KOTA BHARU, The Kelantan Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JAHEAIK) has disposed of 77 tonnes of ashes from burnt Qurans since 2015.

State Islamic Development, Dakwah, Information, and Regional Relations Committee chairman Mohd Asri Mat Daud, said most of the disposed Qurans were old copies damaged by floods.

Mohd Asri said the disposal method involves burning the Qurans using an incinerator at JAHEAIK to transform them into ashes, which are then released into the sea.

‘This process, implemented by JAHEAK in accordance with the Quran Text Disposal Guidelines, is in response to the community’s request to dispose copies which have been damaged and could no longer be used.

“This service is provided free of charge and the public can bring damaged Quran copies to a nearby mosque or religious office in their area to be collected before being taken to JAHEAIK,” Mohd Asri told reporters when met at a programme to release ashes of burnt Qurans in the waters off Kuala Besar here, today.

Earlier, Mohd Asri ove
rsaw the release of 2.07 tonnes of ashes into the sea, at a depth of 21 nautical miles. The event coincided with the sinking of three Vietnamese foreign fishing boats, which had been judicially forfeited since last year.

Mohd Asri elaborated that according to a fatwa issued by the Kelantan Islamic Religion and Malay Customs Council (MAIK) in Dec 2006, the ashes of burnt Quran should be either buried or scattered into flowing water such as a river, or thrown into the sea.

‘In adherence to this fatwa, the ashes must be disposed of at a distance of no less than five nautical miles from the mainland,’ he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency