What is the Oldest Quran

The oldest Quran manuscript

Two Quran manuscripts lay claim to the oldest Quran in existence.

1) The Uthman Quran

One of the oldest Quran manuscripts is the Uthman Quran so called because some believe it belonged to Uthman. If this is an original Uthmanic text the date of it would be about AD  651 (about 20 years after Muhammad’s death). This is sometimes called the Tashkent Quran ¹Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, is the city where this Quran is kept. It is found in the library of the Telyashayakh Mosque or the Samarkand ²Samarkand, Uzbekistan is one of the cities where this Quran manuscript used to be kept. manuscript. About 1/3 of the original remains. ³According to Wikipedia, “it begins in the middle of verse 7 of the second sura and ends abruptly at Surah 43:10” (Uthman Quran). 

2. The Sana Palmimsest

Possibly older than the Uthman Quran is the Sana palimpsest.

Results from radiocarbon dating from a Sana Quran parchment:

indicate that the parchment has a 68% probability of belonging to the period between AD 614 to AD 656. It has a 95% probability of belonging to the period between AD 578 and AD 669 (Behnam Sadeghi; Uwe Bergmann, “The Codex of a Companion of the Prophet and the Qur’ān of the Prophet,” Arabica, Volume 57, Number 4, 2010, p.348.)

The Sana palimpsest is not only significant because it is one of the oldest Qurans in existence. It’s also significant because the top layer (the text written over what was erased) is the text of the standard Uthmanic version of the Quran. Beneath this standard Uthmanic version (the part that was erased) is a non-Uthmanic version of the Quran.

What other ancient Quran manuscripts are there?

Muhammad Mustafa Al-Azami, Professor Emeritus at King Saud University, argues that the following list of manuscripts “have been conclusively dated to the first century A.H.” ⁴The History of the Quranic Text from Revelation to Compilation, 316-317. Al-Azami basis his list on Kurkis Awwad’s,  Aqdam al-makhtutat al-Arabiyah fi maktabat al-Alam, pp.31-59.

1. A copy attributed to Caliph Uthman bin Affan. Amanat Khizana, Topkapi Saray, Istanbul, no.1.
2. Another copy ascribed to Uthman bin Affan. Amanat Khizana, Topkapi Saray, no.208. This copy has some 300 folios and it is missing a portion from both ends.
3. Another ascribed to ‘Uthman bin ‘Aflan. Amanat Khizana, TopkapiS aray, no. 10. It is only 83 folios and contains notes written inthe Turkish language naming the scribe.
4. Attributed to Caliph ‘Uthman at the Museum of Islamic Art, Istanbul. It lacks folios from the beginning, middle and end. Dr. al-Munaggid dates it to the second half of the first century.
5. Attributed to Caliph ‘Uthman in Tashkent, 353 folios.
6. A large copy with 1000 pages, written between 25-31 A.H. at Rawaq al-Maghariba, al-Azhar, Cairo.
7. Attributed to Caliph ‘Uthman, The Egyptian Library, Cairo.
8. Ascribed to Caliph ‘Ali bin AbI Talib on palimpsest. Muzesi Kutuphanesi, Topkapi Saray, no. 36E.H.29. It has 147 folios.
9. Ascribed to Caliph ‘Ali. Amanat Khizana, Topkapi Saray, no.33. It has only 48 folios.
10. Ascribed to Caliph ‘Ali. Amanat Khizana, Topkapi Saray, no. 25E.H.2. Contains 414 Folios.
11. Ascribed to Caliph ‘Ali. Raza Library, Rampur, India, no. 1. Contains 343 Folios.
12. Ascribed to Caliph ‘Ali, San’a’, Yemen.

13. Ascribed to Caliph ‘Ali, al-Mashhad al-Husaini, Cairo.
14. Ascribed to Caliph ‘Ali, 127 folios. Najaf, Iraq.
15. Ascribed to Caliph ‘Ali. Also in Najaf, Iraq.
16. Attributed to Husain b. ‘Ali (d. 50 A.H.), 41 folios, Mashhad,Iran.
17. Attributed to Hasan b. ‘Ali, 124 folios, Mashhad, Iran, no. 12.
18. Attributed to Hasan b. ‘Ali, 124 folios. Najaf, Iraq.
19. A copy, 332 folios, most likely from the early first half of the first century. The Egyptian Library, Cairo, no. 139 Masahif.
20. Ascribed to Khudaij b. Mu’awiya (d. 63 A.H.) written in 49 A.H. Amanat Khizana, Topkapi Saray, no. 44. It has 226 folios.
[#21 is missing in al-Azami’s list.]
22. A Mushaf in Kufic script penned in 74 A.H. Amanat Khizana, Topkapi Saray, no.2. It has 406 folios.
23. A copy scribed by al-Hasan al-Basri in 77 A.H. The Egyptian Library, Cairo, no. 50 Masahif.
24. A copy in the Museum of Islamic Art, Istanbul, no. 358. According to Dr. al-Munaggid it belongs to the late first century.
25. A copy with 112 folios. The British Museum, London.
26. A copy with 27 folios. The Egyptian Library, Cairo, no. 247.
27. Some 5000 folios from different manuscripts at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, many from the first century. One of them, Arabe 328(a), has lately been published as a facsimile edition.

Al-Azami overstates that these have been “conclusively dated to the first century A.H.” For example, the manuscripts from  Topkapi can be dated to the second century A.H. (Islamic Awareness). Several of the manuscripts attributed/ascribed to Uthman probably did not belong to him.

Nevertheless, considering that Muhammad died around 632 AD, these are still old Quran manuscripts.

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References[+]

References

↥1	Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, is the city where this Quran is kept. It is found in the library of the Telyashayakh Mosque
↥2	Samarkand, Uzbekistan is one of the cities where this Quran manuscript used to be kept.
↥3	According to Wikipedia, “it begins in the middle of verse 7 of the second sura and ends abruptly at Surah 43:10” (Uthman Quran).
↥4	The History of the Quranic Text from Revelation to Compilation, 316-317. Al-Azami basis his list on Kurkis Awwad’s,  Aqdam al-makhtutat al-Arabiyah fi maktabat al-Alam, pp.31-59.