The European Union has granted 10 million euros to university researchers studying the role of the Islamic holy book in the intellectual and religious development of countries across the continent.
The large sum of cash comes from the European Research Council, a European Union body focused on scientific and technological research with researchers working on the hypothesis that the Qur’an has had a major impact on Europe throughout history, Il Giornale reports.
The aim of the research is said to be to “determine how the sacred text of Allah incorporated into the thought of Christians, medieval and modern, Jews, freethinkers, atheists, and European Muslims.”
The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) is the main recipient of the grant. Mercedes Garcia Arenal of the CSIC explained the project, which will also involve academics from the Britain, France, and elsewhere, saying: “Our working hypothesis is that the Qur’an has played an important role in European intellectual and religious development, and for this reason we want to study the cultural and religious use that we make of the Qur’an, translated, published, printed, and circulated in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment.”
The grant comes after the EU announced it would be cutting off money to conservative Central and Eastern European member-states and funding EU values-based projects instead.
The Qur’an study project is not the first Islamic project to be funded by the political bloc. In 2017, the EU gave money to an exhibition in Brussels entitled “Islam, It’s also our history!”
The project gained attention after being delayed due to security concerns over radical Islamic terror and having “art” featuring fake bombs and full-face Islamic veils.