Rare Quranic Manuscripts Gifted to Al-Aqsa Mosque Through the Ages

SadaNews - The Islamic Museum in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque houses a unique collection of historical Qurans that have been gifted to the mosque throughout successive Islamic eras, starting from the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, through the Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk eras, up to the Ottoman period.

These unique manuscripts of the Quran were donated by caliphs, sultans, princes, scholars, and prominent Islamic figures, and have been endowed to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Qurans vary in their scripts, decorations, and sizes, as they are written in various styles including Kufic, Maghribi, Naskh, Thuluth, and Persian scripts.

The Islamic Museum preserves around 600 rare copies of the Holy Quran, among which are the "Rub'a" of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the "Rub'a" of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid, in addition to a large Quran belonging to the Mamluk Sultan Barsbay, and another handwritten copy believed to be from a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Among the distinguished copies is a Quran written in Kufic script dating back to the 8th or 9th century AD, and the "Moroccan Rub'a" which consists of 30 parts, endowed by the Moroccan Sultan Abu l-Hasan al-Morin in the early 13th century, being the only surviving copy out of three copies he gifted to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

The museum also houses a large Quran measuring one meter in length and 90 centimeters in width, dating back to the 14th century AD.