Two Old Copies of the Holy Quran, Ancient Manuscript among Notable Donations to Reading Nation Ramadan Campaign Auction

Dubai-UAE: June 21, 2016 – The Reading Nation Ramadan campaign auction is gathering a coveted and valuable collection of objects and memorabilia that will be sold off to the highest bidders to raise funds for the ongoing Reading Nation Ramadan campaign. The charity auction is set to run on June 21 (tomorrow) at the Madinat Jumeirah, based on the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

In the final leg of accumulating precious collectibles for the auction, His Excellency Mohammad Al-Murr, Former Speaker of the Federal National Council, has donated an ancient distinguished manuscript and a manuscript edition of the Holy Quran dating back to the 19th century. In addition, an old copy of the Holy Quran dating back three-centuries was donated by His Excellency Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed Al Owais, UAE Minister of Health and Prevention.

The historic edition of the Holy Quran, donated by His Excellency Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed Al Owais, is a unique piece of art written in the Khatt an-Nasakh (one of Arabic calligraphy’s most beautiful writing styles). Scripted by Arabic calligrapher Ibn Bir Mohammed Muqeem Bir in 1093 Hijri in black ink, with red color used to define the Tajweed signs, the first two pages of this Quran are embroidered with gold and azure threads, while its verses are separated using small gold-colored delineations. The titles of each chapter as well as the Ajza’a and Ahzaab are also written in gold, with internal and external frames used to border each page. The pages of this masterpiece are carefully crafted with silk and linen, and they are sprinkled with gold indicating that this copy of the Holy Quran was made for a notable person. The outer covers are made of leather-bound and embroidered on both sides with floral designs. 

Organizers of the campaign pointed out that the manuscript donated by His Excellency Mohammad Al-Murr is one chapter of the Holy Quran - Surat Al Qadr (The Power). This ancient document is an Arabic calligraphy manuscript that is embroidered with golden threads and scripted in Khatt Muhaqqaq (one of Arabic calligraphy’s finer writing styles) by calligrapher Usama Al Hamzawi. Meanwhile, the copy of the Holy Quran donated by Al-Murr is an embellished Indian-Mogul manuscript consisting of 520 pages and dating back to 1227 Hijri. 

Those generous contributions form part of the unprecedented national response to make the Reading Nation Ramadan campaign a success. They also align with the humanitarian spirit of the Holy Month of Ramadan. The auction is set to achieve its targets and help support the campaign that started at the beginning of Holy Month of Ramadan and continues until the 19th day of Ramadan to coincide with Zayed Humanitarian Day. 

The auction complements the efforts of the Reading Nation Ramadan campaign that is aiming to provide five million books to children in refugee camps and underprivileged students in schools across the world through granting two million books to refugee children and a further two million books to establish more than 2,000 school libraries around the world. In addition, the campaign is also mandated to support the educational programs implemented by the UAE’s humanitarian organizations worldwide - with one million books.