Wikipedia's first sentence called it “electronic version of the qur'an”. Today it says “text of the qur'an processed or distributed as an electronic text”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2015
The term digital Quran is used to refer to the text of the Qur'an processed or distributed as an electronic text , or more specifically to an electronic device dedicated to displaying the text of the Qur'an and playing digital recordings of Qur'an readings. Such a device has first been marketed in Indonesia beginning in 1993. These devices were capable of audio playback of recorded recitations of the Qur'an with synchronized on-screen Arabic text. It allowed basic navigation of the Quran with the ability for the user to select a specific surah (chapter) and ayah (verse). Translations of the Quran to other languages were also included, sometimes synchronized with the original Arabic recitations. The products were mass-produced in China at an affordable price; however this was achieved at the sacrifice of expenditure on research and development. Since the availability of more powerful mobile devices such as smartphones , focus has shifted on the production of Quranic software for such devices rather than dedicated "digital Quran" devices. Qur'anic software on CD-Rom has been developed since the early 1990s. Online texts began to be hosted by Islamic websites from the 2000s. Commenters speculated about how the special barakah or contagion heuristic associated with the Qur'an translates to electronic texts. Other observers noted that this way of thinking is foreign to the devices users, who adopt western digital technology unthinkingly. Myrvold (2010) summarizes the debate on how Qur'anic etexts and the devices holding them should be handled, citing a fatwa issued by the "Ask Imam" website to the effect that ritual purity should only be regarded in connection with such a device during the time Qur'anic text is actually being displayed. This program is the original Quran on CD software. "there may be a place on a separate portion of a believer's hard drive, apart from other forms of content of a nonreligious nature, for a digital Qur'an" Gary R.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 646392498.
The opening as it stood in 2010
The Digital Qur'an is the electronic version of the Qur'an . There is a strict code of conduct for handling this text which limits its accessibility, especially in situations such as traveling or everyday reading on the move. The invention of the Electronic Digital Qu'ran addressed these limitations, in particular the ability to read the Qur'an due to the on-screen text feature. Since its introduction in 1993 by the Korean company; Penman Corporation the Digital Qur'an has progressed through various stages of development and taken on a whole raft of additional features on the way. The Original, Penman, Qur'an book was a basic black and white unit, similar in size to the majority of today’s units, the only function of this device was the playback of the recitation of the Quran with synchronized on-screen Arabic text; it allowed basic navigation of The Book with the ability for the user to select a specific Surah and specific verses. This particular function changed little if at all in the succeeding years. The Digital Qur'an was in instant success throughout the Muslim world, the portability of the device due to its ‘solid-state’ technology, meant that people could read and listen to the Qur'an in places and situations where it had previously been impossible to do so. The second offering from Penman included the much requested inclusion of the English Text Translation. This again was synchronized with the Arabic recitation and proved an invaluable resource for consumers. After this point the reins were taken up by a company based in Hong Kong : Emmac Engineering Corporation. Their product range made the Digital Quran more financially accessible and attractive by introducing the next major development in the industry: the colour screen. This feature mimicked the current trend of the mobile phone market at the time and ensured the continuing popularity of the genre. Emmac’s products were mass-produced in China at an affordable price; however this was achieved at the sacrifice of expenditure on research and development. As such the subsequent models were more variation than innovation. This oversight opened the door to a UK based company: Playnetics. This company realized that both hardware and software development of the Digital Qur'an had stagnated and brought to market, innovative; quality based products that addressed the needs of the Muslim technology consumer. Playnetics initial offering received praise for its usability and design, but the uptake of the product was severely hampered by the high retail price and low dealer margins. Its approach was to build the Islamic software platform on the existing MP4 technology. The reader could have used all MP3/MP4 functions along with the Recitation of Holy Quran, they launched many models of Digital Quran in different LCD sizes ranging from 2.5 inch to 2.8 inch. They also introduced a wide range of Quran Mobile Phones which are known by the name Quran Mobiles, they have different LCD sizes ranging from 2.0 inch to 3.2 inch. Their all models of Digital Quran and Quran Mobiles are very popular worldwide.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 354222076.
The opening as it stood in 2020 13 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The term digital Quran is used to refer to the text of the Qur'an processed or distributed as an electronic text , or more specifically to an electronic device dedicated to displaying the text of the Qur'an and playing digital recordings of Qur'an readings.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 951689204.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
The digital Quran is a text of the Qur'an processed or distributed as an electronic text , or more specifically to an electronic device dedicated to displaying the text of the Qur'an and playing digital recordings of Qur'an readings.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1171222297.
The opening as it stood in 2025
A digital Quran is a text of the Qur'an processed or distributed as an electronic text , or more specifically to an electronic device dedicated to displaying the text of the Qur'an and playing digital recordings of Qur'an readings.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1265252131. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “electronic version of the qur'an”. Today it says “text of the qur'an processed or distributed as an electronic text”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
electronic version of the qur'an
Now
text of the qur'an processed or distributed as an electronic text
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
