Techpreneur Mohamed Azam Shah strives to enhance Quran learning and reciting through his digital product, writes Izwan Ismail
ONE of Mohamed Azam Shah’s mission in life is to help Muslims learn and recite the Quran.
With that objective in life, he founded MyQalam in 2002 after quitting his job at an audit firm.
“At that time, I have been thinking a lot about venturing into an Islamic product business. That’s how the idea to make digital Quran came about,” he says.
As there were already plenty of Islamic products in the market, Mohamed Azam knew he needed something fresh to attract the attention of the public.
While there was no smartphone yet at the time, Mohamed Azam had read about Apple’s upcoming iPhone and the concept of apps where people could build applications that work on the operating system.
“It opened up the opportunity for me to build an Islamic app where people can learn about the Quran,” he says.
However, it posed a challenge because the procedure in dealing with Quranrelated products in Malaysia was very strict.
“We were vetted by the Home Ministry’s Publications Control and Quranic Text Division as nobody then had heard or seen anything related to a digital Quran,” says Mohamed Azam.
It took him two years to develop the first version of the digital Quran app. However, it was rejected by the Home Ministry’s Quranic Committee as mistakes were detected when the Quran was converted into digital format.
“Unlike Roman alphabets where everything remained the same when converted into digital format, it’s hard to get the exact sound in the digital Quran,” says Mohamed Azam.
To overcome this, Mohamed Azam and his team joined a developer programme called Microsoft Embedded Partner where they worked on improving the Arabic text in the digital Quran.
“We kept on working to improve the product and made an operating system for it in 2005. We finally received approval from the Home Ministry.” As smartphones were still not available yet, Mohamed Azam came out with a phone that’s pre-installed with the digital Quran.
“We imported the phones and inserted our digital Quran OS into it.
It was well-accepted as many people had not seen the Quran in digital format at that time.
APPS AND TEACHING AID
In 2008, when Apple came out with the iPhone, MyQalam produced the digital Quran in app format, making Mohamed Azam one of the earliest app makers for Islamic products under the iOS ecosystem in Malaysia.
The app consisted not just Quran but all things Islamic, like the Hadith, prayer times and other Islamic-related topics.
In 2009, which was the era of the e-book, Mohamed Azam came out with an e-book version.
He also developed a “digital” pen as a teaching aid to make it easier for people to learn and read the Quran.
“Codes were embedded in the e-book. Using the digital pen as a code reader, users learn to pronounce the verses,” he says.
“The digital pen not only ‘reads’ the Quran when pointed at the Arabic text but also gives the correct pronunciation and rules,” explains Mohamed Azam, adding that the pen also acts as a translator for the Quranic text.
The digital Quran is an on-going project and MyQalam is still working on improving the product.
Besides the digital Quran, MyQalam also produces children books with the digital pen so that they can learn the ABC, learn to read, etc.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Mohamed Azam says MyQalam has its own R&D unit to develop the software. Only the printed circuit board (PCB) is imported.
As making the Quran in digital format requires attention to details, it takes Mohamed Azam up to 36 months to complete one version.
“The insertion of the codes is a tedious process. We have to carefully check one by one to make sure that everything is correct, from the pronunciation to the Tajwid, etc. If there is a mistake, we cannot use it,” he says.
At the MyQalam head office in Taman Melati, workers on workstations check the codes and match them with the Quranic verses. The process of checking the codes is repeated at the company’s printing house in Serdang.
The digital Quran text produced by MyQalam is also checked and verified by a panel of Quran experts from Darul Quran Jakim.
“If there are any mistakes, we will correct them before submission to the Islamic committee under the Home Ministry for another round of vetting.
“For every new version of the Quran, even though it’s just changing the colour, we have to go through the whole vetting process again.
This stringent inspection makes the Quran produced from Malaysia one of the most highly regarded in the world.
The recitations in the Quran were done by a number of Imams, including from Makkah,” he adds.
MARKET ACCEPTANCE
“Our market is not just Malaysia but also the Middle East, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei,” says Mohamed Azam.
“Our biggest market is Indonesia and Dubai. At the same time, we have customers like Pusat Zakat, Felda, the government and insurance companies which order the products as corporate gifts,” he says.
He says demand is “overwhelming” with sales in Indonesia particularly high because of its large population.
He explains that the Makkah imams recording the Quran recitations do not charge for their services as there is a department in Saudi Arabia that manages such initiative.
However, the local Imams who read, record and check the Quran for MyQalam are paid.
The MyQalam Quran is priced between RM149 and RM300, depending on size, functions and accessories.
The basic version comes with the Quran and the pen.
The more expensive versions feature accessories such as organiser.
FUTURE PLANS
Mohamed Azam says the company has 35 workers at both its main office and printing house.
“In the next two to three years, we plan to open another printing plant in Indonesia. We are also planning to venture more online,” he says.
He reveals that they are working on an app called Ummah Apps which not only highlight their products but is also a platform for other companies selling Islamic products.
“It’s something like Shopee and Lazada. This, however, may take one to two years to be realised,” he says.