IPB Students Introduce Al-Qur’an Through Hand Puppet Tale

The Qur'an is a holy book and a guide for all Muslims in the world. As a Muslim, the introduction of the Qur'an should be done as early as possible. Sadly, many young people are starting to abandon the habit of reading the Qur'an. The emergence various entertainment media such as television and gadgets have shifted the habit of reading the Qur'an of young people today.

The sadness was felt by some of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) students who responded by forming a team consisting of Nisa Nurjanah, Risky Ramadhan, Ida Rahayu, Iva Nurul Faizah, and Nurjanah. They offer a new method to increase reading interest and learning the meaning of the Qur'an for children, SaubatQu.

SaubatQu, stands for Saung Baca and Tadabbur Qur'an, is a community service program which is implemented in the Student Creativity Program, Community Service field (PKM-M) with the title "SaubatQu (Saung Baca and Taddabur Qur'an) Learning Method Based on Hand Puppet in Madrasa in Cangkurawok Area". The community service program was done by the team under the supervision of Salahuddin El Ayyubi, Lc. M.A.

Starting from the Rohani Islam (Rohis) organization during the General Competency Education Program (PPKU), this team conducted a social service to a madrasa in Cangkurawok area, Dramaga Bogor. Later, the team decided to make the madrasa as their target school of community service program.

"Previously, we had an assumption that the method of reciting the Qur'an from the past had not changed much. This can lead to the fading of habit of reciting the Qur’an in children. We offer a new method of conveying the contents of the Qur'an with hand puppets. We choose this method as an innovation to increase the interest of children in reading and understanding the meaning of the Qur'an," said team leader, Nisa Nurjanah.

"The tale that we are currently making is focusing on short surah or juz 30. We have made three stories from Al-Lahab, Al-Quraish and Al-Fiil," said one of the team members, Ida Rahayu.

SaubatQu has three main characters: Sauba as a female doll, Ququ as a male doll, and Somat as a supporting role. The tale that was created brings up the natures or meanings of a surahthat must be imitated by the child.

"We determine the character and script of the story. For example, in Al-Lahab, which means flame turbulence. This surah tells the nature of Abu Lahab and his wife who likes to spread slander. The tale of Al-Lahab features a background to a madrasa where Sauba and Ququ are arguing, since Ququ has not managed to memorize surah Al-Lahab. Later, we bring up a human character as as an ustad who tells the meaning of surah Al-Lahab. We use hand puppets as a fairy tale in conveying the meaning of surah Al-Lahab," said one team member, Nurjanah.

"The theme that we made also adjusts with the surah to be told. We see that these madrasa children need help to improve their love of the Qur'an and try to instill good morals. Thus, we choose the method of this hand puppet as the solution. We will also make new innovations for hand puppets to be fitted with batteries, making it more effective in delivering tales," explained one team member, Risky Ramadhan.

"Not only we are storytellers. We taught the madrasa to tell stories, too. We do it, so that this SaubatQu program can continue to be implemented in this madrasa and become an exemplary learning method for other madrasa," hopes the team leader of PKM-M, Nisa Nurjanah. (RYF)