ULEMA COUNCIL FORBIDS PUBLIC TO SEE FAKE GIANT KORAN

Banten, Indonesia, April 30 (ANTARA) - The Lebak branch of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) has officially forbidden Muslims to see a giant Koran which mysteriously materialized last month in a mosque in Bojongleles village, Cibadak sub district, on the ground it was a fake.

"When we examined the contents of the book with the help of experts and knowledgeable clerics, we found many things in the book that deviate from what is written in Korans in general," KH Satibi Hambali, chairman of MUI's Lebak district branch, said here Thursday.

The discovery of the huge book had attracted wide public attention with people not only from Cibadak sub district but also from outside the district coming to Bojonglele to see it.

Near the book, people had also found a large sword.

Hambali said the MUI had asked the keeper of the Dua Kalimat Sahadat mosque to stop allowing people to see the book to prevent them from being influenced by superstitious beliefs.

MUI had also asked the mosque's keeper to hand over the book to MUI and the police so it could be destroyed but so far the mosque's custodian had refused to oblige.***