“The project is now under study and will be named after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah,” the minister said. He did not say where the new center would be located but it is likely to be in Madinah.

The plan to establish a center for Hadith (the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) is significant as they  represent the second fundamental source of Islam after the Qur’an.

The Qur’an and Hadith are inter-related as it is impossible to understand the Qur’an without referring to the Hadith and vice versa.

The Qur’an is the message, while the Hadith is the explanation of the message in pragmatic terms, as exemplified by the Prophet (pbuh).

Minister Al-Asheikh disclosed the plan to open a Hadith center on the occasion of the inauguration of an Islamic calligraphy show at Le Meridien in Madinah.

He commended Muslim calligraphers around the world for reviving the Islamic art and promoting the message of Qur'an in an impressive manner.

“God has honored the Arab nation by sending the Qur'an in Arabic and making the calligraphic writings of the Qur'anic verses part of the Islamic civilization,” the minister said while opening a forum for famous Qur'an calligraphers in the world.

As many as 225 calligraphers from Saudi Arabia and many foreign countries are taking part in the show, organized by the King Fahd Complex.

“The Qur'an calligraphy reflects Muslim artists' love and care for the holy book,” Al-Asheikh said. “It's a blessing from God that He has made us a nation that gives utmost care for the Holy Qur'an,” he added.

Al-Asheikh emphasized the need to promote electronic publication of the Qur’an after making adequate efforts for the protection of the Qur’anic text. “We have organized this forum in order to highlight the role played by Muslim calligraphers in writing the Qur’an in an excellent manner,” said Al-Asheikh, who is chairman of the King Fahd Qur’an Printing Complex.

He said providing every encouragement and support to Qur’an calligraphers is one of the complex’s main objectives in order to ensure the writing of the Qur’an is carried out in an elegant and excellent manner.

“We have published a unique copy of the Qur’an written by calligrapher Othman Taha and the Madinah Qur’an copies are based on Taha’s writing,” he pointed out.

He said the complex has printed and distributed about 270 million copies of the Qur’an all over the world during the past 27 years.

“We have also published translations of the meaning of the Qur’anic verses in different languages. We revise these translations regularly in order to make them perfect,” he said.