Ministry of Endowments Signs Contract to Print 700 Thousand Copies 5th Edition of Mushaf Qatar

Doha, June 29 (QNA) - The Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs signed a contract with the Turkish "Bilnet Printing and Publishing" to print 700,000 copies of the fifth edition of Mushaf Qatar or the Qur’an of Qatar, which includes three sizes. The contract was signed by the Director of the Financial and Administrative Affairs Department at the Ministry Ahmed Al Nuaimi, and the General Manager of the "Bilnet Printing and Publishing" Ertugrul Ozturk. The contract stipulates that the printing process will take a full year from the date of the signing, including the paper supply period, bringing the number of printed copies of Mushaf Qatar in all sizes upon completion and receipt of the fifth edition to about 3.4 million copies, since the launch of Mushaf Qatar in 2010. Advisor to the Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, and supervisor of the printing of Qatar's Qur'an Dr. Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari, said: The Qatar Qur'an project is "the vision of an Amir and the path of a State." In a press conference on this occasion, Dr. Al Kuwari stressed the keenness of HE the Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs to adhere to the highest standards in printing the Qur’an, in terms of paper, type of ink, binding, decoration, colors, and all materials used in printing. He also pointed out that the selection of the printing press is also subject to precise technical criteria. Al Kuwari further explained that the "Bilnet Printing" meets these criteria, and that it had already printed the third and fourth editions of the Qur’an of Qatar, which is the first Qur’an 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 for the honor of scribing the Qur’an manuscript, with the competition also being judged by a jury composed of world experts in the arts of Arabic calligraphy, not to mention the other competitions related to the gilding and decoration of the Qur’an. Moreover, Al Kuwari detailed that the 5th edition of the Qur’an of Qatar includes three sizes, the large size is 28 x 20 by 150 thousand copies, the medium size is 20 x 14 by 500 thousand copies, and then the small size is 14 x 10 by 50 thousand copies. Regarding the standards of the fifth edition, Al Kuwari stated that there are work teams that will supervise the printing of the Qur’an to ensure the ministry’s standards are met, so that the Qur’an copies turn out in a form that befits the Book of God, and to reflect clearly the dedication the State of Qatar’s gives to the Qur’an. In addition, he pointed out that this edition will be distributed upon completion within Qatar and to Muslims around the world. In response to a question about whether there is a plan to print the Qur’an of Qatar with a recitation other than the "Hafs" recitation, Dr. Al Kuwari explained that there is an idea to issue an edition in the "Warsh" recitation, but in the Qatar Qur’an script, noting that it is easy to make automatic modifications to the Qur’an to match it with the required recitation, while adhering to the given type of font of the Qur’an. For his part, Ertugrul Ozturk expressed his pride in cooperating with the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs in printing the Qur’an of Qatar’s 5th edition, after the printing press distinctly succeeded in the last two editions. Additionally, he stressed his commitment to continue to print the Qur’an according to the best technical standards. It is noteworthy that the first copy of Qatar's Quran was launched in 2010. (QNA)