DUBAI – A new hijab-wearing doll that dons the hijab and recites passages from the Qur’an is hitting shelves in the Arab states.

“For me it was important that the doll would show something my daughter can recognize herself in, or recognize her mother at least,” French businesswoman and mother Samira Amarir told Reuters on Wednesday, September 6.

Designed Amarir, the Barbie-like doll is named Jenna, with a name derived from the Arabic word for heaven.

Intended to teach young girls about Islamic values and provide a doll that resembles them, it comes dressed in a lengthy “abaya” robe with a matching purple headscarf.

The mother said she was looking for a toy to help her daughter learn the Qur’an when she came up with the idea to create a doll.

“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.”

The four chapters that Jenna recites are short and designed to be easy for a child to memorize. Within days of beginning to play with the doll, she began reciting verses.

Amarir and family have moved from their home in France to the United Arab Emirates to market the doll in the wealthy and religiously conservative Gulf.

The dolls are being mass-produced in factories in China and are currently being sold in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE.