Oldest manuscripts of Holy Quran identical to modern day manuscripts

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Oldest manuscripts of Holy Quran identical to modern day manuscripts

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LAHORE (WebDesk) –A new discovery in England took the entire Muslim community of the world by storm. Two leaves of the Holy Quran kept at the University of Birmingham’s Cadbury Research Library have been identified by researchers as being the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Holy Quran. Researchers dated the manuscripts, with 95% certainty, between 568 and 645 AD after using radiocarbon dating technology. This makes the manuscript at least 1,370 years old.

According to the researchers, the dates point to the possibility that the manuscript might have been written at the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and it is being suggested that these Holy Quran’s manuscripts may have been written by a companion of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). According to the Muslims, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) received the revelations of the Holy Quran between 610 and 632, which strongly suggests that this might be true.

Professor David Thomas, Professor of Christianity and Islam at the University of Birmingham, in regards to this, stated “"The person who actually wrote it could well have known Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He would have seen Him (PBUH) probably; he would maybe have heard Him (PBUH) preach. He may have known Him (PBUH) personally - and that really is quite a thought to conjure with," he says.

The text in the manuscript is written in Arabic Hijazi script and is clearly legible. The manuscripts contain verses 17-31 of the Surah 18 which is Surah Al-Kahf, final eight verses 91-98 of Surah 19 which is Surah Maryam and first 40 of verses Surah 20 which is Surah Ta’ha. An interesting thing, apart from the date of the manuscripts itself, is that the text of the manuscript is identical to the text in modern day manuscripts of the Holy Quran. A side by side comparison of the old and modern day manuscripts shows that not a single word in the oldest manuscripts differ from the manuscripts we read nowadays which means that the word of the Holy Quran has remain unchanged from when it was written in the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) more than 1400 years ago.

Professor Thomas said "These portions must have been in a form that is very close to the form of the Quran read today, supporting the view that the text has undergone little or no alteration and that it can be dated to a point very close to the time it was believed to be revealed."

The manuscripts were being kept in the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern manuscripts in the library along with other Middle Eastern books and documents and had been unrecognized as being so old for almost a century. The tests were conducted by the Oxford University using Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit. The text in the manuscript is written in ink on sheep or goat skin.

Researchers stated that they did “in their wildest dream” expect the text to be so old. British Library s expert on such manuscripts, Dr Muhammad Isa Waley, Lead Curator for Persian and Turkish Manuscripts at the British Library, said this "exciting discovery" would make Muslims "rejoice".