Images of Some of Oldest Quran Manuscripts
They prove that the text of the Holy Book of Islam, unlike those of other religions, has remained intact throughout the centuries.
Here are images of some of the oldest manuscript copies of the Quran.
1) This one is believed to date back to the years 649 to 675 C.E. It was found last November in the library of the University of Tubingen in Germany. Experts who analyzed the copy say they are 95 percent sure about the date.
2) This copy was written between 200 and 300 years after the Hijra (9th and 11th centuries C.E.). It contains 536 pages and was found in Dong Xiang in the southwestern China.
3) This one, which is estimated to have been written between 200 and 600 years after the Hijra, was also discovered in southwest of China and is now kept in Tsih Jih Mosque in China.
4) Believed to be 12 centuries old, this copy was discovered in 2013 by the imam of a mosque in Bodrum, Turkey. It is now kept in the National Library in Izmir.
5) This one is known as the “Othman Copy”. It is said to have been written during the time of the caliphate of Othman. Kept in Telyashayakh Museum in Turkey, the 1087-page copy contains no vowels or punctuation. It weighs 80 kilograms.
6) This copy is known as Ma'il Quran. Some historians believe it was written in the 8th century C.E. in Mecca or Medina. Kept in the British Museum since the 19th century, it contains no vowels and is under careful protection because of its fragility.
7) The following manuscript was written between 650 and 675 C.E. on sheepskin parchment. It was discovered in Amr Mosque in Fustat, a Cairo suburb. Some of its fragments are kept in the National Library of France.
8) This one dates back to 200 years after the Hijra. The copy was discovered by a young Yemeni in 2012 in a cave in the Yemeni town of Ad Dali.
9) The manuscript copy seen below was discovered by workers in the grand mosque in the Yemini capital of Sanaa. It was written in the first two decades of the eighth century C.E. It has been subject to a comprehensive study and analysis by scholars from different countries.
