Mangaluru: Showcasing rare dedication, a young commerce graduate from Puttur has achieved a unique milestone by hand-transcribing the entire Holy Quran with a traditional calligraphy pen (qalam).
Fathima Sajla Ismail, daughter of school founder-secretary Ismail Baithadka BP and homemaker Zohra Jasmine, invested nearly 2,416 hours in this spiritual pursuit. She carefully reproduced all 30 sections (juz) of the sacred text without even the slightest error, mirroring every page precisely.
A B Com graduate of Markazul Huda Women’s Degree College, Sajla began this ambitious effort in January 2021 during the Covid lockdown. Encouraged by her parents, who noticed her fine handwriting and artistic flair, she took up the challenge. Hand-copying the Quran demands great discipline—sitting in one direction for hours, maintaining consistent strokes, and mastering the complexity of calligraphy.
Although she paused midway, Sajla resumed on October 24, 2024, and triumphantly completed the work on August 2. Her father shared that early on, an ink blot spoiled a few pages, compelling her to start them anew.
In total, she completed the manuscript in 302 days of active writing. Each page required about four hours, though some days extended to eight hours when two pages were finished. The monumental work spans 604 pages, inscribed on white, light blue, and green sheets with black ink. The final volume, bound in red and gold, weighs 13.8 kg and measures 22” × 14” × 5.5”.
The official unveiling took place at Markazul Huda Women’s College, where scholar Murris Yaseen Sakhafi Al Azhari released the first copy. Requests for public exhibitions have already begun. The family is considering expert advice on preservation and may seek entry into the Limca Book of Records.