Jenna

Jenna was launched in early 2017, having been created by a French couple inspired by their search for toys to help their young daughter with Hfiz. Samira Amarir and her husband Adil Amesrouh designed the doll to appeal to young kids as well as reflect Muslim values, then got it produced in China before moving to Dubai to market it. Adil told reporters in 2017: "The underlying issue is basically that the way we learn the Quran is still very archaic. The way that we do it is basically still the way that kids have been doing it for the last 1,000 years. Kids are very connected today and we have not necessarily engaged our kids in the way we want them to be learning."

Samira added: "Jennah started to play with it like a normal doll, fixing her hair, changing her outfits. Then, after a few days she started to recite the first sura [chapter]. For us it was such a milestone because it was the aim of everything."

The doll was the same height but had less make-up and a more realistic body sculpt than Barbie, and came dressed in a black dress and lilac hijab. The doll, which recited four verses from the Quran, quickly became a hit sold out in toy stores across Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE. There is a great review of Jenna over at Jeddah Mom.

---