Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Indonesian government is exploring possible cooperation in the Quran printing with the Saudi government.

"Muslims in Indonesia still lack manuscripts of the Quran. The population of Indonesian Muslims is approximately 215 million, but we are only able to provide 200,000 (copies) per year," Indonesian Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said in an official statement received here on Wednesday (Nov. 24).

He recently visited the world's largest Quran printing office, Mujamma' King Fahd, in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, in an effort to explore this collaboration.

The minister said that preliminary discussions on this matter had been discussed with the Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Da'wah and Counseling of Saudi Arabia, Abdullatif bin Abdulaziz.

The cooperation on the Quran printing, Yaqut said, would be part of the plan to build an Islamic Center in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Secretary General of Mujamma' King Fahd, Talal bin Razin Al-Rehil, welcomed this cooperation.

He pointed out that every year Mujamma' King Fahd is able to print 18 million copies of the Quran.

Al-Rehil explained that the process of printing and ratifying the Quran was carried out accurately and rigorously.

King Fahd's Quran Printing, which is located in an area of ​​250,000 square meters, prints the Quran and its translations into various languages ​​in the world.

"Our security system has a sensor for possible misprints. So, if an error is found, the machine will automatically stop immediately. The printings could last up to 100 years," Talal explained.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Deputy Minister of Religion Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi said that the need for the Quran in Indonesia is still high.

Data from the Indonesian Ministry of Religion show that the total need for the Quran every year is more than six million copies.

Meanwhile, the ministry’s Quran Printing Unit (UPQ) since 2016-2020 has only printed 1,705,000 copies.

"The challenge for the UPQ in the future is to meet the needs of the Quran manuscripts for Indonesian Muslims whose number is more and more increasing over time," Zainut said.

Reporting by Indonesia Window