President al-Assad during launching new standard version of Holy Quran: Current time requires acts that prevent misinterpreting the Holy Book

Damascus– President Bashar al-Assad on Monday received Minister of Awqaf (Religious Endowments ) Mohammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyed and members of the Ministry’s Permanent Committee for the Holy Quran Affairs.

Minister al-Sayyed briefed President al-Assad on the new standard version which President al-Assad ordered its formation.

In the new version, Quranic letters are simplified and sketched with dexterity according to a set of accredited standards that scholars of Quranic science use.

 President al-Assad hailed the diligent efforts exerted by the Committee to execute the version, adding that the approach used in making the new version should be adopted by the Ministry in all of its future projects.

“We truly need such acts at this critical stage of distortion and misleading when it comes to the Holy Quran and the teachings of Prophet Mohammad (Peace be Upon Him),” the President said.

President al-Assad said that the launch of the new version coinciding with Laylat al-Qadr (The Night of Decree which in Islamic belief is the night when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to Prophet Muhammad, thought to be one of the last ten days of Ramadan) takes on significant spiritual dimensions that add to its value in bringing people closer to Quran.

For his part, Minister al-Sayyed said the new version is a pioneer one in the Arab and Islamic world, indicating that President al-Assad also asked for an audio version.

The new standard version is to be the reference for all printed copies of the Holy Quran. It is the fruit of more than five years of hard work and was revised more than 27 times to ensure its accuracy.

The Ministry will send copies of the new version to the al-Azhar al-Sharif and Arab and Muslim countries.

SANA