Saudi Arabia Offers Assistance to Construct Quran Complex in Islamabad

Saudi Arabia has offered financial assistance for building Pakistan’s first state-owned Qur’an Complex in Islamabad.

Pir Noorul Haq Qadri Minister of Religious Affairs announced last week that the government wants to build the complex in Islamabad to preserve historical manuscripts of the holy scripture.

“This would be the first government-owned Qur’an complex. We have got offers of financial assistance for the building of the complex from Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-based World Muslim League, and some other Gulf countries,” Religious Affairs Ministry spokesman Imran Siddiqui said.

He added that the government has already initiated the process of land acquisition near Golra. The center will also oversee and set standards for the publication of the Qur’an in the country and would recycle worn pages of the holy book.

“This would be a huge complex on approximately 10-Kanal in Islamabad. The complex will have different sections like the error-free publication of the Qur’an and a plant for the recycling of worn pages of the book gathered from all over the country,” Siddiqui said.

International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) Rector Dr. Masoom Yasinzai hailed the plan, stating that it can be unifying for Muslims.

“In this complex, they should also research to unite all Muslims from different schools of thought in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the government should take guidance from the Holy Qur’an complex in Madina. “It should have a proper board, editing, evaluation, and monitoring system for the error-free printing of the Holy Qur’an,” he said.

According to Dr. Muhammad Khalid Masud, former chairman of Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology, it is a constitutional obligation of the government to oversee the publication of the Qur’an.

Under the Constitution of Pakistan, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure error-free publication of the Qur’an. It would be a good step if the government can implement standards like Saudi Arabia for the publication of the holy book in Pakistan.