For many years our scholars have constantly encouraged the youth to read and understand the Holy Qur’an. A frequent complaint is that existing translations are sometimes difficult to understand. The Academy were impressed with the new publication of the The Qur’an, with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation by Ali Quli Qarai in December 2004. In April of 2005 the Academy negotiated with the ICAS Press of London and purchased 1000 copies for distribution across N. America. The retail cost of the Qur’an as advertised on ICAS website was GBP 20 plus shipping. This would come to about USD 45 & CAD 50. The Academy of subsidized the selling price. In the US youths paid USD 20/copy and in Canada they paid CAD20/copy. Shipping cost was borne by the Academy for Learning Islam

The Youth Network Desk of NASIMCO headed by Haji MohamedHussein Ladak assisted in distributing about 300 copies of the Qur’an to youths in the following North America cities: Allentown, New York, Minneapolis, Edmonton, Vancouver and Orlando. We are thankful to the dedicated volunteers for their assistance in gathering data of the youths and distributing the Qur’an at subsidized price to the youths. Br Mahmood Hemani of Toronto helped in shipping these 300 copies for free from Vancouver to various North American cities. In the last year, we have been able to distribute over 400 more copies of the Qur’an in North America.

Mu’mineen in Vancouver displayed their generosity in sponsoring about 80 copies of the Qur’an to be sent to Public libraries in Canada. They were sent to the following institutions/libraries with a cover letter.  Some of the librarians requested more than one copy so that they could distribute them to their other affiliates/branches.

• BCIT -- Burnaby, BC
• Capilano College – North Vancouver, BC
• Camosun College -- Victoria, BC
• College of the Rockies -- Cranbrook, BC
• Douglas College – New Westminster, BC
• Emily Carr Institute - Vancouver, BC
• Langara College, Vancouver, BC
• Kwantlen University College - Richmond  & Langley Campuses
• Northwest Community College -- Terrace, BC
• Okanagan Community College -- Kelowna, BC
• Vancouver Community College -- Vancouver, BC
• Selkirk College -- Castlegaar, BC (1)
• Simon Fraser University – Burnaby & Surrey campuses, BC
• Whitehorse Public Library -- Whitehorse, YT
• NWT Public Library -- Hay River, NWT
• Nunavut Public Library -- Baker Lake, Nunavut
• Trinity Western University – Langely, BC
• UBC Main Library – Vancouver, BC
• Vancouver Island Regional Library -- Nanaimo, BC

The following libraries also received copies from ALI:

• WR Castell central Library – Alberta
• Red Deer Public Library - Alberta
• London Public Library – Ontario
• Kitchener Public Library - Ontario

Various libraries in Edmonton also received copies.

Copies of the Qur’an were also sent to libraries in Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories. We still have about 100 copies of the new translation available for distribution in North America.