Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today lamented Malaysians' emphasis on reading the Quran, as opposed to understanding it.

Speaking at the ‘Let’s Read the Quran’ campaign in Petaling Jaya today, Mahathir said he initially accepted the invitation to launch the campaign because he disagreed with the idea of reading the holy book.

“I will agree if it means understanding the Quran.

“The problem we have today is because people don't understand the Quran, the stress is on memorising,” he said, in pointing out the large number of schools which mainly focus on memorising the Quran.