'Oldest' Koran fragments found in Birmingham University
By Sean Coughlan Education correspondent
21 minutes ago
What may be the world's oldest fragments of the Koran have been found by the University of Birmingham.
Radiocarbon dating found the manuscript to be at least 1,370 years old, making it among the earliest in existence.
The pages of the Muslim holy text had remained unrecognised in the university library for almost a century.
The British Library's expert on such manuscripts, Dr Muhammad Isa Waley, said this "exciting discovery" would make Muslims "rejoice".
The manuscript had been kept with a collection of other Middle Eastern books and documents, without being identified as one of the oldest fragments of the Koran in the world.
Oldest texts
When a PhD researcher, Alba Fedeli, looked more closely at these pages it was decided to carry out a radiocarbon dating test and the results were "startling".
The university's director of special collections, Susan Worrall, said researchers had not expected "in our wildest dreams" that it would be so old.
"Finding out we had one of the oldest fragments of the Koran in the whole world has been fantastically exciting."
The fragments were written on sheep or goat skin
The tests, carried out by the Oxford University Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, showed that the fragments, written on sheep or goat skin, were among the very oldest surviving texts of the Koran.
These tests provide a range of dates, showing that, with a probability of more than 95%, the parchment was from between 568 and 645.
The person who actually wrote it could well have known the Prophet Muhammad... he would maybe have heard him preach
Prof David Thomas, University of Birmingham
"They could well take us back to within a few years of the actual founding of Islam," said David Thomas, the university's professor of Christianity and Islam.
"According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet Muhammad received the revelations that form the Koran, the scripture of Islam, between the years 610 and 632, the year of his death."
The fragments of the Koran are still legible:
Prof Thomas says the dating of the Birmingham folios would mean it was quite possible that the person who had written them would have been alive at the time of the Prophet Muhammad.
"The person who actually wrote it could well have known the Prophet Muhammad. He would have seen him probably, he would maybe have heard him preach. He may have known him personally - and that really is quite a thought to conjure with," he says.
First-hand witness
Prof Thomas says that some of the passages of the Koran were written down on parchment, stone, palm leaves and the shoulder blades of camels - and a final version, collected in book form, was completed in about 650.
Prof Thomas says the writer of this manuscript could have heard the Prophet Muhammad preach
He says that "the parts of the Koran that are written on this parchment can, with a degree of confidence, be dated to less than two decades after Muhammad's death".
"These portions must have been in a form that is very close to the form of the Koran read today, supporting the view that the text has undergone little or no alteration and that it can be dated to a point very close to the time it was believed to be revealed."
The manuscript, written in "Hijazi script", an early form of written Arabic, becomes one of the oldest known fragments of the Koran.
Because radiocarbon dating creates a range of possible ages, there is a handful of other manuscripts in public and private collections which overlap. So this makes it impossible to say that any is definitively the oldest.
But the latest possible date of the Birmingham discovery - 645 - would put it among the very oldest.
'Precious survivor'
Dr Waley, curator for such manuscripts at the British Library, said "these two folios, in a beautiful and surprisingly legible Hijazi hand, almost certainly date from the time of the first three caliphs".
The first three caliphs were leaders in the Muslim community between about 632 and 656.
Dr Waley says that under the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, copies of the "definitive edition" were distributed.
Muhammad Afzal of Birmingham Central Mosque said he was very moved to see the manuscript
"The Muslim community was not wealthy enough to stockpile animal skins for decades, and to produce a complete Mushaf, or copy, of the Holy Koran required a great many of them."
Dr Waley suggests that the manuscript found by Birmingham is a "precious survivor" of a copy from that era or could be even earlier.
"In any case, this - along with the sheer beauty of the content and the surprisingly clear Hijazi script - is news to rejoice Muslim hearts."
The manuscript is part of the Mingana Collection of more than 3,000 Middle Eastern documents gathered in the 1920s by Alphonse Mingana, a Chaldean priest born near Mosul in modern-day Iraq.
He was sponsored to take collecting trips to the Middle East by Edward Cadbury, who was part of the chocolate-making dynasty.
The Koran
Muslims believe the words of the Koran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel over 22 years from 610
It was not until 1734 that a translation was made into English, but was littered with mistakes
Copies of the holy text were issued to British Indian soldiers fighting in the First World War
On 6 October 1930, words from the Koran were broadcast on British radio for the first time, in a BBC programme called The Sphinx
The local Muslim community has already expressed its delight at the discovery in their city and the university says the manuscript will be put on public display.
"When I saw these pages I was very moved. There were tears of joy and emotion in my eyes. And I'm sure people from all over the UK will come to Birmingham to have a glimpse of these pages," said Muhammad Afzal, chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque.
The university says the Koran fragments will go on display in the Barber Institute in Birmingham in October.
Prof Thomas says it will show people in Birmingham that they have a "treasure that is second to none".
2nd picture shows verses 1-8 of Surah Taha
1st pic shows the whole page spread with above Surah Taha verses bottom half left
Surah Maryam end above that
Surah Taha then seems to continue on the right hand page.
ie pages go from left to right.
Stunningly beautiful adhaan from the Dome of the Rock in Masjid ul Aqsa Download (right click and choose "save target/link as").
This is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that He is only One God, and that those of understanding may take heed (14:52)
Indeed Allah knows, and you know not (16: 74, part)
Re: Oldest Qur'an fragments found in Birmingham University
An amazing discovery, subhanAllah.
Here's an interesting perspective regarding the recent events:
The dust had barely settled from Cameron’s shambolic speech when there was breaking news on 22 July 2015 that in the very same city that Cameron delivered his speech. An exciting discovery had apparently been made: the world’s oldest manuscript of parts of the Glorious Qur’ān had been found in Birmingham University Library [3].
Re: Oldest Qur'an fragments found in Birmingham University
That's pretty cool! On yahoo when I saw the headline I thought it was something like a Quran from 1900 or something & skipped the article..but this is pretty epic!
Re: Oldest Qur'an fragments found in Birmingham University
Interesting find. There was an article in the times that points out that while the goat skin could be from that time, the writing may not be. Anyway and important find.
Saud al-Sarhan, the director of research at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said he doubted that the manuscript found in Birmingham was as old as the researchers claimed, noting that its Arabic script included dots and separated chapters — features that were introduced later. He also said that dating the skin on which the text was written did not prove when it was written. Manuscript skins were sometimes washed clean and reused later, he said.
Re: Oldest Qur'an fragments found in Birmingham University
The manuscript has now gone on display.
'Global treasure' Koran fragments on display in Birmingham
37 minutes ago
Fragments of a Koran believed to be one of the oldest ever found have gone on public display in Birmingham.
The University of Birmingham announced its discovery in July and revealed the manuscript is at least 1,370 years old.
Susan Worrall, from the university, described the manuscript as being "a global treasure".
It is on display at the university's Edgbaston campus until 25 October and tickets are free.
The pages of the Muslim holy text had remained unrecognised in the university library for almost a century, the library said.
One visitor said: "This manuscript could have been handled by the Prophet Muhammad or the best men in our religion... I am just standing next to it - it is really amazing."
"Finding out we had one of the oldest fragments of the Koran in the whole world has been fantastically exciting," said Ms Worrall, who is director of special collections.
Birmingham's Muslim community leaders have expressed their delight at the discovery.
Muhammad Afzal, chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, said: "When I saw these pages I was very moved.
"There were tears of joy and emotion in my eyes.
"And I'm sure people from all over the UK will come to Birmingham to have a glimpse of these pages."
It was discovered by PhD researcher, Alba Fedeli, who decided to carry out a radiocarbon dating test.
The tests provided a range of dates, showing that, with a probability of more than 95%, the parchment was from between 568 and 645.
"They could well take us back to within a few years of the actual founding of Islam," said David Thomas, the university's professor of Christianity and Islam.
"According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet Muhammad received the revelations that form the Koran, the scripture of Islam, between the years 610 and 632, the year of his death," he said.
The manuscript, written in Hijazi script, an early form of written Arabic, has become one of the oldest known fragments of the Koran.
___________________________________
'Hushed and reverential'
At the scene: Amy Coles, BBC Midlands Today
About 2,000 tickets to see the scripts have been taken up and the university expects a lot more to be used before the exhibition ends.
The display area was relatively busy but the tickets are timed so people can get to spend time at the display. I would say there are about ten people in at a time.
The atmosphere is quite hushed and reverential - it seems to be quite an emotional experience for some people.
The tests provided a range of dates, showing that, with a probability of more than 95%, the parchment was from between 568 and 645.
I do wander, if they've actually tested the ink. Both for the words and the vowel markings. That could paint a different picture in just that the parchment is from then, but the writing might be from a little later.
Stunningly beautiful adhaan from the Dome of the Rock in Masjid ul Aqsa Download (right click and choose "save target/link as").
This is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that He is only One God, and that those of understanding may take heed (14:52)
Indeed Allah knows, and you know not (16: 74, part)
The date ranges put the manuscript back to prior to Mohamed's revelation. Does that raise any questions? I mean 568 is 42 years before he even supposedly had a revelation.
Thoughts?
Last edited by Insaanah; 10-04-2015 at 01:04 PM.
Reason: two consecutive posts merged
Re: Oldest Qur'an fragments found in Birmingham University
format_quote Originally Posted by M.I.A.
The dating process is not an exact science, 80 odd years of leeway.
I completely agree that AMS is not "exact" and this doesn't even take into account the possibility of contamination.
Although there are other legitimate questions to be asked and have already been asked.
Have you considered that this may predate Mohamed? The reason why I ask as there are Talmudic stories in the Quran that are not found in the Bible - only the Quran - yet we know their source. Could this be another example of an earlier writing being written into the Quran?
Re: Oldest Qur'an fragments found in Birmingham University
format_quote Originally Posted by Trinity
I completely agree that AMS is not "exact" and this doesn't even take into account the possibility of contamination.
Have you considered that this may predate Mohamed? The reason why I ask as there are Talmudic stories in the Quran that are not found in the Bible - only the Quran - yet we know their source. Could this be another example of an earlier writing being written into the Quran?
Hi Trinity,
Welcome to the forum! I hope I can help you understand the Islamic perspective of this issue.
It's important to appreciate that Islam is not a product of the secular, Judeo-Christian narrative. Thus, the understandings of religious texts are completely different in Islam when compared to other religions.
For example, the recent report from Birmingham, although interesting and of possible historical significance, should not have any bearing on a Muslim’s faith in the authenticity of Islam. A contextualized understanding of Islam will show that the authenticity of the Quran is not contingent on archeological findings and secular scientific – perceptually based – interpretations; it is dependent on the Islamic definition of authenticity. In the Islamic context, the Quran is of the highest degree of authenticity due to its being mutawatir - A mass-transmitted report that is transmitted from one generation to the next in such large numbers, that one could not imagine that they conspired to forge it.
To paraphrase the senior Islamic research scholar, Mufti Taqi Usmani:
Allah has safeguarded the Qur’an in an extraordinary manner. Due to this, it wouldn’t matter if all the copies of the Quran disappeared today. This Quran has been and still is in the hearts and minds of millions of people – word for word in the original Arabic – through uninterrupted chains of transmission since the time of the Prophet [PBUH]. These people are known as Hufaaz. Attempts to alter the Quran throughout history by various entities have failed precisely because of this.
(See An Approach to the Sciences of the Qur’an: Uloomul Qur’an andThe Preservation of Hadith)
Indeed, the late William W. Cooper – a celebrated academic who is widely considered to be the father of management science – stated that as of his research in 2008, “…the number of Hafiz (sic) in the world is estimated to be more than 10 million”. Click here to access original source.
Hence, carbon dating of archeological findings/historical material, although useful, is not used to determine Qur’anic authenticity. To be considered authentic, the Birmingham manuscript has to meet the scrutiny of the above – as all Qur’anic manuscripts do.
Re: Oldest Qur'an fragments found in Birmingham University
format_quote Originally Posted by najimuddin
It's important to appreciate that Islam is not a product of the secular, Judeo-Christian narrative. Thus, the understandings of religious texts are completely different in Islam when compared to other religions.
I'm not following here... why is Islam allowed to ignore or accept potential discoveries that may or may not lend credence to or discredit its veracity?
For example, the recent report from Birmingham, although interesting and of possible historical significance, should not have any bearing on a Muslim’s faith in the authenticity of Islam. A contextualized understanding of Islam will show that the authenticity of the Quran is not contingent on archeological findings and secular scientific – perceptually based – interpretations; it is dependent on the Islamic definition of authenticity. In the Islamic context, the Quran is of the highest degree of authenticity due to its being mutawatir - A mass-transmitted report that is transmitted from one generation to the next in such large numbers, that one could not imagine that they conspired to forge it.
This issue is not the impact on the faith of the Muslim but the veracity of its core teachings and their source. If that source is corrupted, then whatever memorization - documentation - canonization would also be corrupted. Garbage in garbage type tautology. So- if this fragment predates Mohamed, along with the other Talmudic traditions contained within the Quran, shouldn't someone then deduce that regardless of what men memorized, if the initial document was wrong the rest would be also?
Re: Oldest Qur'an fragments found in Birmingham University
format_quote Originally Posted by Trinity
I'm not following here... why is Islam allowed to ignore or accept potential discoveries that may or may not lend credence to or discredit its veracity?
This issue is not the impact on the faith of the Muslim but the veracity of its core teachings and their source. If that source is corrupted, then whatever memorization - documentation - canonization would also be corrupted. Garbage in garbage type tautology. So- if this fragment predates Mohamed, along with the other Talmudic traditions contained within the Quran, shouldn't someone then deduce that regardless of what men memorized, if the initial document was wrong the rest would be also?
It's not surprising that you don't follow.
Although Muslims who aren't fully aware of the principles of Islam may have indicated to the contrary, there are no discoveries that Islam accepts or rejects in relation to its authenticity.
Perceptions - understandings of things - are developed through education and experience. You are using your perceptions to define what evidence and faith is.
And, many Muslims - including university professors - are also a product of the secular, Judeo-Christian narrative. Hence, you will find statements contrary to mine.
Re: Oldest Qur'an fragments found in Birmingham University
format_quote Originally Posted by Trinity
I'm not following here... why is Islam allowed to ignore or accept potential discoveries that may or may not lend credence to or discredit its veracity?
This issue is not the impact on the faith of the Muslim but the veracity of its core teachings and their source. If that source is corrupted, then whatever memorization - documentation - canonization would also be corrupted. Garbage in garbage type tautology. So- if this fragment predates Mohamed, along with the other Talmudic traditions contained within the Quran, shouldn't someone then deduce that regardless of what men memorized, if the initial document was wrong the rest would be also?
The Quran is a holy peaceable Scripture. Its teachings align with unity and faith in the one God free Holy peaceable means. You coming here and attempting to discredit anything is a very negative thing. If you are of the truly faithful in the one God he will desist from your negativity immediately. We are taught to be peaceable in the face of adversity not to bring up on discrimination or any other sort of negativity towards any man and especially not towards any who are faithful to the Creator, the merciful, and all encompassing God.
Re: Oldest Qur'an fragments found in Birmingham University
format_quote Originally Posted by Trinity
I completely agree that AMS is not "exact" and this doesn't even take into account the possibility of contamination.
Have you considered that this may predate Mohamed? The reason why I ask as there are Talmudic stories in the Quran that are not found in the Bible - only the Quran - yet we know their source. Could this be another example of an earlier writing being written into the Quran?
afraid my train of thought does not work that way.
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