Saudi Government Center Prints 70 Million Qur'ans in 7 Years

By Hussein Shehadeh

Service to Islam was the foundation upon which King Abdul Aziz based the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of his first acts as monarch was to recognize the responsibility of the Kingdom for preserving the Muslim heritage and facilitating the annual pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca and Medina.

Since that time, the four sons who have succeeded him each has initiated programs to further the values, culture and tenets of Islam and to support the interests of Muslims around the world.

Since the first expansion of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina was undertaken under the auspices of King Abdul Aziz in 1948, religious endowments, schools and Islamic cultural preservation programs and a host of other projects have been initiated, including completion of more than 4,000 mosques throughout Saudi Arabia in the last decade alone.

Printing the Holy Words

One of the services that King Fahd Bin Abdel Aziz, who has adopted the sobriquet "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,'' has rendered for the Muslim community is establishment of a central complex to print copies of the Holy Qur'an. The facility has produced more than 70 million Qur'ans in different styles, sizes and languages in the seven years it has been operating, all printed in accordance with strict, detailed and demanding stipulations. Prior to the establishment of the complex, copies of the Qur'an were printed by commercial companies, which could not ensure the high production quality achieved by the new complex.

Organizing the Complex

It was obvious from the outset that any facility given the exclusive privilege of publishing the Qur'an in Saudi Arabia would require a sizeable investment in equipment and a highly qualified staff of scholars and technicians capable of performing every step in a lengthy production process. This encompassed research, calligraphy, printing, binding and finally distribution of the Qur'ans, in the large numbers required.

After two years of construction and an initial cost of 486 million Saudi riyals ($129,600,000), the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Qur'an Printing Complex, on the Medina Tabuk highway, was a reality.

A Dream Realized

The complex was inaugurated by King Fahd on March 4, 1985, and from the outset was capable of producing up to seven million copies of the Qur'an and 100,000 sets of cassettes of the Holy Book annually. The cassettes present recitals of the Qur'an by respected Muslim scholars for use as guides to the correct method of reciting the Qur'an.

To ensure the accuracy of the copies of the Qur'an printed at the complex, King Fahd appointed Minister of Pilgrimage and Endowments Abdul Wahab Abdul Wasie as chairman of a committee to oversee the facility's operations. The committee followed guidelines set by the version of the Qur'an written in the seventh century by Zaid Bin Thabit and other Muslim scholars by order of Uthman Bin Affan, the third caliph of Islam. This version of the Qur'an, along with guidelines set by later Muslim scholars, was used to produce what would eventually be called Al-Medina AlMunawarrah (City of Light) Qur'an.

Technology and Investment, Handmaidens of the Revered Qur'an

Before going into print, the committee worked for 14 months reviewing every word in every chapter of the version. Once the copy was unanimously approved for accuracy of content, the workers and technicians began to put the Qur'an on paper.

Calligraphers and computers worked side by side, painstakingly copying the verses, and artisans were employed to illuminate the pages. After each entire edition was completed, it was rechecked for accuracy and proofread for errors. Technicians and computers are used to keep a comprehensive check on the whole printing process, all the way through to shipping. Once printing actually begins, samples are reviewed every five minutes to ensure that the presses are operating properly.

If an error is detected, the presses are stopped, the section containing the error is discarded and the operation, after the necessary corrections are made, begins again. The end result of this process, according to Hussam Khashoggi, secretary-general of the complex, is that every copy of Al-Medina Al-Munawarrah Qur'an produced by the facility is error-free and of the highest quality.

The belief in quality is matched by the belief in the need for investment. More than one billion riyals ($266.6 million) have so far been invested in the equipment and facilities at the complex, which requires an annual working budget of more than 400 million riyals ($106.6 million) and employs 500 Saudi and 700 non-Saudi experts and technicians.

Universal Perfection of the Revered Word

The six million Qur'ans printed annually in Arabic at the complex are donated to mosques, religious organizations, schools, universities, hotels and local markets throughout the Kingdom. Pilgrims to "The Two Holy Mosques" in Mecca and Medina receive gift copies of the Qur'an.

Copies also are sent to Saudi embassies, government offices, and religious societies abroad. To help meet the spiritual needs of Muslims across the world, highly qualified scholars from throughout the Kingdom and the rest of the world were employed to translate the Qur'an into all languages in which the Holy Book had previously been interpreted and printed. The point was to produce versions that were highly accurate in conveying the true meaning of the Qur'an.

King Fahd recently donated one million copies of the Qur'an to be distributed among Muslims in the southern republics of the former Soviet Union. The lifting of past restrictions on religious practice has encouraged an Islamic resurgence and generated a steady demand for Qur'ans there.

The complex has become a major center for Islamic studies. Separate departments on the Qur'an, Hadith (sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad) and Tafseer (interpretations) are staffed by Islamic scholars from Saudi Arabia and abroad.

The Qur'an printing complex King Fahd established as a gift to the Muslim community already has, within the past five years, evolved into the largest facility of its kind in the world. There is no question that in keeping with King Fahd's commitment to the service of Islam, the complex will continue to serve as a focal point for Islam and meet spiritual needs of Muslims well into the 21st century and beyond.