PUTRAJAYA, Feb 27 — Allocating RM10 million from Budget 2023 to print and distribute two million translated copies of the Quran is reasonable, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, was responding to criticism that the money is “too much” just for that purpose, following his retabling of Budget 2023 in Parliament last Friday.
“Why is it too much? It’s the Quran and it’s not just in the Swedish language but others too and for the purpose of fostering understanding.
“The problem now is that there is a lack of understanding. Those who oppose Islam they don’t read scripture and then those who fight back also never bother to learn about other cultures,” he told reporters after speaking at an international conference to address Islamophobia here.
Along with distributing two million copies of the Quran, Anwar said the RM10 million will be used to publish and distribute 20,000 translations of the Islamic holy book in Swedish and other major foreign languages.
In January, Anwar said Malaysia condemned in the strongest terms the act of extremist right-wing Swedish-Danish politician, Rasmus Paludan, and added that the move by Yayasan Restu to distribute copies of the Quran globally would be the most apt response.
Yayasan Restu is well-known for producing Quran manuscripts and Quran-related publications with exclusive designs.
*Editor’s note: An earlier version reported the allocation to be RM2 million for 20,000 translated copies of the Quran. Malay Mail apologises for the error, which has since been corrected.
