Kazan, a city in the Republic of Tatarstan, is the largest Islamic city and the fifth-largest city in Russia. It was the first to print copies of the holy Quran.
As stated by Kazan’s Mufti, Kamil Samigullin, during an event at the Islamic University in Kazan, in 1803, Kazan, as a predominantly Muslim city, managed to print copies of the holy Quran for the first time.
Samigullin mentioned that during that time, printing books or texts in Arabic was very challenging due to various restrictions faced by the Muslim population under Russian rule.
He further explained that the first printing of the holy Quran in the world was done in Venice, Italy, in 1537. Afterward, the holy Quran was printed in different countries, including Hamburg, Germany, in 1694.
However, neither of these cities had a Muslim-majority population. Thus, Kazan became the first city with a Muslim majority to print copies of the holy Quran. Moreover, according to Samigullin, the printed copies from Italy and Germany contained errors. “Those copies had many mistakes, including printing errors,” said Samigullin.
Kazan itself is a city in southwestern Russia, situated on the banks of the Volga and Kazanka rivers. It serves as the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, a semi-autonomous region within the Russian Federation.
