The Samarkand manuscript, now kept in Tashkent.

The Uthman Qur'an (also termed the Uthmanic codex, Uthmanic recension, Samarkand codex, Samarkand manuscript and Tashkent Qur'an), named for the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, is a manuscripted copy of the Qur'an, kept at the Hast Imam library. Along with the Sana'a manuscripts, it is considered to be the oldest in the world.^[1] It is said to still have a stain of blood from Uthman's assassination.

[edit] History

This copy of the Qur'an is attributed to the third caliph Uthman. In 651, 19 years after the death of Muhammad, Uthman commissioned a committee to produce a standard copy of the text of Quran (see Origin and development of the Qur'an).^[1] Five of these original Qur'ans were sent to the major Muslim cities of the era, with Uthman keeping one for his own use in Medina. The only other surviving copy is said to be held in Topkapı Palace, in Turkey.^[1][1]

Uthman was succeeded by Ali, who took the Uthman Qur'an to Kufa, now in Iraq. When Tamerlane destroyed the area, he took the Qur'an to his capital, Samarkand, as a treasure. It remained there for four centuries until, in 1868, when the Russians invaded, captured the Qur'an and brought it back to the Imperial Library in St. Petersburg (now known as the Russian National Library).^[1]

The Uthman Qur'an, Sura 7 (Ala'araf), verses 86 & 87.

After the October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin, in an act of good will to the Muslims of Russia gave the Qur'an to the people of Ufa, Bashkortostan. After repeated appeals by the people of Turkestan ASSR, the Qur'an was returned to Central Asia, to Tashkent, in 1924, where it has since remained.^[1]

[edit] Current state

The parchment manuscript is currently held in the library of the Telyashayakh Mosque, in the old "Hast-Imam" (Khazrati Imom) area of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, close to the grave of Kaffal Shashi, a 10th-century Islamic scholar.

The manuscript is rather incomplete, only one third of the Qur'an survives.^[1] It begins in the middle of verse 7 of the second sura and ending abruptly at Surah 43.10.[2] It has between eight and twelve lines to the page, is devoid of vocalisation and as such is very ancient.

[edit] See also

• Topkapi manuscript

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• (Tashkent's hidden Islamic relic)
• (Cities and Sites Visited by Secretary Albright)
• (Memory of the World Register - Nomination Form - Holy Koran Mushaf of Othman) - From UNESCO
• Picture of Uthman's Qur'an in situ Blog on British Library website