Malaysia prints braille Koran for Muslims

Malaysia's Muslim Association of Visually Impaired People is printing braille version of the Koran, with each copy taking four hours to print.

Siti Haida Hamidan, 30, blind Malaysian recite the Koran in Braille

Malaysia's Muslim Association of Visually Impaired People is printing braille version of the Koran. (AAP)

As the fourth week of the holy month of Ramadan approaches, copies of the Koran printed in braille mean that blind Muslims in Malaysia don't have to lose out on reading their holy book.

Printed by the Malaysia Muslim Association of Visually Impaired People (PERTIM), the braille books are printed off at the organisation's office in Kuala Lumpur and sent out to people's homes.

One copy of the braille Koran, which is thousands of pages long, sells for $US48 ($A64) on double-sided paper, and $US97 ($A130) on single-sided.

Printing off the entire holy book - with the centre's five braille printers working simultaneously - reportedly takes about four hours.

Though some people read the braille Koran at the PERTIM centre, most choose to have it delivered to their homes.

Ramadan is a particularly busy time for PERTIM, and large Malaysian companies donate money to the centre so it can print more Korans as part of the Islamic alms-giving tradition, known as Zakat in Arabic.

PERTIM was founded in 1996 and is the only organisation permitted by the Malaysian government to print the Koran in braille.


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Source: AAP


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