A 19-year-old Palestinian woman, Jana Ihsan Abu Warda, has memorised all 30 parts of the Quran while held in an Israeli prison, despite captivity, harsh conditions and many restrictions. She then recited the whole Quran from memory in a single sitting, she told those present at her court hearing.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office (Maktab al-I’lam al-Asra) said Abu Warda was arrested by Israeli forces on 12 February 2026. She is now held in Israel’s Damon prison.
Before her arrest, she had memorised about 20 parts of the Quran. She learned the rest in prison and became a hafiza of the whole Quran. At a recent court hearing, she told those present that she had recited the entire Quran from memory in one sitting.
She has not stopped at her own memorisation. She is teaching the Quran and Hadith to other women prisoners, and through her effort a setting for religious study has grown up inside the prison.
Abu Warda is from the Hebron area. She studies Sharia at Dahiriya College and has an interest in writing and poetry. After graduating, she wants to pursue higher study in Quranic exegesis, Arabic grammar and Hadith.
Prison life is far from easy for her. Palestinian women held in Damon prison face food shortages, harsh conditions and various restrictions. The prisoners’ organisation said she was subjected to humiliating searches during her arrest and her transfers between prisons.
She also learned late, while in custody, of the deaths of people close to her in her family. Limited contact and visits with her family have deepened her isolation from her relatives.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report