Sharjah Museum showcases Rare Quran Manuscripts

Sharjah Museum Authority is showcasing several rare Quran manuscripts in Islamic calligraphy at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization. It is ready to host « Sacred Words, Timeless Calligraphy: Highlights of Exceptional Calligraphy from the Hamid Jafar Qur’an Collection. »

Sharjah Museum showcases Rare Quran Manuscripts.

A collection of 50 Quran manuscripts as old as 14 centuries of Islamic civilization is displayed at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization. The incredible works belong to the Hamid Jafar Quran Collection and contain examples of Islamic calligraphy from China to North Africa.

Several prominent personalities were present at the opening, including Sheikh Khaled bin Abdullah Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Ports, Customs and Free Zones Authority, Zaki Nusseibeh, Cultural Advisor to the UAE President, Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention, Hamid Jafar, Founder and Chairman of Sharjah-based Crescent Group of Companies, and Manal Ataya, Director General of Sharjah Museums Authority.

The expansive exhibition starts on Tuesday and will remain open till March 19 next year at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization. It is part of SMA’s efforts to raise more awareness about the history of Arabic calligraphy and its achievements in nourishing the art scene.

« We are delighted to organize this exhibition which reflects the great dedication of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi to making Islamic collections accessible and ensuring they represent the diversity found in Islamic heritage, » stated Manal Ataya, Director General of Sharjah Museums Authority.

« Calligraphy is one of the most fundamental elements of Islamic art that has influenced numerous cultures across the globe, and with this exhibition, we hope to introduce our visitors to rare Islamic manuscripts and to the origins, methods, and schools of calligraphy that were part of their production, » said Ataya.

Hamid Jafar, Founder and Chairman of Sharjah-based Crescent Group of Companies, started collecting the masterpieces at an early age. He included it in a small collection inherited from his late father and continued to build it for over 40 years.

« I am proud and honored to be exhibiting this selection from my collection for the first time, doing so in my beloved Sharjah, which I have taken as my home for over half a century, and to be sharing with the wider community the beauty of these remarkable works, » Jafar said.

The expansive exhibition also showcases a masterpiece by Sharifah Wahidah Yaqutah, dated 1844 AD, a 1.7m high-page of the Baysunqur Quran dated back to 1400 AD. It also displays a folio from one of the oldest and largest existing Quran manuscripts from the « Tashkent Quran, » dating back to the 2nd century AH/8th century AD.

Other pieces that reveal the history of calligraphy and present new features of the visual art of calligraphy include pages from several monumental Quran manuscripts that are as old as the era between the 2nd AH / 8th CE and 4th AH / 10th CE centuries.

The displayed objects reflect craftsmanship and design aesthetics, showing successive breakthroughs while depicting the location beauty and epoch in which they were created.