Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance Sulaiman Abalkhail said his ministry will support the decision to re-open donation outlets in commercial centers. He said the donations will support the activities of the Charitable Association for Learning of the Holy Qur’an, unless the whole process becomes a violation of the regulations, or turns out to not be in the best interests of the Kingdom.

During the 14th meeting of the general assembly of the association that was held recently, Abalkhail promised that his ministry will bear the costs for running the department of training and development in the association, and for the salaries required to hire a chartered accountant. He also promised to help the association in designing and building a charity center for teaching the holy Qur’an, as well as for teaching science studies regarding Islamic architecture.

One member of the executive committee at the charity, Salman bin Nasser, said that outlets to collect donations in commercial centers used to provide direct revenues for the center. “The revenues significantly dropped after the closure of these outlets. One outlet located in Riyadh Gallery yielded in one year SR 1.3 million,” he noted.

Othman Al-Jabbar, executive director of the association, explained that his body closed these outlets ahead of the decision of authorities to close them down. He said that the association does not receive monetary donations directly in hand, but only through the Saudi Payments Network (SPAN).

A member of the consultative committee which studies the curriculum at the charity, Roqiya Niyyaz, demanded that the charity should benefit from the academic experiences of faculty staff at Saudi universities by drafting a special curriculum for the charity.