The Türkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV), associated with Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), set out to reach more people with the Muslim holy book, the Quran. The charity, which made a name for itself with its humanitarian aid efforts, recently launched a new campaign entitled “My Present is the Quran.”
As part of the campaign, some 500,000 copies of the holy book will be distributed to Muslims in Turkey and in 50 countries by the end of 2022.
The foundation has already distributed more than 1.3 million Qurans in Turkey and 81 other countries, in 36 languages and dialects. Currently, books in eight languages and dialects are being distributed, the foundation recently said in a statement. TDV President Izani Turan said that their project was a form of spiritual support. “We are giving away copies of the Quran to people who never had a chance to read it in their lives. In Ramadan only, we delivered books to 100,000 people in 22 countries,” he said. Turan outlined that the book delivery focused on hospitals, prisons and schools in Turkey, and orphanages and madrassas (religious schools) abroad.
“We give our book of life as a gift to our sisters and brothers. In Africa, for instance, children try to learn the Quran with very simple means, in countries with a high rate of poverty and hunger, using wooden tablets. Our gifts make their lives easier and make them happier. They help them to become hafız (the name given to people memorizing the Quran),” he said.
The charity seeks donations of $3.3 (TL 50) for each Quran, the cost of the book.
The TDV says it looks to spread the universal message of the Quran and the culture of reading and understanding the holy book for nearly 2 billion Muslims.
The books are in their original Arabic, tafsirs (Quranic commentaries) or translations of the holy book from Arabic to other languages including English, French, Spanish, Russian, Bosnian, Azerbaijani, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Farsi, Tamil and a number of African languages and dialects such as Amharic are available. Tafsir work for Malay, Nepalese, Bengali and Hausa is still underway.
