A young mother has penned a glowing review about a new Muslim doll who wears a hijab and recites four chapters from the Quran.
Aysh Siddiqua, from Saudi Arabia, who blogs under Jeddah Mom, recently purchased the Jenna the Quran Teacher doll for her daughters.
Barbie-lookalike Jenna, with a name derived from the Arabic word for heaven, comes dressed in a lengthy ‘abaya’ robe with a matching purple headscarf.
Jenna the Quran Teacher doll wears a hijab and she can recite four chapters from the Quran
Barbie-lookalike Jenna, with a name derived from the Arabic word for heaven, comes dressed in a lengthy ‘abaya’ robe with a matching purple headscarf
‘As soon as we opened the box, my five-year-old remarked: “Mommy, she is just like you!” Of course she is. She wears a full dress and a pretty hijab,’ Ms Siddiqua said in her blog post.
The mother explained how she wanted her children to learn about the Muslim way of dressing, and how it’s important in Islam to ‘cover ourselves appropriately’.
‘I personally love makeup myself but, I don’t think I want my young daughters to start wearing makeup or giving importance to that kind of hobbies from the very young age,’ she said.
‘Jenna is a Muslimah doll. She is pretty, modestly dressed, has good manners and respects her adults. She loves reciting the Quran.’
Ms Siddiqua pointed out some of the features she loved most about the doll, including her clothes, make-up and quality.
‘I really liked the how they designed her dress to look modern yet modest,’ she said.
She also added how the doll ‘helps Muslim girls relate to her. It isn’t just about the clothes or her looks, she actually fells like “our” doll.’
Her review comes just months after the ‘Jenna’ doll hit the market in Gulf Arab countries.
The Barbie-lookalike doll has entered mass production and is on sale in Gulf Arab countries
Founder of the Jenna doll and French businesswoman Samira Amarir said she decided to design her own doll from scratch to recite the Quran.
The mother wanted a doll that could help impart her Islamic faith to her young daughter after she struggled to find the perfect toys for her.
‘When my daughter Jenna turned two years old, I was looking for a toy or a tool,’ Amarir said.
‘The idea was to come up with a toy that would enable her to learn the Quran fast and easily while she plays.’
Founder of the Jenna doll and French businesswoman Samira Amarir said she decided to design her own doll from scratch to recite the Quran
Designing the doll using online modelling software, Amarir decided to give it a dark skin tone and little makeup.
‘For me it was important that the doll would show something my daughter can recognise herself in, or recognise her mother at least,’ she said.
The four chapters that Jenna recites are short and designed to be easy for a child to memorise. Within days of playing with the doll, she would recite verses.
Amarir and her family have moved from their home in France to the United Arab Emirates to market the doll in the wealthy and religiously conservative Gulf.
After four years and many flights to Chinese factories to get the doll produced, she launched Jenna earlier this year in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE.