide technical assistance for the project and several UCEDD experts from across the country came to help develop the plan. Unfortunately, Dr. Hussein said that for various reasons two of the seven have been eliminated: ITAC and research and development and some are developing slower than he wished. He did mention that it was his authority (Takamul) that made sure that the new Metro is fully accessible and that all new buildings are being built using universal (accessible)design.

Kim, Michael, Dr. Hussain, Laura

Dr. Hussain also shared that he is the father of a 17-year old with autism. I found Dr. Hussain very interesting, generous, and engaging man. He is picking us up on Thursday to visit his brand new early intervention program. I look forward to seeing it.