The first printing of the Holy Quran took place in Europe in the sixteenth century. Thereafter it was printed many times at different points in history and in various places including Iran, India, and Egypt. Saudi Arabia, where the Quran was first. transmitted to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), throughout that period remained outside that venerable tradition. This was the reason why some Saudis saw it as incumbent upon them to take charge of a task the Arabian Peninsula should have undertaken long before. Early in 1949, the Holy Quran was printed in Makkah by a company established for that very purpose, by a coalition of pioneering individuals who succeeded in realizing what had until then been a mere dream. Later the Saudi government took up the task itself and the first copies were revised by a number of specialists from Makkah and then sent to Al Azhar in Cairo for final approval. Once completed, King AbdulAziz was highly pleased and made sure that those who worked on the task were properly rewarded.

Following that, the Holy Quran was printed in several places on a commercial Scale, thus exposing the holy text to errors resulting from the absence of expert Supervision. This situation called for a decisive step, which eventually took the form of the huge Quran Printing Complex in Madinah. The Complex was ordered by King Fahad and inaugurated by him in 1984, starting a process long awaited by many, both in the Kingdom and the entire Islamic World, of supplying individuals as well as mosques and institutions with highly precise and finely printed copies of the holiest book for Muslims. The choice of Madinah to be the site of such a complex was only fitting for the city that saw much of the Quran conveyed by Archangel jibril (Gabriel) to the Prophet Muhammad. Naming the Madinah print "Mushaf of the Prophet's AI Madinah" was a tribute to the city of light.