Pub Date : 2023-12-19DOI: 10.1163/1878464x-01501002
Aziza Shanazarova
The current article examines autograph manuscripts of three little-known Sufi doctrinal works of the eighteenth-century Central Asian Sufi, Ṭāhir Īshān, a native of Khwarazm. Ṭāhir Īshān is better known as the author of the eighteenth-century Naqshbandī hagiographical compendium Tadhkira-yi Ṭāhir Īshān, which was completed in 1160/1747. The works in question, entitled Ḥujjat al-sālikīn va rāḥat al-ṭālibīn, Rumūz al-kalām, and Risāla-yi sayr ilā Llāh, survived in their autograph copies in a single manuscript codex preserved at the Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), under the inventory number of MS 5121. Given that the Rumūz al-kalām and Risāla-yi sayr ilā Llāh only survived in their autograph copies, MS 5121 serves as a crucial gateway to these doctrinal texts of Ṭāhir Īshān.
{"title":"Ṭāhir Īshān’s Unknown Autograph Manuscripts","authors":"Aziza Shanazarova","doi":"10.1163/1878464x-01501002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1878464x-01501002","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The current article examines autograph manuscripts of three little-known Sufi doctrinal works of the eighteenth-century Central Asian Sufi, Ṭāhir Īshān, a native of Khwarazm. Ṭāhir Īshān is better known as the author of the eighteenth-century Naqshbandī hagiographical compendium <em>Tadhkira-yi Ṭāhir Īshān</em>, which was completed in 1160/1747. The works in question, entitled <em>Ḥujjat al-sālikīn va rāḥat al-ṭālibīn</em>, <em>Rumūz al-kalām</em>, and <em>Risāla-yi sayr ilā Llāh</em>, survived in their autograph copies in a single manuscript codex preserved at the Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), under the inventory number of <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">MS</span> 5121. Given that the <em>Rumūz al-kalām</em> and <em>Risāla-yi sayr ilā Llāh</em> only survived in their autograph copies, <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">MS</span> 5121 serves as a crucial gateway to these doctrinal texts of Ṭāhir Īshān.</p>","PeriodicalId":40893,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic Manuscripts","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138819234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-19DOI: 10.1163/1878464x-01401005
Alex de Voogt
Muyaka’s poetry as it is known today was first recorded in the 1890s, mainly written down by Mwalimu Sikujua who used Arabic script as well as an adapted Swahili-Arabic writing system to document the language. Sikujua’s versatility when using the Arabic script as well as his use of variant spellings suggest a writing practice that embraces rather than avoids orthographic variation. His use of diacritics including the shadda and hamza is particularly noteworthy. Muyaka’s poems with their frequent repetitions as well as the writing of the poet’s name feature multiple spellings by Sikujua even when applying the adapted Swahili-Arabic script. Sikujua invented solutions that best approach a Swahili pronunciation but he also displays a detailed understanding and creative use of a wide range of Arabic signs and diacritics. The complexities of writing Swahili with Arabic script benefit from Sikujua’s creativity. It is this versatility and creativity that has been largely ignored and misinterpreted as merely inconsistent in studies where standardization is considered preferable.
{"title":"Sikujua’s Writing of Muyaka’s Poetry in Arabic Script: Versatility and Creativity","authors":"Alex de Voogt","doi":"10.1163/1878464x-01401005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1878464x-01401005","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Muyaka’s poetry as it is known today was first recorded in the 1890s, mainly written down by Mwalimu Sikujua who used Arabic script as well as an adapted Swahili-Arabic writing system to document the language. Sikujua’s versatility when using the Arabic script as well as his use of variant spellings suggest a writing practice that embraces rather than avoids orthographic variation. His use of diacritics including the <em>shadda</em> and <em>hamza</em> is particularly noteworthy. Muyaka’s poems with their frequent repetitions as well as the writing of the poet’s name feature multiple spellings by Sikujua even when applying the adapted Swahili-Arabic script. Sikujua invented solutions that best approach a Swahili pronunciation but he also displays a detailed understanding and creative use of a wide range of Arabic signs and diacritics. The complexities of writing Swahili with Arabic script benefit from Sikujua’s creativity. It is this versatility and creativity that has been largely ignored and misinterpreted as merely inconsistent in studies where standardization is considered preferable.</p>","PeriodicalId":40893,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic Manuscripts","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138819332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-03DOI: 10.1163/1878464x-01303010
Barış Ince
This article is an examination of the vocalised quranic manuscript MS Paris, BnF Arabe 330b, currently found at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The vocalisation system in the manuscript clearly reflects two canonical readings, namely those of Ḥamzah and Warsh, and has tremendous consistency with how medieval Islamic scholarship described these readings. This was established through a juxtaposition of the manuscript’s vocalisation, rasm and verse dividers with the classical Islamic qirāʾāt literature.
{"title":"Arabe 330b","authors":"Barış Ince","doi":"10.1163/1878464x-01303010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1878464x-01303010","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article is an examination of the vocalised quranic manuscript MS Paris, BnF Arabe 330b, currently found at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The vocalisation system in the manuscript clearly reflects two canonical readings, namely those of Ḥamzah and Warsh, and has tremendous consistency with how medieval Islamic scholarship described these readings. This was established through a juxtaposition of the manuscript’s vocalisation, rasm and verse dividers with the classical Islamic qirāʾāt literature.","PeriodicalId":40893,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic Manuscripts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42174517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-03DOI: 10.1163/1878464x-01402017
J. J. Witkam
{"title":"Preface","authors":"J. J. Witkam","doi":"10.1163/1878464x-01402017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1878464x-01402017","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":40893,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic Manuscripts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43751356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-03DOI: 10.1163/1878464x-01401004
A. El-Khatib
This article provides a description and edition of MSS Leiden Or. 14.545 b–c. Radiocarbon dating (14C dating) pinpoints the manuscript to an early period in Islamic history, and this is affirmed by its palaeographical and codicological features. As a result of its dating, it has received considerable attention from scholars and the media. This study confirms the manuscript’s direct relationship with MSS Paris, BnF Arabe 331 and St. Petersburg, National Library, Marcel 3. A verse count analysis was carried out in order to establish its origin. There is evidence that the manuscript journeyed from al-Fusṭāṭ in Old-Cairo to Beirut in Lebanon before finally settling in Leiden in the Netherlands. For several reasons, it was difficult to determine the exact origin of the manuscript.
{"title":"Editing MSS Leiden Or. 14.545 b–c","authors":"A. El-Khatib","doi":"10.1163/1878464x-01401004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1878464x-01401004","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article provides a description and edition of MSS Leiden Or. 14.545 b–c. Radiocarbon dating (14C dating) pinpoints the manuscript to an early period in Islamic history, and this is affirmed by its palaeographical and codicological features. As a result of its dating, it has received considerable attention from scholars and the media. This study confirms the manuscript’s direct relationship with MSS Paris, BnF Arabe 331 and St. Petersburg, National Library, Marcel 3. A verse count analysis was carried out in order to establish its origin. There is evidence that the manuscript journeyed from al-Fusṭāṭ in Old-Cairo to Beirut in Lebanon before finally settling in Leiden in the Netherlands. For several reasons, it was difficult to determine the exact origin of the manuscript.","PeriodicalId":40893,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic Manuscripts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43776498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-03DOI: 10.1163/1878464x-01402014
Morteza Karimi-Nia
For nearly a thousand years, certain copies of the Qurʾān have been ascribed to such prominent Islamic figures as Imām ʿAlī and other Shīʿa Imāms. Although no evidence of ascription is found from the first three centuries, nearly two hundred copies of such manuscripts and fragments are found today around the world, especially in Shiite areas. After a historical overview of the phenomenon and classification of the various types of ascribed codices, this article provides evidence for the rejection of these ascriptions and that establishes the colophons as forgeries. The last part of the article includes a table of about two hundred Qurʾānic manuscripts ascribed to Shīʿa Imāms preserved in libraries and museums all over the world.
近一千年来,《古兰经ān》的某些抄本被认为是由一些著名的伊斯兰人物如Imām al ā ā和其他shyi ā ā Imāms所著。虽然前三个世纪没有找到归属的证据,但今天在世界各地,特别是在什叶派地区,发现了近200份这样的手稿和碎片。在对各种类型的署名抄本的现象和分类进行历史概述之后,本文提供了拒绝这些署名的证据,并将这些抄本确定为伪造品。文章的最后一部分包括一个表格,上面有大约200份古兰经ānic手稿,这些手稿被认为是shyi - al Imāms所写,保存在世界各地的图书馆和博物馆中。
{"title":"The Qurʾānic Codices and Fragments Ascribed to Imām ʿAlī and Other Shīʿa Imāms","authors":"Morteza Karimi-Nia","doi":"10.1163/1878464x-01402014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1878464x-01402014","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 For nearly a thousand years, certain copies of the Qurʾān have been ascribed to such prominent Islamic figures as Imām ʿAlī and other Shīʿa Imāms. Although no evidence of ascription is found from the first three centuries, nearly two hundred copies of such manuscripts and fragments are found today around the world, especially in Shiite areas. After a historical overview of the phenomenon and classification of the various types of ascribed codices, this article provides evidence for the rejection of these ascriptions and that establishes the colophons as forgeries. The last part of the article includes a table of about two hundred Qurʾānic manuscripts ascribed to Shīʿa Imāms preserved in libraries and museums all over the world.","PeriodicalId":40893,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic Manuscripts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43189049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-03DOI: 10.1163/1878464x-01401003
M. Sahragard
In 1969, circa 1,000 fragments of the Qur’an were found in the space between two ceiling covers in the Holy Shrine of Imam Riḍā in Mashhad, Iran. Some of these were among the oldest Qur’ans produced in Iran. Three volumes in that cache are the only remaining parts of a fourteen-volume Qur’an, copied in Ramaḍān 327/939, endowed to the Holy Shrine by Kishvād b. Amlās. The volume is in vertical format and was copied on paper. Presently, it is the oldest known dated Qur’an manuscript on paper in the world. The similarities of the script and illumination to some undated and unsigned Qur’ans give us some hints about the Kufic script and illuminations in central Iran. The present article discusses the codicological and paleographical features of this copy.
1969年,在伊朗马什哈德伊玛目Riḍā圣地的两个天花板之间的空间里发现了大约1000个《古兰经》碎片。其中一些是伊朗制作的最古老的古兰经。藏物中的三卷是十四卷古兰经中仅存的部分,抄写于Ramaḍān 327/939,由Kishvād b. Amlās捐赠给圣地。这本书是垂直的,是在纸上抄写的。目前,它是世界上已知最古老的纸质古兰经手稿。手稿和启示与一些未注明日期和未署名的古兰经的相似之处,给了我们一些关于伊朗中部库菲克手稿和启示的线索。本文讨论了该副本的法典学和古地理特征。
{"title":"Revived Leaves","authors":"M. Sahragard","doi":"10.1163/1878464x-01401003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1878464x-01401003","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In 1969, circa 1,000 fragments of the Qur’an were found in the space between two ceiling covers in the Holy Shrine of Imam Riḍā in Mashhad, Iran. Some of these were among the oldest Qur’ans produced in Iran. Three volumes in that cache are the only remaining parts of a fourteen-volume Qur’an, copied in Ramaḍān 327/939, endowed to the Holy Shrine by Kishvād b. Amlās. The volume is in vertical format and was copied on paper. Presently, it is the oldest known dated Qur’an manuscript on paper in the world. The similarities of the script and illumination to some undated and unsigned Qur’ans give us some hints about the Kufic script and illuminations in central Iran. The present article discusses the codicological and paleographical features of this copy.","PeriodicalId":40893,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic Manuscripts","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48614141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-03DOI: 10.1163/1878464x-01402012
M. Sahragard
A number of folios of a grand Qurʾan, known as the Qurʾan of Bāysunghur, are preserved in collections across the world. No thorough research has been carried out on this manuscript due to the fact that the folios of this Qurʾan—the largest of the Islamic era—are scattered. Consequently, many points about the early details, the scribe and the history of the manuscript remain vague. Endowed between the late 12th/18th and the early 14th/20th century to the Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍavī Library and Museum in Mashhad, around sixty-five opisthographic folios of the Qurʾan are now kept in the collection. A close investigation of the folios not only rejects and proves earlier hypotheses but also presents new ones. After examining the codicological features of the work by comparing the information contained in the historical sources and the features of the manuscript, the present article speculates that the Qurʾan was commissioned by Ulugh Beg in Samarqand, to the scribes of the court scriptorium. Some folios were scattered in the course of the 10th/16th century and the rest during the occupation of Samarqand in the course of the 12th/18th century. Around sixty pages, however, were transferred to Imāmzāda Ibrāhīm of Qūchān and five pages were endowed to the Holy Shrine of Imām Riḍā during the 12th/18th century. Finally, in 1923, the remaining folios of the Imāmzāda were transferred to the Library of the Holy Shrine to be mended, where they have been kept ever since.
{"title":"Scattered Leaves","authors":"M. Sahragard","doi":"10.1163/1878464x-01402012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1878464x-01402012","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 A number of folios of a grand Qurʾan, known as the Qurʾan of Bāysunghur, are preserved in collections across the world. No thorough research has been carried out on this manuscript due to the fact that the folios of this Qurʾan—the largest of the Islamic era—are scattered. Consequently, many points about the early details, the scribe and the history of the manuscript remain vague. Endowed between the late 12th/18th and the early 14th/20th century to the Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍavī Library and Museum in Mashhad, around sixty-five opisthographic folios of the Qurʾan are now kept in the collection. A close investigation of the folios not only rejects and proves earlier hypotheses but also presents new ones. After examining the codicological features of the work by comparing the information contained in the historical sources and the features of the manuscript, the present article speculates that the Qurʾan was commissioned by Ulugh Beg in Samarqand, to the scribes of the court scriptorium. Some folios were scattered in the course of the 10th/16th century and the rest during the occupation of Samarqand in the course of the 12th/18th century. Around sixty pages, however, were transferred to Imāmzāda Ibrāhīm of Qūchān and five pages were endowed to the Holy Shrine of Imām Riḍā during the 12th/18th century. Finally, in 1923, the remaining folios of the Imāmzāda were transferred to the Library of the Holy Shrine to be mended, where they have been kept ever since.","PeriodicalId":40893,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Islamic Manuscripts","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41586227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}