The pages from the Holy Quran fitted with Swarovski Crystals by Mohammed Sultan Shaikh. Pic: Qassim Rahmatullah / The Peninsula

By Sanaullah Ataullah / The Peninsula

An Indian expatriate has reached halfway of his ambitious project of writing the Holy Quran in a unique way using expensive crystals and pure gold, first-of-its-kind effort in the world.

Muhammed Sultan Shaikh, a fashion designer-turned calligrapher of the Holy Quran, got offer from a reputed international fashion designing company in France when he became famous for designing 28 unique dresses reflecting face image of a most popular celebrities of Bollywood.

Shaikh later on decided to use his skill in designing beautiful frames containing verses of the Holy Quran. The calligrapher, a high school graduate, learnt Arabic language so he could write the Holy Quran properly.

“I began designing frames with verses of the Holy Quran in 2006 and made 46 beautiful large size frames in four years which were showcased at a shopping mall in Qatar for sale,” Shaikh told The Peninsula. He said that the frames received overwhelming response from visitors which encouraged him to continue with his passion.

A newspaper article on a hand-written Holy Quran by a famous Indian calligrapher further influenced the Indian fashion master to begin his life project. “I started my ambitious project in 2010 to write the Holy Quran in a unique beautiful designs made of gold and crystals. My first challenge was to find suitable papers which could work for such types of experience,” said Shaikh.

He said that the search ended to the US-made waterproof papers which were available in local market. “Gold colour and glue were applied on the paper to make it durable,” said Shaikh adding that after that the paper turned into a plastic sheet which could not be harmed by bookworm or other insects.

“The calligraphy work of the Holy Quran was supposed to be completed in seven years (from 2011-2017) even crystals were applied on some pages but due to lack of money I could not complete my project,” said Shaikh.

He said that crystals are being applied on letters. “However, design and decoration will be made with pure 18 caret gold as per the plan. It is very expensive project which I could not complete without financial support. For example, crystals for a page costs about QR6,000 as I am using original Swarovski crystal of Australia,” said Shaikh. He said that the Holy Quran in the book form would have a total of 604 pages, plus 60 pages of decoration with pure gold bar. “All 30 parts will have different designs and decoration on boarder, top and bottom.”

He said that so far, over QR100,000 were spent on calligraphy of Holy Quran with golden ink and applying crystals on the letters for some pages. His friend Shaikh Vahed Basher Saheb provided financial support for the project.

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