EXHIBITIONS

Rare and exquisite examples from thelibrary’s collections - considered to be

one of the greatest in the world – arepresented alongside treasures on loan fromother institutions. These include threeQur’ans from Morocco’s Royal Library inMarrakech and a facsimile of Uthman’sQuran from the Tashkent Islamic Universitywhich is being shown outside Uzbekistan forthe first time.The King of Morocco, one of the exhibition’spatrons, insisted the texts were put onpublic display when Sacred was first planned

Sacred:The British Library’s VisualFeast Of Holy Texts

> London-Karen Dabrowska

Twenty magnificently illustrated Qur’ans are on display at the British Library’s Sacred:Discover What We Share Exhibition which focuses on Islamic, Christian and Jewish holybooks. It is open until the 23rd of September.

56Islamic Tourism – Issue 30 – July-August / 2007 For more information, visit our website www.islamictourism.com

Gospel in Arabic (16th Century) .¥/á«Hô©dÉH π«‚’G16Ω .¥ ,á«Hô©dG Iôjõ÷G) πFÉŸG §ÿÉH ∞ë°üe8(Ω

Ma'il Koran (Arabian Peninsula, 8th Century)

58Islamic Tourism – Issue 30 – July-August / 2007 For more information, visit our website www.islamictourism.com

EXHIBITIONS

four year’s ago. Donors from all three faithsnamely the Coexist Foundation, theMoroccan British Society and the SaintCatherine Foundation funded theexhibition. The British Library’s Chief Executive, LynneBrindley, said: "We present this exhibitionas a contribution to the greaterunderstanding of these three faiths, theirhistorical roots, and their significance in theworld today. As one of the world’s greatlibraries, we invite everyone - of faith or nofaith - to come, to think, to debate and tolearn. It is also an opportunity to marvel atthe beauty of the texts and to gain greaterunderstanding of their contemporaryrelevance."

Sacred sees priceless examples of theTorah, New Testament and Qur’an mounted

alongside each other – not individually inseparate zones. The 230 texts on display aretreated thematically, exploring points incommon, looking at the ways in which theyhave been produced, interpreted and used.

The Islamic manuscripts and treasures ondisplay include: 1 - Ma'il Qur'an: One of the earliest Qur'ansin the world to have survived, dating fromthe beginning of the 8th century AD. Thatequates to the 1st century in the MuslimHegri calendar. It was produced on theArabian Peninsula, probably in or near theholy cities of Islam.

2 - Carpet page from a Qur'an, from 14thCentury, Morocco. The design of thismagnificent carpet page and the style of its

illumination are typical of decorativefrontispieces produced in North Africa andAndalusian Spain. Gold, red, blue andgreen are the colours most often used inthe decoration of manuscripts from thisregion. The most prominent feature of thiscarpet page is the geometric frameformed by the interlocking squares andoctagons highlighted in white ink andfilled in with arabesques.

3 - Uljaytu Qur'an: This royal deluxemanuscript of the Qur'an was made for theearly 14th Century Mongol ruler of Iran,Uljaytu, a direct descendant ofGhenghis Khan. It was copied in 30separate parts. On display is part 25, one ofvery few complete 'one-thirtieths' of thisparticular manuscript to have survived.

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EXHIBITIONS

Uljaytu converted to Christianity, Buddhismand finally Islam.

4 - Sultan Baybars' Qur'an is one of thefinest of all Qur'an manuscripts, written inlarge letters of gold in seven magnificentfolio volumes. It took three years (1304-06) to produce. Apart from thewonderfully bold calligraphy, each volumeis provided with a magnificent doublefrontispiece, showing the intricacy ofIslamic geometric patterns at its finest.

5 - The cover of Al-Ka'bah in Mecca. Anew covering called a 'kiswah' is made forthe Ka'bah every year during the month ofpilgrimage, and the old covering is cut upand the pieces kept as relics.The curtain covering the door into theKa'bah is considered one of the mostprecious of these relics. The beautifulexample on display is ornamented withQur'anic inscriptions. It was made for theOttoman Sultan Abdulmajid I in 1858.

The influence of the three religions on oneanother is clearly illustrated in the Bookof Psalms in Arabic, a beautifullyilluminated manuscript of the bookprepared for the Coptic Christiancommunity in Egypt dating from the early16th century. At first glance thetraditional "carpet-page" with purelyIslamic geometric designs leads one toimagine it to be another Mamluk-periodQur'an - the portrait of King David comesas a surprise. This is a Christianmanuscript but heavily influenced in itsdecoration, script, and layout by themanuscripts of the dominant religion ofthe area, Islam. British Library curator and Arabicmanuscripts expert Colin Bakeremphasized that the exhibition was aimedat the general public. "It is an exhibitionanyone can go to regardless of theirknowledge of religion". He added that"People associate Islam with the MiddleEast but the Qur’an has been copied byMuslim communities in South East Asia. InMalaysia there are vibrant decorations, inChina brush strokes are evident".

60Islamic Tourism – Issue 30 – July-August / 2007 For more information, visit our website www.islamictourism.com

Hajj Certificate (Dated 836 Hijra/1432. Issued for a lady named Maymunah)

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