Al-Mushaf Al-Sharif (British Library, London)

IRCICA publishes scholarly studies on the earliest copies of the Holy Quran that are located in different libraries around the world. These studies trace the process of transmission of the Quran starting from the first manuscripts and examine cases and developments relating to aspects such as script, orthography and physical composition, among others, all with reference to historical periods and geographical locations. Published in 2017 under the said series, the present book examines the copy of the Holy Quran which is located at British Library, London, U.K. and dated to the first century Hijra. It is a partial copy, the extant folios of which comprise 37 sourahs, 29 of them in complete format.

Earlier IRCICA had published books on the following copies of the Holy Quran: two copies attributed to the time of the Third Caliph Uthman bin Affan and preserved, respectively, at Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul (2007) and at the Central Library of Islamic Manuscripts attached to the Ministry of Awqaf of Egypt in Cairo (2009); the copy attributed to the time of Ali bin Abi Talib and located in the Manuscripts Library near Sana’a Grand Mosque, Yemen (2011); the copy dated to the period of Uthman bin Affan and preserved at the Islamic Arts Museum in Cairo (2014); the early fragment preserved at the National Library of France, in Paris (2015). The study on the British Library copy is an important addition to the series. IRCICA also published, in 2015, a comprehensive book in Arabic titled “Old copies of the Quran that reached our time.

A study on the earliest copies” which synthesizes the observations and comparisons reached in earlier studies. These books were prepared by Dr. Tayyar Altıkulaç, an authoritative scholar in Quranic studies, former President of Religious Affairs in Turkey. The series will continue with an enlarged research and edition on the Quran copy which is located at Topkapı Palace Museum and attributed to the time of the Third Caliph Uthman bin Affan; the edition will contain a comparison of the physical and orthographical features of the copy with those of the other early copies examined, among other new findings and observations reached through the series of editions.