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Al-Quran Radio, canada, gofundme quranic radio, London-Ontario, Ontario university students, quranic radio, quranic radio streaming, Western University
Al-Quran Radio is just a basic, Quranic-audio channel. That’s what makes it great.
Founded in 2015 by a group of college students in London, Ontario, Al-Quran Radio operates as an online radio-streaming channel, broadcasting continual recitation of the Holy Quran and a live, weekly program by Sheikh Adnan from the London Mosque. Other broadcasts have included Western University MSA’s Ramadan Radio Show as well as series recordings of popular scholars including Mufti Ismail Menk and Nouman Ali Khan.
Today in 2016, there are plenty of ways to listen to Quran being recited. Media-listening tools like iTunes and YouTube offer a high degree of individual control, not to mention the countless apps, websites and other streaming options that also exist.
So what’s Al-Quran Radio doing that’s so different?
It’s easy to use.
In a world of devices, apps on those devices, features on those apps, updates on those features—we end up dealing with a lot more information throughout the average day than we did just under a decade ago.
The Al-Quran Radio website and its corresponding app are both clean and user-friendly, free of extraneous information, ads, or visual noise. The brand communicates a clear and straightforward message to the audience: we’re here for your listening. The only information other than the radio player itself includes daily prayer times and a short description of the channel and its mission.
It’s hard to become distracted when visiting Al-Quran Radio. The user’s role is refreshingly binary: Button on. Button off. Click to Play; click again to Pause.
And that’s as complicated as it gets.
It offers comfort.
Science fiction can be unsettling as it often declares a dark guess at the future. But it’s also like that because those visions involve a drastic leap from our present-day lives, instilling in us a fear of our own future.
In the age of advancement today, many individuals are equally or more intimidated by something much more present: technology. It is shaping our society and communication in very significant ways, and though people are getting the hang of things, the sheer volume and speed of advancement can become very overwhelming. For this reason, when leaps too large are made, even advancement falls short of its aims.
The best technology is that which focuses on its starting point even more intensively then the world it strives to land in. Al-Quran Radio looks forward yet does not ignore its present surroundings. There’s a great comfort that comes from the fact that it is a radio channel—a form of technology we use daily and have known for decades.
This comes with certain ‘old world’ charms: there is less burden to make choices. You turn it on and listen. The channel broadcasts a variety of reciters every month based on listener reviews and requests. What plays could be any part of the Quran by any reciter. Ultimately, this tiny characteristic becomes a pleasant element of surprise for the listener.
It’s a radio channel, which means you aren’t the only one listening—and that feels good. The loss of autonomy gains you an entire community. Within a year of its inception, Al-Quran Radio has over 60,000 listeners worldwide. People all around the globe are tuning in to the same broadcast. All of it utilizes technology—website, apps, a thread for comments—but there is a very human factor added to it by merely being a live radio channel.
It’s almost a way of enjoying nostalgia without the feeling of loss.
It has promise.
Phase II of Al-Quran Radio is very exciting. The goal for this online streaming channel is to become a live channel on the air. Across North America, this would be one of the first—if not the first—of its kind, and the possibilities are endless.
The group’s mission is to promote Quran recitation and its teachings round the clock, promoting a positive atmosphere to communities as well as educating and addressing negativity that may exist surrounding Islam.
This project holds so much potential to create an environment that renews the sharing of knowledge, and engender a common institution for human exchange and discourse.
Al-Quran Radio is built on strong principles of unity and its deep investment in community itself lights a bright, welcoming, and advancing path for the near future.
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