The 11th Istanbul International Arabic Book Fair opened Saturday in Istanbul and will continue until August 23 with the slogan “The Story Continues”.

On the first day of the fair, a group of scholars from the Islamic world announced the launch of the World Quran Assembly.

A statement issued by the founding board of the assembly at a special meeting said, “Today, we announce the launch of the World Quran Assembly and the opening of a registration platform for institutions, centers, recitation circles and Quran academies around the world.”

It added, “The announcement of the establishment of this assembly in Istanbul is a decisive moment in the history of institutional Quranic activity, and the idea originated from the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque and al-Quds.”

The statement said the idea began with a simple and profound question: What if the people of the Quran in the world knew each other? What if thousands of institutions - all serving the same book and having the same message, but often unaware of each other - met together? What if scattered experiences became a common force, individual initiatives became global projects, and scattered forces became a united network working in harmony to serve the Book of God?

Noting that the idea was well received when presented to scholars, Quran reciters and institutions, it said the World Quran Assembly was established not to serve as a “super-institution” – nor as a competitor or alternative – but as a global umbrella.

Its aim is to serve and strengthen Quranic institutions, preserve their independence and unique identity, and open doors for cooperation and partnership, the statement said.

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The founding board of the forum consists of a group of prominent scholars, reciters and academics from different countries around the world.

Ahmed Issa Al-Masrawi from Egypt is the president of the assembly, while Abdul Rashid Sufi from Qatar is the vice president and Ahmed Shukri Shabsugh from Jordan is the secretary.

Also, Quranic scholars including Sheikh Abdul Salam Majidi (Yemen), Muhammad Amin Mashali (Turkey), Ghanem Qaddouri Al-Hamd (Iraq), Kamal Qadeh (Algeria), Ahmed Mian Al-Tahnawi (Pakistan), Khairuddin Khoja (Kosovo), Abdul Rahman Al-Jamal (Palestine), Muhammad Ayden (Turkey), Muhammad Zaytun Rasmin (Indonesia), Yahya Al-Ghouthani (Syria), Abdul Fattah Al-Farisi (Morocco), Muhammad Al-Hassan Bousso (Senegal), Hisham Abdul Bari Al-Rajh (Malaysia), Mustafa Ahmed Arafa (Kuwait), Hassan Muhammad Saleh (USA) and Ahmed Al-Sanami (Italy) are members of this Quranic assembly.

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