Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Uthman’s Quran -  “Mushaf of Othman” (known throughout the world as the "Tashkent Quran") is the oldest surviving manuscript of the Quran. It is the rarest authentic source in the history of world civilization. 

The Quran of Uthman was rewritten in Hijaz script in the 7th century by order of the third righteous Caliph Uthman ibn Affan (575–656). Uthman’s Quran is kept in Tashkent in the museum-library of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan in the Muyi Mubarak madrasah.

On behalf of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, conservation and restoration of this holy Quran is planned. The project involves foreign specialists, including Christine Rose from the University of Cambridge, restorers Axel Delo and Coralie Barb from France, and Nil Baydar from the Istanbul Manuscript Hospital. They will conduct a detailed inspection of each page, develop a step-by-step restoration plan and give recommendations for further storage.

“The restoration of the Uthman Quran is an extremely important initiative, the purpose of which is to preserve one of the greatest achievements of human civilization - the oldest manuscript of the Quran. The most experienced restorers were involved in its implementation, which guarantees the highest level of professionalism in the process of conservation, restoration and subsequent storage of the manuscript. This work not only contributes to the preservation of cultural heritage, but also emphasizes our desire to pass on this invaluable historical evidence to future generations in an unchanged form,” Gayane Umerova, Chairman of the Art and Culture Development Foundation of Uzbekistan.

A total of six copies of the Quran were copied. The Mushaf consists of 338 sheets, each measuring 53x68 cm.

“It is an incredible honor for me and my colleagues to take part in the restoration of one of the oldest manuscripts in the world. After examining the Uthman Quran, we found that it is in satisfactory condition, given its long life cycle, we thank our colleagues from the Muslim Office of Uzbekistan who maintain the general condition of the ancient manuscript. In addition to restoration work, we will draw up a list of recommendations for further storage and study of the manuscript.” — Christine Rose, Head of Restoration and Conservation, Cambridge International University.

The text of the Quran written in the Hijaz script does not have the diacritics, superscripts and subscripts adopted in later Arabic writing. The letter "alif" is noticeably tilted to the side.

“Uthman’s Mushaf” was brought to Samarkand by the great commander Amir Temur from Iraq in the 14th century. The Quran was kept for many years in the Nadir Devonbegi-Togo madrasah in Samarkand. After the conquest of Central Asia by Tsarist Russia, the Governor-General of Turkestan, Von Kaufman, moved the Mushaf to St. Petersburg in 1869. In 1905, 50 copies were made of Mushaf Uthman. After the unrest in Russia in 1917, at the request of the ulama of Tashkent and Syrdarya, a special decree was adopted in 1923, according to which the Holy Book was returned to Uzbekistan in 1924.

In 1989, according to the adopted Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, “Mushaf Uthman” was transferred to the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan and is currently stored in the museum-library of the “Muyi Mubarak” madrasah.

In 1997, UNESCO included the Uthman Quran in the Memory of the World register.

Conservation and restoration will help preserve the Quran of Uthman for future generations for many years to come.

The work is carried out with the support and supervision of the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Art of Uzbekistan and the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan.