Qur’an copies a rarity in Cambodia

Cambodian Muslims can hardly find a copy of the holy Muslim book in the Buddhist country.

"Copies of the Qur'an are hard to get in Cambodia," Mufti Karmaruddin Yusof said in statements carried September 29 by Malaysia's Bernama news agency.

He said copies of the holy book are usually stolen from mosques in the Southeastern Asian country.

This makes it difficult to explain and spread the Islamic teachings in the Buddhist country, he said.

Ahmad Zahid, the chairman of the Dewan Amal Islam Hadhari (Damai), said at least 200,000 copies are needed by the Muslim minority. He urged Malaysia, the chairman of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference, to meet this serious shortage.

Zahid added that his organisation has collected so far RM200, 000 for its Wakaf Al-Quran programme.

There are estimated 700,000 Muslims in Cambodia, making up 5 per cent of the country's 13 million population.