RIYADH: A joint team from the Center of Excellence in Information Assurance (CoEIA) at the King Saud University (KSU) and Noor IT Research Center for the Holy Qur’an at the Taibah University, Madinah, is working on a project funded by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) to secure framework for a digital Qur’an.
“The research teams from the CoEIA and the Noor IT Research Center are exploring the methods to protect the integrity of the Holy Qur’an contents available in digital formats on smart phones and web applications,” said Muhammad Khurram Khan, who is leading the project at the CoEIA. He recently returned from the United States after presenting a research paper on it and chaired a session at the 35th IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE 2017) held in Las Vegas.
ICCE is a flagship international conference of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (US), which is held annually since 1982 in conjunction with the prestigious Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas.
“As the apps are free many people download it on smart phone, iPad, laptop and desktop to read the Holy Qur’an in digital format without knowing the fact if it is authentic or not, if it assure of cyber protection,” Khan told Arab News.
He said that when we read the Holy Qur’an in the hard copy, we know that it has been printed at the King Fahd Qur’an Printing Complex or some other recognized printing house in different countries, which assure of the authenticity, while the Holy Qur’an apps have been made available in digital formats and freely distributed through Internet in the form of portable documents, websites, mobile applications, and digital handheld devices.
The digitization of religious contents brings ease to people to explore, read and study contents with their convenience on the move, but on the other hand, authenticity of the content itself might be uncertain because it is cumbersome to track and verify hundreds, even thousands of digital versions of Qur’an available online, he added.
“We have proposed a system to secure framework for digital Qur’an certification as the objective behind the project is to assure of authenticity of the digital Holy Qur’an apps,” he said.
He added that there should be an authority to monitor such apps for authentication, and issue certificate, so that readers know that this app has been certified.
The team is working to come up with novel solutions to solve research challenges. Proposed framework and techniques can overcome the authentication problems in the minds of reciters of digital versions of the Holy Qur’an, he said.
Research outcome of this project is encouraging and it has attracted commendable response from Muslims around the World, said Khan.
“We are also looking for support to spin-off a company and seeking financial support to implement this project in the real-life environment,” he said.
KSU, Taibah University team working on securing framework for digital Qur’an
KSU, Taibah University team working on securing framework for digital Qur’an
‘Cake not hate’ campaign becomes ‘Dates not hate’ in Madinah
- Dan said he was very impressed by Saudi hospitality and that his family was warmly welcomed
- He said being in Madinah exposed him to the true diversity of Islam
LONDON: A British autistic and non-verbal boy who has been visiting UK mosques and distributing cakes to promote solidarity amid an increase in far-right support in the country has taken his message of love to Madinah.
Joshua Harris, or “The Joshie-Man” as the 12-year-old is known to his social media fans, has handed out hundreds of his baked goods to worshipers at mosques in major British cities over the last few months.
The “Cake not hate” campaign came about after an Islamophobic attack on a mosque in his home city of Peterborough in October 2025.
Harris and his father visited Masjid Darassalaam, the mosque that was targeted, with cakes that the boy had baked and distributed them to the congregation soon after the attack. Since then, Harris has visited dozens of mosques in the UK.
On a recent trip to the Middle East, he and his father visited Madinah. In a local twist that pays tribute to the holy city’s famous date varieties including ajwa and ambar, Harris handed out dates to people in the courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque. The “Cake not hate” campaign became “Dates not hate” for Saudi Arabia.
“He was greeted really, really warmly. There were some really touching moments where people were kissing his hands and his head. It was really lovely,” his father, Dan Harris, said.
Dan, the founder of global charity Neurodiversity in Business, said being in Madinah exposed him to the true diversity of Islam.
“We met people from all around the world. It was amazing. It’s like the United Nations there, you get people from different countries and it just goes to show you that the Muslim community, or the Ummah more generally, is not a homogeneous group,” he said.
“We saw people from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and it was really interesting for us.”
Dan said his visit to Madinah, considered the second holiest city in Islam after Makkah for Muslims, was “profound and life-changing.”
He added: “I would say it’s my favourite city in the world due to the peace and tranquillity I felt there.”
Dan added that he was very impressed by Saudi hospitality: “Everywhere we went, people were taking down my number and insisting that we come for dinner, insisting they pick us up from the location. They were extremely attentive to Joshie as well, making sure his needs were met. We felt a great sense of welcome, something Saudi Arabia is known for.”
