An Ancient Mushaf: BNF (Bibliothèque Nationale de France) Arabe 358

Abstract

Ancient mushafs are important sources of information on Islāmic sciences such as qirāat, rasm al-mushaf and history of mushaf. Many ancient mushafs, which are the written form of our holy book and one of the artifacts of our cultural heritage, are included in the inventory of the Topkapı Palace Museum and the Museum of Turkish and Islāmic Arts in our country. However, there are also a considerable number of ancient mushafs in western countries such as France, Germany and England. In the West, it is seen that there has been an interest in early mushafs since the 19th century, and important studies are still being carried out with personal/institutional efforts. On the other hand, some Muslim scholars living in different countries began to conduct technical studies on early mushafs about two centuries after the West, and this field of research has only recently become a popular field in Turkey. Although it is too late to show this interest, it is very important to examine the ancient mushafs from a Muslim point of view to evaluate the information they provide in a healthy way. In the West, names such as François Déroche stand out alongside institutions such as the Corpus Coranicum, which conducted serious research on early mushafs. The French researcher Déroche is regarded as an authority on dating mushafs by considering the orthographical forms used in them. However, in such studies on ancient mushafs, although some evaluations are made under the headings of qirāat and rasm al-mushaf, it is seen that evaluations are not made by taking into account all the qirāat literature, both sahih and shāz, and superficial determinations are made. It is known that Tayyar Altıkulaç was the first one to begin his studies on early mushafs in our country. The main theme of Altıkulaç's studies, who examined and published many mushafs in different museums/libraries, is to prove that the Qur'an has survived to the present day without change. In addition, although Altıkulaç made evaluations in terms of qirāat and rasm al-mushaf, it is not possible to say that these evaluations are sufficient. This study, one of the few studies on early period mushafs in Turkey, examines the Arabe mushaf number 358 in the National Library of France. The aim of this study is to introduce one of the hundreds of mushafs that are in the inventory of different museums or libraries but have not been studied academically, to the field of recitation. In addition, it is to make a detailed examination by considering the points that names such as Déroche in the West have left incomplete in the titles of recitation and rasm al-mushaf, and thus to contribute to interested researchers and the field. In this study, the mushaf numbered BNF Arabe 358, which consists of eight separate sections, has been analyzed primarily in terms of its formal characteristics, based on calligraphy-illumination art and mushaf history sources. It has been determined that Kufic calligraphy was used in all the parts of the mushaf and the dots for the letters were added later. Considering the information found in some parts of the mushaf and the spelling characteristics of the letters, it is thought that the mushaf may belong to the 9th-10th centuries. Although there are differences in a few places indicating shāz qirāat, the dots placed on the letters are more in accordance with the qirāat of the Kūfī schools of qirāat, and three words were also found to be written in violation of the rules of the rasm al-mushaf.