KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak expressed optimism that Malaysia can become the second largest Holy Quran printing centre after Saudi Arabia with the establishment of the Mushaf Al-Quran Printing Centre in the federal capital.
The prime minister said the printing centre was the outcome of collaboration between Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Berhad (PNMB) and the Restu Foundation.
“I am obliged to express gratitude to the Restu Foundation which sparked the idea for the setting up of the integrated Mushaf Al-Quran printing centre in this country.
“I am convinced that this consolidation between the Restu Foundation and PNMB can achieve the objective of making Malaysia the second largest Holy Quran printing centre in the world,” he said in his speech at the launch of the Mushaf Al-Quran Printing Centre at the PNMB headquarters in Jalan Chan Sow Lin, here, Monday.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom and Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan, who is a trustee of the Restu Foundation, were also present at the event.
Najib said the launch of the printing centre could be regarded as a manifestation of the government’s tireless determination in enhancing the eminence of Islam.
“As we all know, the Holy Quran is the only miracle that has remained in the hands of Muslims to this day. Let us express our thanks and feel honoured to have been favoured with the ‘sweetness of faith’ by way of the Holy Quran,” he said.
Najib called on Muslims to make the present generation as the generation of the Holy Quran through the appreciation and exploration of the contents of the Holy Quran by reading and understanding verse by verse.
“Make reading the Holy Quran our culture; hopefully we will acquire blessings and guidance,” he said.
Najib said that though the process of printing the Holy Quran was not much different from the printing of other books, it required the highest level of care and expertise.
“This is very important to avoid misprints. It has to be remembered that the Holy Quran is a holy book whose authenticity is guaranteed,” he said.
Najib said millions of copies of the Holy Quran were being printed nowadays, so much so that it was not possible for the Holy Quran to disappear altogether from the world; even the reading of the verses of the Holy Quran are heard via recording devices, computers and mobile phones, he said.
He said the Mushaf Al-Quran was now produced beautifully, neatly and in a user-friendly manner to draw the interest of Muslims to own and read it.
“It is human nature to be interested in something beautiful and lovely. Accordingly, the writers in the past created various types of calligraphy to further beautify the holy verses of the Quran,” he said.
– BERNAMA
