The family took the discovery as a divine sign and embraced Islam.
His grandfather, an officer in the army of Albania’s King Zog in the 1930s, knew Arabic and would invite friends to his home every night to read verses from it.
Years later, under the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha – who completely banned all forms of religion and sent all practicing believers to prison – the book survived in part because it could be so easily hidden.
“Someone had notified the secret police that we had a Quran in our house, but it was so small that my father managed to hide it. The agents moved heaven and earth without finding it,” said Prushi.
‘Blessings’
Following the incident, Prushi’s father Skender decided to entrust it to friends in neighbouring Kosovo after smuggling it across the border hidden in a lorry full of coal.
He only recovered it only after the war in Kosovo in 1999, where it was buried during to save it from the fighting.
Prushi then inherited the Quran shortly before his father’s death in 2012.
“This little book carries so many stories, blessings and miracles. It is very dear to me,” said Prushi.
“Every time I touch it, I am moved,” his wife Blerina told AFP.
“When something goes wrong or when our daughter is sick, we feel reassured, we know that the Quran will protect us, it is a real talisman,” she added.
The family has received numerous offers to buy it, including from museums.
“I never think of selling it,” said Prushi. “This Quran belongs to our family and it will always stay with us.”
