Qu'ran Manuscripts in the Al-Haram Al-Sharif Islamic Museum, Jerusalem - Hardcover

Khader Salameh

9781859641323: Qu'ran Manuscripts in the Al-Haram Al-Sharif Islamic Museum, Jerusalem

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1859641326 ISBN 13: 9781859641323

Publisher: Ithaca Press, 1999

Of the many ways in which Muslims through the ages have sought to express their faith, none is more impressive than that of Qur'anic calligraphy and illumination. The legacy of this elaborate art forms a comprehensive yet cohesive whole which has both assimilated and adapted to the cultural differences that exist over the vast distances separating the regions of the Islamic world. In this beautifully illustrated book Khader Salameh shows how the art has developed over time as he studies a selection of Qur'an manuscripts held in the al-Haram al-Sharif Islamic Museum in the al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem. These preserved copies of the Qur'an have been donated to the Mosque during various successive Islamic periods by individual Muslims, rulers, sultans, princes, ulama and others. They differ in size, calligraphy and ornamentation - such as gold inlaying - according to the technical and material resources available. The entries are arranged chronologically and identified by the name of the donor, if known , and by a museum registration number. Salameh gives a detailed account of each manuscript, including its date, dimensions, binding, illuminated opening pages and body text. He summarizes the contents of any notations, endowment texts or colophons and identifies any Qur'anic verses that feature in the illuminated panels. The book is richly illustrated with colour photographs showing every decorative element worthy of study. As well as a detailed study of the selected manuscripts, the book presents a general overview of the Museum's holdings and provides a textual history of the Qur'an. It describes the four types of script used in Qur'an manuscripts, and also the different types of binding and illumination. Many rare pieces of note are included in the collection: the calligraphic kufic copy of the Qur'an dating back to the third/fourth century is the earliest example of this type of calligraphy and ornamentation; and the thirty-part Maghribi Rab'ah, bequeathed by Sultan Abu al-Hasan al-Marini of Morocco in AH 750, is the only manuscript remaining from the three collections that he dispatched to the mosques of the three most holy cities of Islam (Mecca, Madina and Jerusalem). In bringing these fascinating manuscripts to the attention of the world, Khader Salameh hopes to generate concern for their preservation before the passage of time takes its toll upon them. In conjunction with UNESCO, the director of the Islamic Museum and director of the al-Aqsa Mosque library Khader Salameh has written this book with the aim of drawing international attention to these fascinating manuscripts, in the hope that this will lead to concern for their preservation before the passage of time destroys them completely. He is also the author of several indexes of other Jerusalem manuscripts.

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Review:

Combining strikingly beautiful illustrations with fascinating glimpses into Islamic art, patronage, and the liturgical, social, and political uses of the Qu ran, Salameh s book is a rewarding read. "

From the Publisher:

Shows an important element in the development of Islam
Islam as a religion and a civilization exerts a strong influence on the individual Muslim and is reflected in all the arts. Despite the existence of minor regional differences over the vast distances that separate the regions of the Islamic world, the legacy left by Islamic civilization in the art of calligraphy and illumination of the Qur’an constitutes a comprehensive and cohesive unit. Islamic art developed from various sources, from the arts of the empires conquered by the Muslims, such as Sasanian Iran and Byzantium. Elements of the art of these civilizations played differing roles in the formation of Islamic art in a process which might be called adoption and adaptation. The aspect of the Islamic civilization that concerns us here are Qur’ran manuscripts. The attention paid to them since the beginnings of Islam forms an important element in the development of Islamic civilization, represented in calligraphy, gilding, and illumination. Those features is what this book attempts to examine through the selection of a group of Qur’an manuscripts that demonstrate the development of Islamic art across the Islamic periods. This study consists of three main parts. The first part presents a general picture of the holdings of the Islamic Museum, divided into eight categories: wood, metalwork, ceramics, glass, textiles, coins, stone inscriptions and architectural elements, and documents, with a few paragraphs and photographs devoted to each. The second section provides background about the four types of script used in the manuscripts, bookbinding, illumination, and the textual history of the Qur’an. The third part is the description of the manuscripts. Each manuscript is identified by the name of the donor, if known, and a museum registration number. Each catalogue entry begins by listing the date, dimensions and other characteristics of the manuscript. Next comes a description of the binding, followed by sections on the endowment text, if any, the illuminated opening pages, and the body of the text. The content of any notations, endowment texts, or colophons are summarized, and any Qur‘anic verses that occur in the illuminated panels are identified. A number of photographs accompanies each entry. I have attempted to select photographs that show every decorative element of the manuscripts worthy of study. The Qur’an manuscripts are arranged by date, according to the dates that appear in the colophons, or, for those manuscripts without dated texts according to stylistic evidence from the illumination and calligraphy. In this book, Khadir Salameh, the director of the museum, aims to attract attention to the manuscripts, in the hope that this will lead to concern for their preservation before the passage of time destroys them completely.

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