Al-Mushaf Al-Sharif (Berlin Copy)

IRCICA conducts research projects on the history of the dissemination of the Holy Quran across the world. As part of this engagement, the Centre examines the early manuscript copies of the Holy Quran located in various cities around of the world; starting from the earliest copies in history, it highlights and records their characteristics from orthographic, physical and technical viewpoints. These studies are executed by Dr. Tayyar Altıkulaç, an authoritative scholar in Quranic studies and ex-President of Religious Affairs in Turkey. This volume is about the copy located at Berlin State Library which is estimated to be extant from the period 662-765 AD. The previous volumes in the series were related, in the order of publication, to: the copies attributed to the Third Caliph, Othman bin Affan RA and preserved, respectively, at Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul and the Central Library of Islamic Manuscripts in Cairo; the copy attributed to the time of the Fourth Caliph Ali bin Abi Talib KAW and located in the Manuscripts Library near Sana’a Grand Mosque; the copy also attributed to the period of the Third Caliph, Othman bin Affan RA and preserved at the Islamic Arts Museum in Cairo; the partial copy preserved in the National Library of France, Paris; the partial copy at Tubingen University Library, Germany; and, the partial copy preserved in British Library, London. In still another volume, IRCICA compiled and synthesized the findings of its previous studies into an enlarged edition of the first book, which was related to the copy at Topkapı Palace Museum.