Noor Quranic School; Hope for A New Life in Gaza
It comes through a project that aims to rebuild humanity spiritually and morally through the Holy Quran, after two and a half years of killing, displacement, hunger and deprivation.
According to Palestine Online, in a corner of the school, which is located in one of the half-destroyed mosques in Khan Yunis, young girls sit with copies of the Quran in their hands, whispering verses in a quiet voice.
Many of them have lost their homes and loved ones, but in these circles of Quran memorization, they have found a refuge that gives them some of the peace they have lost.
Huda Al-Farra, a student and a member of the school, says that the war destroyed the house that took years to build and completely destroyed their lives.
“We were displaced in tents, but the war could not destroy our spirit, so we took refuge in the Quran to rise again and breathe a new breath in this difficult time,” she says with a bitter voice.
Stating that the Quranic school has become a space for students to compete in memorizing the Quran and acquiring religious knowledge after experiencing scenes of martyrdom, displacement, and the loss of loved ones, she emphasized that adhering to the Book of God has given them the strength to persevere.
“We found in the Quran something that we can hold on to in order to rise again and continue our lives despite everything.”
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Rasha Al-Farra is a 14-year-old student whose life changed from a large and stable house to a small tent lacking the most basic necessities of life. She narrates another aspect of the suffering of children during the war, saying that she and her mother went to a Quranic school so that they could memorize the Quran together and share in facing the harsh effects of the war.
“We went from displacement to migration, then to hunger and thirst, and we found no refuge except God, so we came to the Quranic school to get closer to the Quran.” Despite her young age, Rasha confirms that the war has greatly changed her personality and dreams.
Once dreaming of becoming a doctor to help her people, she found herself growing up rapidly under the burden of bombing, fear and deprivation, but she still clings to her hope and right to a better future.
Rami Al-Shakra, the head of the Nour Quranic Memorization and Sciences Center, says that the idea of establishing the school came within the framework of an effort to recover from the effects of the Israeli regime’s war on the Gaza Strip, through the psychological and educational reconstruction of the Palestinian character.
Al-Shakra explains that the school was established with the aim of helping children, women and the elderly overcome the psychological and social effects of the war through the Holy Quran and educational programs, on the ruins left by the occupiers.
She points out that the center today includes about 800 male and female students of different age groups, from young children to the elderly, some of whom are over sixty years old, and in the form of specialized programs tailored to the needs of each group.
According to Al-Shakra, the school is not limited to memorizing the Quran, but also includes programs for psychological support and emotional evacuation, which are carried out under the supervision of counselors and psychologists, and aim to reduce the damage that children have been exposed to during the war.
He adds that the school’s educational programs rely on Quranic stories, biographies of companions and historical figures, with the aim of fostering values and resilience among students and restoring “the Palestinian individual who is tired of war.”
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According to Al-Shaqra, more than 60 teachers and Quran memorizers work at the school, which is part of an integrated educational plan developed after the end of the occupation.
Al-Shaqra believes that true healing of body and soul in Gaza begins with spiritual cultivation. While the effects of the war are still evident in the details of daily life in the area, the Noor Quranic School seems to be a small attempt to counter the great devastation by providing a safe space for hundreds of students to rely on faith and hope as they try to rebuild the lives that the war has robbed them of.
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