Islamabad, Tilford, 9 April 2021: In the Friday Sermon today, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa announced the launch of a new Quran website search engine created by the alislam.org team. The new Quran search engine can be found at www.HolyQuran.io.
Talking about the search engine, Huzooraa said:
“Any surah, verse, letter or topic can be searched through this new search engine in Arabic, English or Urdu. The search results can be viewed in both Ahmadi and non-Ahmadi translations [of the Holy Quran]. With every verse, its commentary, topic and related verses can be seen, and more features are to be added.
“Insha-Allah, its second version will be launched by Jalsa Salana UK 2021.
“Apart from the search engine, the team also launched a new, updated version of the Quran listening, reading and search site that has lots of new features – it can be accessed at ReadQuran.app.”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa prayed:
“I pray that may Allah the Almighty enable this project to be a means of spreading the beautiful teachings of the Holy Quran across the world. And may the members of the Jamaat also fully benefit from these projects.”
Background
Al Hakam spoke to Dr Nasim Rehmatullah Sahib, in-charge alislam.org, who told us more about the background of the projects and Hazrat Khalifatul Masih’saa guidance:
“As promised during the Al Islam virtual mulaqat with Huzooraa on 21 November 2020, by the grace of Allah, the landmark Holy Quran search engine website, version 1 is ready for launch for this Ramadan.
“We had written to Huzooraa to seek Huzoor’s blessings and humbly requested Huzooraa to announce and launch this website on a blessed Friday. Version 2 with improved functionality (based on feedback) and additional content and features will be ready insh-Allah by Jalsa Salana UK 2021. This site can be accessed on mobile devices.
“The cardinal feature of the website is its simplicity. This version 1 of this website called HolyQuran.io (OpenQuran.com) also allows the search of the Holy Quran in English, Urdu, and Arabic. It allows access to Hazrat Maulvi Sher Ali’sra English translation, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV’srh Urdu translation and Tafsir-e-Saghir of Khalifatul Masih IIra. In addition, the tafsir of the Holy Quran by the Promised Messiahas is available for the verses that have the tafsir. This version also allows access to several non-Ahmadi translations for readers to compare. The Short Commentary of the Holy Quran and the Five Volume Commentary are also available for the verses being looked at.
“Other features include a slide button to count or not to count bismillah in the numbering of verses. A suggestion drop down facilitates the search query as you type in the search bar. The number of verses that contain your verse query also appears and much more. This is a beta version and improvements and adjustments will be made as feedback comes in and as we notice any weaknesses.
“We have also updated, for this Ramadan, the Al Islam Holy Quran website, ReadQuran.app. This provides for easy reading of the Holy Quran with various translations and tafasir in Arabic, English, French, German, Spanish and Urdu. Listening to various recitations and search features is also added.
“Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa has been very kind with his time and guidance during this venture. This is a product of the blessings of Khilafat and the inspiration it invokes. Over 12 men and 40 women Jamaat members from the USA, Canada and the UK put in hours of work with love and passion. I request prayers for them all. May Allah accept this from us. There was one waqif-e-zindagi assigned to us by Huzooraa all the others were volunteers.
“It is estimated that this work and the number of hours spent on this project would have cost us a minimum of USD $1.5 million if done commercially, plus it would have taken about 18 months. Our team accomplished this in under six months, alhamdolillah.
“We request everyone’s prayers and welcome feedback.”
Masood Nasir Sahib, the Managing Director of alislam.org told us the following features can be utilised on the new search engine:
- Unified search field: Search in English, Urdu or Arabic from the same search box
- Chapter spread: See a visual representation of how frequently your search occurs across the chapters of the Holy Quran
- Quick commentary access: Easily view a verse’s commentary by the Promised Messiahas and others with a single click
- Simple translation comparison: Simultaneously display translations from Ahmadi and non-Ahmadi authors — in both English and Urdu
- Verse topics: Select a verse and see a list of all the topics that pertain to it
In the future, they hope to add the following features:
- A reverse translation explorer
- An interactive Arabic etymology tree
- Integrated lexicon lookup
- Verse-specific cross-links to Al Islam content
- Grammatical usage analysis for individual Quranic words
- More languages and split-word translations
He said, “Please visit the app at OpenQuran.com and let us know what you think.”