Quran on CD-rom

In October, someone posted the address of a bookstore in Switzerland which was said to be the distributor of a Qur'an on cd-rom. I wrote and asked about it. They sent me a letter and descriptive folder which included the following information:

* Thirty-two (32) cd-rom disks in, boxed in groups of 8, in a presentation case in the form of the Kaaba.

* Published by the King Fahd Institute for the Publishing of the Qur'an.

* Each disk can be accessed by sourate, section, and hizb quarters.

* Chanted in tarteel by Sheikh Doctor Mohamed Ayoub Bin Mohamed Yousef, assistant professor at the Islamic University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah

* With the exception of the five longest sourates, every disk begins with the opening words and ends with the closing words of a sourate.

There seem to be two different Kaaba presentation cases, one called "Deluxe" with a "manmade" leather covering, and another, called "Standard" made of printed cardboard.

The price I was quoted was 650 Swiss francs plus Sfr 35 for shipping, a total price of Sfr 695. At the present time, that corresponds to $CA 758. I suppose that would be about $US 615. Only one price was given, without specifying whether it was for the Deluxe or the Standard case. For this amount of money, I presume (hope!) it was for the Deluxe case.

I know absolutely NOTHING about this company. They also sent me their book catalogue, which is 94 pages long and lists over 6000 books about Islam and the Arab world, mostly in French and English. As always in such cases, Caveat Emptor -- Let the buyer beware!

The bookstore's address is the following:

Librarie Arabe "L'Olivier" 5, rue de Fribourg 1201 Geneve Switzerland Telephone (41 22) 731-8440 [country (41) and city (22) codes in Canada] Fax (41 22) 731-8280

Was-salaamu 'alaikum, Abdelkarim Benoit Evans

--- *Freddie 1.2.5 * Allahu akbar--Dieu est le plus grand--God is most great