700-Year-Old Quran: A Cultural Heritage in Iraqi Village
In a village in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah, near the Iranian border, locals are keeping an old Quran manuscript which is said to be written seven centuries ago by a cleric, Al-Jazeera reported.
There are many stories about this Quran which is known as “Old Mushaf” as many people repent of their sins or take oaths using the manuscript.
The historic copy’s dimension is 37 in 26 centimeters and is written on a rare paper that is receiving extra protection from heat and moisture thanks to special oil and materials applied on it.
The 2.2 kg Quran is written in black ink while red ink has been used for numbering the verses and giving extra explanations on the sides.
Khader Abdullah is the current holder of the Book whom he received from his forefathers. The 66-year-old says the manuscript represents a heritage, historical, aesthetic and artistic value and is no different from any other copy of the Holy Qur’an in its form, content, words, letters, and movements.
According to the elderly who lived in the village, the Quran is written by a senior cleric of the area known as Imam Davoud, Abdullah said.
The residents of the village previously kept the Quran in the mosque, which also bore the name of its writer, but there were several attempts of rubbery, after which, authorities decided to keep it in a museum. However, residents refused the offer as they consider the manuscript as their own cultural heritage.
Locals resort to the Quran to swear an oath or supplication during the occurrence of problems and disasters in their village, and this is what prompted Abdullah to keep the copy until now in his home and not to hand it over to any government agency.
Zana Johar, a Quran teacher of the village who learned how to read and write in his childhood thanks to this Quran, lamented authorities’ lack of care and interest in their historic village and its heritage. “If this copy of the Quran was in any other country, a lot of historical studies and research would have been conducted on it to reveal the materials used in writing it, especially the paper used in it.”
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