Mangaluru: In a feat of devotion and perseverance, a BCom graduate from Puttur has become one of the few women in India to write the entire Holy Quran using a traditional dip pen (qalam). Fathima Sajla Ismail, daughter of Ismail Baithadka BP, a private school founder-secretary and Zohra Jasmine, a homemaker, spent about 2,416 hours meticulously copying all 30 sections (juz) of the Quran in calligraphy, without a single deviation.A graduate from Markazul Huda Women’s Degree College, Kumbra, Sajla began the project in Jan 2021 during the Covid-induced lockdown, after her parents encouraged her in that. Writing the Quran by hand with a dip pen requires great discipline, including sitting in one particular position throughout the process and ensuring absolute uniformity. Though she paused midway, she resumed the work on Oct 24, 2024, and finally completed it on Aug 2. “At one point, an ink blot ruined the initial few pages, necetitating her to rewrite them from the beginning,” her father said.Sajla completed the work in 302 days of writing, with each page taking about four hours. The 604-page manuscript was written on white, light blue, and light green paper, with the Arabic letters in black ink. The finished volume, bound in red and gold, weighs 13.8kg and measures 22 inches in length, 14 inches in width, and 5.5 inches in height.A formal launch of the written Quran was held at her alma mater on Saturday. Murris Yaseen Sakhafi Al Azhari from the Markaz Knowledge City in Kerala officially released it in the presence of several scholars and college officials. The family has been receiving requests to exhibit the same. On future preservation of the copy, they maintained that a decision will be taken after discussing with elders and scholars. The family is also considering applying for ‘Limca Book of Records’.
