The Council of Ministers decided, often by direct orders from His Highness the Prime Minister, to print 100,000 copies of the Holy Qur’an translated into Swedish, and sending it to Sweden, in response to the despicable act of an Iraqi immigrant, who publicly burned a copy of the Qur’an.

Immediately after the news was published, an advertising campaign launched a campaign and put up billboards all over Kuwait praising the decision and considered it a great victory. I did not find in the decision any real meaning or a proper civilized reaction to the burning incident.

Rather, it may result in several negative reactions, as we printed this huge number of copies of the Qur’an, by using a huge amount of paper, which most likely will end up on the shelves of mosques, and not reach those who need them, which is an average Swedish citizen.

It was possible, very easily, and I hope it is not too late, to save a lot of effort, money, and the speed of implementing the decision through the best use of what technology has reached, and not to think about implementing the matter in an already miserable traditional way.

The cost of printing 100,000 copies and sending them to Sweden may not be very high, and this is not the goal of the project. Rather, the goal is to deliver copies to the Swedish citizens, who are spread over an area of more than 528,000 square kilometers, and this is a process that will cost tens of millions, and a long implementation period, and most likely will not produce a clear positive effect noting that the “King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an” has been producing, for years, elaborate translations of the Qur’an in hundreds of other languages, all of which are free of charge.

Likewise, Al-Suwaidi, who had previously wanted, or would like to know something about the Qur’an, did so by searching on the Internet, and he would definitely not need a hard copy of the Qur’an. Thus, there is no logical reason for our “wise government” to spend on translating, printing and distributing tens of thousands of copies, to no avail, as the majority of the population does not use paper publications except in the narrowest limits.

It is also possible to view and listen to the Qur’an in all European and other languages through the following website: https://www.youtube.com/ channel/ UCPezbJYLAUu76epLz3gqZUw. All of this obviates the need for the Council of Ministers project, which can be implemented at a much lower cost, by saving the entire text on the “alum”, or memory stick, fl ash memory, in an elegant and attractive way, and distributing it to those wishing to acquire the Qur’an, and applying this will save a great deal of money and time, and it will avoid any other indispensable insults.

The party that will distribute the paper Qur’an has thought of placing platforms in the main streets and in front of the mosques and distributing it free of charge to passers-by, who may accept it politely, but how they will behave with the heavy paper copy is unknown! Finally, how can we reach the mind and heart of the Swedish citizen with our behavior in light of the statement issued by the National Assembly, in which Sweden and others have been warned against repeating the act, asking the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to prevent the sale of goods manufactured by Sweden and countries that offend our religious symbols, and that we interfere in their internal affairs and policies.

We strongly demand that they reject requests for political asylum for those who insult religion, God, the messengers, and the Qur’an! It is ironic that we slap the Swede on the right cheek with our threats, and at the same time pat him on the left cheek asking him to accept our ‘free’ gift.

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e-mail: [email protected]

By Ahmad alsarraf