Will the printed book still matter in the future?

Yes. No other medium can replace the book, because God Himself taught man by the pen, and knowledge that is read can be checked far better than what flashes past on a screen.

Television, computers and other media are changing the way people learn. Many therefore wonder whether the printed book will soon be outdated. The answer is no. No other means of passing on knowledge can replace the book.

The Holy Qur’an names two gifts that set human beings apart from animals. One is clear speech. Man can express himself and distinguish between right and wrong. The other is the pen. God taught man through writing, and the very first revealed verses speak of it. The book is therefore a path of learning that God Himself chose.

Everything discovered in the modern world also rests, in the end, on the written word. When knowledge moves from a book to a screen, that is a matter of convenience. The foundation remains what has been carefully written down.

There is also a serious difference. What appears on television or in other media often cannot really be checked. Some of it is invented for entertainment and yet looks real. Young people then ask whether such things can really happen, and they can no longer tell true from false very well. An author, on the other hand, is sharply criticised if he misquotes or misleads. With books there is a check that many other media lack.

Many now realise that something is lost when children hardly read any more. So it is well worth encouraging children to read much more again, instead of letting them absorb everything unchecked in front of a screen.