First-ever major Quran exhibition opens in America

Just in time for the Islamophobia-ridden presidential elections, the United States got its first major exhibition of holy Qurans.

“The Art of the Quran: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts” opened newly at the Smithsonian’s Sackler gallery in Washington, DC. It features some of the oldest Islamic manuscripts in history.

These manuscripts not only hold great religious, historic and cultural value, but also an artistic value that highlights the beauty of Islamic design and how it varies with time and place.

Organized by Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Smithsonian Museum, the exhibition showcases more than 60 of the most important Qurans from the Arab world, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. The manuscripts range in date from the late 7th century (less than 100 years after the time of the Prophet Muhammad) to the early 17th century.

Here’s a virtual tour of the exhibit.

Divine Islamic revelations are believed to have been disclosed to the prophet through the Archangel Gabriel starting 610 CE. These revelations were orally transmitted among Muslims until the prophet's passing in 632 CE.

Soon after, his followers began to record the revelations, transforming the Quran to a fixed written text.

The Quran literally means 'the recitation.'

"The Art of Quran" traces the development of the Quran's transcription, and shows how it grew to become artistically stylized.

"Scribes and copyists were ... faced with the challenge of lending visual form to the meaning and content of the Word of God," the official website explains. "The result was the birth and subsequent development of Arabic calligraphy—beautiful writing."

Many of the exhibition’s manuscripts were brought from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul, having been owned by the country’s former Ottoman rulers. These books presented as gifts to other rulers, rewarded to noblemen and endowed to notable public institutions. Every Quran on display tells an interesting tale.

According to the Associated Press, this 1.5 x 2 meter Quran, dating from around 1400 CE, needed a wheelbarrow to be transported. Two consecutive pages of this Quran are on display in the exhibition.

The story behind this centers a calligrapher called Omar Aqta’ who, after failing to impress his ruler with a tiny Quran, went to prove his mastery by designing this glorious Quran.

The exhibition offers something new to Muslims and non-Muslims, especially when it comes to the artwork.

“There are manuscripts here of a standard that you don’t see in other collections,” the museum director told The Guardian.

The museum’s chief curator told The Guardian that they hope the exhibition introduces non-Muslims to the Islamic holy text and changes their perspective toward Islam.

“By doing that, (we hope) to encourage more nuanced understanding and discussion about both the Quran and about Islam and its culture,” he said.