Newsletter No. 19
Winter 2020
Recent Publications “The Earth and it's Sciences in Islamic Manuscripts” (New Edition)
“The Noble Qur’ān from Revelation to Compilation (2)”
This book contains a number of papers presented during the fifth conference of the Centre for the Study of Islamic Manuscripts - Al-Furqān Foundation. The conference papers addressed the domain of mathematical sciences in relation to planet Earth, with six papers in the field of geographical heritage, accurately illustrating Earth’s representation. The papers highlight the efforts of Muslim scholars in this domain, which were treated with fairness and given due credit by orientalists; moreover, showcasing the rare gems that were published, which stand as eloquent testimony to the powers of exploration and analysis in the description of Earth and all it holds. Furthermore, the conference papers highlight the science of botany, which developed at the hands of Muslim scholars, after they had assimilated Greek heritage, and authored on it, along linguistic, horticultural, or medicinal lines of inquiry. Through their efforts, it evolved even further, to become a fully-fledged science in its own right, focused on purely scientific descriptions of flora, without engaging in agricultural benefits or advantages. While Islamic chemistry recorded no progress over more than half a century, the conference did not neglect this field. Similarly, geology, with Islamic manuscript heritage containing an extensive list of important works executed in this domain, delved into properties, benefits, colours, strength, and crystal structure, as well as markets and prices.
This book presents the proceedings of the 9th Conference in the domain of manuscripts organised by the Centre for the Study of Islamic Manuscripts, Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation.
(By Various Contributors) Edited by Ibrahim Chabbouh
(By Various Contributors)
The academic papers presented at the conference revolved around the following topics: writing the Noble Qurʾān in the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him; the truth of ʿUthmān’s (may Allah be pleased with him) action in abrogating Qur’ān copies; Qurʾān manuscripts and their role in confirming uncommon narrations relating to orthography, pointing and diacritics; history of compilation of the Noble Qurʾān in a comparative codicological study of early Qur’ān copies; and a methodological criticism of the theory of Syriac and Aramaic texts in the Noble Qur’ān. Furthermore, the delegates discussed the topic of orientalists and the Qur’ān canonical readings with reference to Theodor Nöldeke’s book, ‘The History of the Qurʾān’, and examined the issue of the discoveries of Qurʾān parchments in Sanaa Grand Mosque. In addition, two papers scrutinised both the ‘Corpus Coranicum’ and ‘Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān’ projects, identifying problematic issues of objectivity and bias in their presentation.
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