Menyantuni Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) di Masjid: Keperluan dan Cabaran Perlaksanaannya

Places of worship are generally regarded as a safe place and are available to accept anyone who comes to worship or conduct activities there, including those who are less fortunate or having disability (OKU). Unfortunately, not all places of worship especially mosques or prayer rooms for Muslims in this country provide OKU-friendly infrastructure, as well as the facility or equipment that these people need in order to participate in the activities conducted at the premises concerned. Enlivening the mosque would pose positive effect on the development of the community in order to improve the quality of life of the society and the nation. This is a qualitative study which involves analytical analysis on several documents and library researches. The findings indicated different needs for OKU who are having impairment of sight, hearing, and physical disabilities. As an example, OKU with sight impair requires infrastructural facilities such as the tactile footpath while OKU with physical impair requires ramp, toilets and reserved wudhu' places especially physical OKU using wheelchairs. The implementation challenge covers some aspects including the community's awareness, cooperation from government, financial resources, parental support and cost-maintenance needs. It is the responsibility of all parties in cooperation with the masjid's committee to ensure OKU-friendly equipment are always well-maintained and preserved.