The Hon. K. Kader Masthan

¶ 01 Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.

¶ 02 Hon. Speaker, thank you for permitting me to ask a question under Standing Order 27(2).

¶ 03 The exclusive official right to reprint the Holy Qur’an in Arabic and to translate and publish it in other languages is held by the “King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an” of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, accepted unanimously by the two billion Muslims worldwide and recognized by all nations. Since the time of the Ottoman Caliphate, this sacred work has been preserved without blemish. The Qur’an has been translated and distributed, without footnotes or annotations, in more than fifty languages including English, French, German, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Hindi, Urdu, Sinhala, Tamil, Malay, Japanese, Malayalam, Korean and Nepali.

¶ 04 Under the guidance of the then Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, and under the leadership of the Chief Preacher of the Department of Islamic Research and Fatwa, Ash-Sheikh Muhammad Iqbal Madani, the Tamil translation was undertaken. Eminent Sri Lankan scholars, including the late General Secretary of Jamiyyathul Ulama Ash-Sheikh Muhammad Magdoom Ahmed Mubarak, Prof. Ash-Sheikh Musthafa Mawlana, Ash-Sheikh Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, Ash-Sheikh Noorul Hamza and Muhammad Zayeed of the Kapuriya Arabic College, were appointed in 1993 to review this Tamil translation—an honour for our country.

¶ 05 Accordingly, I raise the following:

¶ 06 1. The Tamil translations of the Holy Qur’an are distributed without restriction in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, the USA, European countries, Middle Eastern countries and other Asian countries, and the Tamil edition is uploaded on various websites. However, on 16 May 2024, Container No. 45T[?] 8233306 carrying Holy Qur’an Tamil translations was detained by Sri Lanka Customs. According to the container documents, how many Arabic and Tamil translation copies were there? How many have been released to date? How many remain detained and why?

¶ 07 2. As per the letter MRCA/R/09/NOL/2025VI dated 15.07.2025 of the Director, Department of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs, it was decided at the National Security Council meeting chaired by H.E. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on 23 June 2025 that the Tamil translations of the Holy Qur’an gifted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Sri Lankan Muslims, currently held by Customs, be returned to the King Fahd Qur’an Printing Complex for amendment with appropriate explanatory footnotes before release. What are the reasons for this decision?

¶ 08 3. If a government committee has been appointed to re-examine these Tamil Qur’an copies or to review Islamic publications, will the Government table the names, official appointment gazette and details of payments? Likewise, have committees been appointed to review the holy texts of other religions and obtain clearance from their respective clergy? If so, will details be tabled?

¶ 09 4. What recommendations has this committee made regarding the Tamil Qur’an copies? Does the Government fully agree with them?

¶ 10 5. What urgent steps will the Government take to release the detained Tamil Qur’an copies?

¶ 11 I await answers and urge that the copies be released expeditiously. Thank you.