Including Quran recitation through the Merdeka #Quranhour and World #Quranhour campaigns during National Day celebration on August 31 is permissible and not contrary to Islamic teachings.

National Dakwah Council deputy chairman Prof Datuk Zakaria Stapa said organising such programmes was good in an effort to bring the Muslims closer to the Quran.

"Some people claim that such a thing did not exist during the time of the prophet but we have to look at it from a wider scope. There were no such things as the people's activities were centred around the Quran.

"However today, we do not recite the Quran daily and our society is getting further away from the Quran. So this is a good way to promote a better understanding of the Quran," he told a press conference here, today.

Zakaria said that every Muslim should read and understand the Quran while adding that every family should make it a practice to recite the Quran daily.

On Aug 31, the World #QuranHour and Merdeka #QuranHour programmes will be held at two locations namely International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), Gombak from 11.30am to 1.30pm, and Dataran Merdeka from 8.30pm to 10.45pm.

-- BERNAMA