Home Ministry seizes RM2.8mil worth of unauthorised Qurans, Quranic materials

PUTRAJAYA: Over RM2.8mil worth of unauthorised Qurans and Quranic materials have been seized by the Home Ministry.

Home Ministry enforcement and control division secretary Nik Yusaimi Yussof said the seizures were made following Ops Mulia throughout March this year.

"This division conducted 1,082 checks on various premises nationwide and seized a total of 6,962 Qurans as well as 12,767 Quranic materials.

"Based on our checks, these items are estimated to be worth at least RM2.8mil," he told reporters at the Home Ministry enforcement and control division office on Wednesday (April 3).

He said their checks revealed that a number of these Qurans were printed by printing companies that were not licensed to print Qurans.

"During our checks, we also seized various calligraphy frames and artwork which had Quranic verses that were unreadable.

"According to the Printing of Quran Text Act 1986, any Quran publishing must obtain Home Ministry certification, involving expert review, before circulation in the country," he said, adding that they detained 164 individuals for offences under the same Act.

He said the Home Ministry through his division was working towards the goal of having zero uncertified Qurans nationwide.

"Throughout Ops Mulia, we also conducted the Jom Exchange Al-Quran (JEQ) programme in line with this goal.

"We managed to exchange 6,464 uncertified Qurans worth RM260,000 under the JEQ programme," he said, adding that the Qurans were exchanged for free.

Nik Yusaimi urged the public to only purchase Qurans and other publishings which were approved by the Home Ministry.

"There are currently 965 types of Quran publications that have been approved by the Home Ministry either to be sold, owned or distributed among the community.

"Therefore, the general public is urged not to choose uncertified Quran copies by ensuring that the copy of the Quran they are buying has a certification stamp and a Home Ministry hologram sticker.