Samarkand Kufic Quran

The Uthman Qur'an is a Manuscripted copy of the Qur'an considered to be the oldest in the world and said to still have a stain of blood from the assasination of the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan.

It is currently held in the library of the Telyashayakh Mosque, in the old "Hast-Imam" area of Tashkent, close to the grave of Kaffel-Shashi, the 10th Century Islamic scholar.

Uthman was the Caliph who organised the Qur'an into a written, as opposed to oral, record. Prior to Uthman, the Qur'an was recited by Hafiz, however at one battle Hafiz was clearly being tracked down and killed so a written record was required. Five of these original Qur'ans were sent to the four major Muslim Cities of the Era, keeping one for his own area in present Day Saudi Arabia. The only other surviving copy said to be held in Topkapi Palace, in Turkey.

Uthman was succeeded by Ali, who took the Uthman Qur'an to Kufa, now in Iraq. Timur laid waste to the area, claiming the qur'an as booty. He took it to the wonderful capital he created in Samarkand. It remained there for several centuries until, in 1868, when the Russians invaded and captured the Qur'an and brought it back to the Imperial Library in Moscow (now known as the Russian National Library). After the October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin, in an act of good will to the Muslims of Russia gave the Qur'an to the people of Ufa (In the modern day Federal subject of Russia Bashkortostan). However, after signifcant protest by the people of Turkestan ASSR the qur'an was returned to Central Asia, to Tashkent, where it has since remained.

References

• (Tashkent's hidden Islamic relic)

Of the original Qur'an, only about one third now remains.