Experts discover “oldest” Koran manuscript in British varisty library
Koran fragments tested to be at least 1,370 years old have been found in the United Kingdom.
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.
The manuscript has been lying unrecognized in the library at the University of Birmingham for almost a century, reports say.
British Library expert, Dr Muhammad Isa Waley, said this “exciting discovery” would make Muslims “rejoice.”
“Finding out we had one of the oldest fragments of the Koran in the whole world has been fantastically exciting,” the varsity’s director of special collections Susan Worrall said.
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 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,” Muhammad Afzal, chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, told the BBC.
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