Doha: The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs yesterday signed a contract with a Turkish firm to print 700,000 copies of the holy Quran, 5th edition of Qatar Mus’haf.
The 5th edition of Qatar Mus’haf includes three sizes — large size 28×20 with 150,000 copies, medium size 20×14 with 500,000 copies and small size 14 x 10 with 50,000 copies. The copies of the holy Quran will be distributed in Qatar and abroad.
The contract was signed by Director of the Ministry's Financial and Administrative Affairs Department, Ahmed Saad Al Nuaimi, and General Manager of Bilnet Printing and Publishing, Ertuğrul Ozturk.
The printing process will take a full year from the date of signing the contract, including the paper supply period. With the completion and delivery of 5th edition, the total number of printed copies of Qatar Mus’haf in all sizes will reach about 3.4 million.
Addressing a press conference at the signing ceremony, Dr. Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari, Adviser to the Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, and the supervisor of the printing of Qatar Mus’haf, said Qatar Quran project is the vision of H H the Amir and the State.
Dr. Al Kuwari said that Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, H E Ghanem bin Shaheen bin Ghanem Al Ghanem, was keen to adhere to the highest standards in printing the Quran in terms of papers, type of ink, binding, decoration, colours, and all materials used in printing.
He noted that the selection of the printing press is also subject to precise technical criteria, and the Turkish printing press that was selected meets these criteria, and it was the one that printed the last two editions — third and fourth editions of Qatar Mus’haf.
Dr. Al Kuwari said Qatar Mus’haf is the first Quran in the world to be written through an international competition in Arabic calligraphy, in which 120 of the most skilled calligraphers in the Islamic world competed to win the honour of writing as well as other competitions for the gilding and decoration of Quran.
Regarding the standards of the 5th edition, he said that dedicated work teams will supervise the printing of the Quran to ensure the standards of the Ministry.
To a question about printing Qatar Mus’haf with a version other than Hafs, Dr. Al Kuwari said that there is a plan to publish an edition with Warsh version in the font of Qatar Mus’haf.
Speaking on the occasion, the General Manager of Bilnet Printing and Publishing said he felt proud in cooperating with the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to print the 5th edition of Qatar Mus’haf, as printing press succeeded in the past two editions, assuring to continue printing Quran according to the best technical standards.
