One of the oldest Qur’an manuscripts has been discovered

A Qur’an manuscript held by the University of Birmingham has been placed among the oldest in the world . Credit: University of Birmingham - The Cadbury Research Library

Thanks to radiocarbon dating, a Qur’an manuscript has been found to be one of the oldest ever discovered.

The manuscript is being held at the University of Birmingham, at its Cadbury Research Library.

The CRL at the University of Birmingham holds more than 4 million manuscripts and 200,000 rare books, including the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern Manuscripts.

The ancient Qur’an has dated the parchment on which the text is written to the period between AD 568 and 645 with 95.4% accuracy.

This places the find close to the time of the Prophet Muhammad, who is generally thought to have lived between AD 570 and 632.

The Qur’an manuscript is part of the University’s Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern manuscripts.

The Qur’an manuscript will be on public display at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, from Friday 2 October until Sunday 25 October.