Indonesia’s Aceh Reveals Its Oldest Quran
“In this occasion, we want to introduce a historical object that has been stored in West Aceh,” the Head of Islamic Law of West Aceh, Mursalin, told Republika Online on Sunday, August 23.
Written by Sheikh Maulana Malik Ibrahim 700 year ago, the ancient manuscripts of Quran were stored in the Mugo, Panton Reu in West Aceh.
The 700-year-old manuscripts, previously known as Panto Reu, were not among the 62 ancient Quran manuscripts aged 300-500 year old and displayed at the government museum in Nagan Raya, West Aceh.
The revelation of the Indonesian centuries-old Quran manuscripts comes almost two weeks after finding another copy of the holy book, that is deemed one of the world’s oldest copies of the holy Quran in India.
The 410-year-old Quran copy, which is believed to be the oldest in the Indian subcontinent, is believed to be dating back to the period of Mughal ruler, Akbar, which existed at least four centuries ago.
Indian historians described the recovered 604-page copy as a “piece of art."
The Quran is a revelation from God, the creator of the worlds, so He is the original author.
The holy book is originally in Arabic, with many of its translations in several languages.
There could be multiple translations by different authors in the same language such as English.
The Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) through the archangel Gabriel who helped the Prophet memorize it, as reported in several authentic Hadith narrations.
Almost a month after its discovery in UK’s Birmingham, the claimed oldest copy of the holy Quran is set to be sent to Turkey for verification.
Last July, fragments of what is thought to be the world's oldest Quran was found in the University of Birmingham, with experts saying the manuscripts date back to the era of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), some 1370 years ago.
The announcement followed radiocarbon analysis which proved that it was written in the period between 568CE and 645CE, with 95.4% accuracy.
The unique copy will be examined by the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) in Istanbul to verify its actual date.
“The center will carefully study the manuscript using as reference the available manuscripts and the books on various types of recitations to confirm the date of the Birmingham copy,” the director general of the center, Halit Eren, told Makkah Daily.
Eren stressed that the radiocarbon analysis conducted by the university is not usually accurate, saying that there can be least 10 years more or less.
He added that Turkey, Tashkent, Egypt and Yemen have the oldest copies of the holy Quran in the world.
“When the current incidents in Yemen are over, we will examine its copies of the Quran which may be the oldest in the world,” he added.
A week after the discovery, Saudi scholars said that Birmingham Quran isn't the oldest, denying the assertion that the copy was written during the era of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
“It is not possible to ascertain that the parchments were written close to the time of the Prophet (PBUH),” Abdul Sattar Al-Halouji, a manuscript expert, said.
“The university should have examined the ink not the hide on which it was written.
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