President Bashar al-Assad received Minister of Religious Endowments Mohammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyed and members of the Ministry’s Permanent Committee for the Holy Quran Affairs on Monday.
Minister Sayyed briefed President Assad on the new standard version of the Quran, following a presidential request for an update of the Holy Book.
In the new version, Quranic letters are simplified according to a set of accredited standards for scholars of Quranic sciences.
President Assad hailed the Committee’s efforts to produce the text, adding that the approach used in creating the new version should be adopted by the Ministry for all 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 Assad said the launch of the new version, coinciding with Laylat al-Qadr (the last 10 days of Ramadan), takes on “significant spiritual dimensions” that add to its value in bringing people closer to Quran.
Minister al-Sayyed, for his part, said the new version is a pioneering effort in the Arab and Islamic world, indicating that President Assad also requested an audio version.
After five years and 27 revisions, the new standard version is to be the reference for all printed copies of the Holy Quran in Syria.
