Burnt Quran Copies Disposed of at Sea

Ashes of worn out and damaged copies of the Quran that have been burnt were disposed of nine nautical miles from the coast here to prevent the holy books from being desecrated with regular garbage and consistent with keeping their sanctity intact.

“It was a thorough process to gather damaged copies of the Quran and texts with Quranic scriptures from all mosques and religious schools in Terengganu,” said state Islamic Affairs and Information Committee deputy chairman Ramli Noh.
He said the religious authorities collected some 200kg of old Quran and Islamic scriptures since November last year and six officers from the state Islamic Affairs department carried out the burning according to Islamic rituals at the end of last month.
Solemn occasion : Religious department personnel sprinkling the ashes of the burnt Quran off Kuala Terengganu yesterday.
“The officers had to shred the pages and burn them piece by piece in a barrel,” Ramli said after the ashes of the holy book were ceremoniously sprinkled in the sea yesterday.
He said in most cases, any damaged Quran or Islamic text is disposed of by burying them in a selected and suitable place.
He said it was an Islamic practice to destroy damaged and worn out Quran to protect the sacredness of the holy text.

Source: The Star