Worlds biggest Quran in Russias hands

There are no limits to love of God, or the prophet's word. And a special new edition of the Muslim sacred text certainly speaks volumes. The world's biggest Koran, decorated with precious stones and gold, now belongs to Russia. This hefty holy book requires not only strong devotion, but also strong arms to read, as it weighs a mammoth 800 kilograms and boasts 632 pages sized two by one and a half meters. The gold- and silver-encrusted cover studded with malachite and semi-precious stones holds a giant turquoise 14 centimeters in diameter. The price of this opulent opus is unknown, but it took over a year to make. The carefully crafted Koran was ordered from Italy for the Foundation on Restoring Cultural and Historical Heritage in Russia's republic of Tatarstan. And it's certainly got a spirited reception. "This edition of the Koran has become a precious gift to all Russian Muslims," says the Islamic spiritual leader of Tatarstan, Ildus Faizov. The unique edition now resides in a mosque within the Kremlin of the city of Kazan. Next summer, the weighty holy tome will be moved to Bolgary -- a Tatarstan region which embraced Islam as its official religion in 922. The next largest edition of the Koran resides in South Sumatra, Indonesia. This wooden version was long hailed as the world's biggest. But it isn't in fact a book -- this holy scripture consists of 315 wooden planks for carved pages -- each 177 centimeters tall, 140 centimeters wide and 2.5 centimeters thick. Another huge Koran was also discovered in Indonesia, in an Islamic boarding school in West Java. This one is a whopping 200 centimeters tall and 140 centimeters wide. In 2009, Abu Dhabi book fair sold an Indonesian Koran manuscript, sized 120cm by 80cm.

• 2011-11-18T18:11:54+00:00
• Duration: 00:47

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