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The Topkapı Qurʾān Manuscript H.S. 32
This chapter is in the book The Topkapı Qurʾān Manuscript H.S. 32
Chapter 1Introduction1.1 The Scope of the BookThis study is an exhaustive examination of a venerated manuscript of the Qurʾān,commonly attributed to the third Islamic CaliphʿUthmānb.ʿAffān (d. 35/656). Themanuscript is currently housed within the Hırka-i Saadet Kitaplığı(H.S.) collec-tion at the TopkapıPalace Museum (TopkapıSarayıMüzesi) in Istanbul, Türkiye,and identified by the inventory number H.S. 32.1While certain features of H.S. 32have previously been noted by others, this manuscript has now been subjected toa level of scrutiny and analyzed through a comprehensive and systematic ap-proach that is unparalleled in previous studies, as detailed in this book.2The ma-This manuscript, currently cataloged as H.S. 32, was previously listed under the inventory num-ber H.S. 194. Altıkulaç in his work,al-Muṣḥaf al-sharif attributed toʿUthman b. Affan: the copy at theTopkapıPalace Museum, refers to this manuscript as“H.S. 44/32,”integrating the collection codewith the shelf number. This practice, however, is not typically employed by the museum’s adminis-tration, as confirmed through personal communication with the TopkapıPalace Museum staff.They clarified that“44”represents the collection code for the Hırka-i Saadet Kitaplığıand is notconventionally used in conjunction with the inventory number. Therefore, this study aligns withthe official museum protocol by utilizing the designated inventory number“H.S. 32.”Esra Müyes-seroğlu, email message to author, November 4, 2020; Tayyar Altıkulaç,al-Muṣḥaf al-sharif attrib-uted toʿUthman b. Affan: the copy at the TopkapıPalace Museum, 2nd ed. (Istanbul: Organization ofthe Islamic Conference Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), 2019), 1:73;Fehmi Edhem Karatay,TopkapıSarayıMüzesi Kütüphanesi Arapça Yazmalar Kataloğu(Istanbul:TopkapıSarayıMüzesi, 1962), 1, no. 1. The term“Hırka-i Saadet Kitaplığı”is translated as“Libraryof the Sacred Cloak,”referring to a library that is integral to a religious and historical complex atthe TopkapıPalace Museum in Istanbul, Türkiye. This complex is associated with the Sacred Cloak(al-burda al-nabawiyya) that the Prophet is believed to have given to the Arabian poet Kaʿbb. Zuhayr (d. 41/662). This association imbues the complex with significant religious and historicalimportance. On the Hırka-i Saadet Kitaplığı, see Ahmed Tawfiq Taymour,al-Āthār al-nabawiyya(Cairo: Hindawi Foundation for Education and Culture, 2012), 63–66; Hilmi Aydın,The SacredTrusts: Pavilion of the Sacred Relics, Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, ed. Talha Uğurluel andAhmet Doğru, trans. Ali Köse et al. (Somerset, NJ: The Light, Inc. & IsıkYayınları,2015).Works that discuss different aspects of H.S. 32 include:Ṣalāḥal-Dīn al-Munajjid,Dirāsātfītār-īkh al-khaṭṭal-ʿarabīmundhu bidayatihi ilānihāyat al-ʿasr al-Umawī(Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-Jadīd,1979), 55; Jean-Michel Mouton,“De quelques reliques conservées à Damas au Moyen-Âge: Straté-gie politique et religiosité populaire sous les Bourides,”Annales islamologiques37 (1993): 246, esp.n. 3, 5; François Déroche,Qurʾans of the Umayyads: A First Overview(Leiden: Brill, 2014), 130–31;Éléonore Cellard,“LaVocalisationdesmanuscritscoraniquesdanslespremierssièclesdel’I-slam,”inLes Origines du Coran, le Coran des origines, actes de colloque, ed. François Déroche,https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111467320-001
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Chapter 1Introduction1.1 The Scope of the BookThis study is an exhaustive examination of a venerated manuscript of the Qurʾān,commonly attributed to the third Islamic CaliphʿUthmānb.ʿAffān (d. 35/656). Themanuscript is currently housed within the Hırka-i Saadet Kitaplığı(H.S.) collec-tion at the TopkapıPalace Museum (TopkapıSarayıMüzesi) in Istanbul, Türkiye,and identified by the inventory number H.S. 32.1While certain features of H.S. 32have previously been noted by others, this manuscript has now been subjected toa level of scrutiny and analyzed through a comprehensive and systematic ap-proach that is unparalleled in previous studies, as detailed in this book.2The ma-This manuscript, currently cataloged as H.S. 32, was previously listed under the inventory num-ber H.S. 194. Altıkulaç in his work,al-Muṣḥaf al-sharif attributed toʿUthman b. Affan: the copy at theTopkapıPalace Museum, refers to this manuscript as“H.S. 44/32,”integrating the collection codewith the shelf number. This practice, however, is not typically employed by the museum’s adminis-tration, as confirmed through personal communication with the TopkapıPalace Museum staff.They clarified that“44”represents the collection code for the Hırka-i Saadet Kitaplığıand is notconventionally used in conjunction with the inventory number. Therefore, this study aligns withthe official museum protocol by utilizing the designated inventory number“H.S. 32.”Esra Müyes-seroğlu, email message to author, November 4, 2020; Tayyar Altıkulaç,al-Muṣḥaf al-sharif attrib-uted toʿUthman b. Affan: the copy at the TopkapıPalace Museum, 2nd ed. (Istanbul: Organization ofthe Islamic Conference Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), 2019), 1:73;Fehmi Edhem Karatay,TopkapıSarayıMüzesi Kütüphanesi Arapça Yazmalar Kataloğu(Istanbul:TopkapıSarayıMüzesi, 1962), 1, no. 1. The term“Hırka-i Saadet Kitaplığı”is translated as“Libraryof the Sacred Cloak,”referring to a library that is integral to a religious and historical complex atthe TopkapıPalace Museum in Istanbul, Türkiye. This complex is associated with the Sacred Cloak(al-burda al-nabawiyya) that the Prophet is believed to have given to the Arabian poet Kaʿbb. Zuhayr (d. 41/662). This association imbues the complex with significant religious and historicalimportance. On the Hırka-i Saadet Kitaplığı, see Ahmed Tawfiq Taymour,al-Āthār al-nabawiyya(Cairo: Hindawi Foundation for Education and Culture, 2012), 63–66; Hilmi Aydın,The SacredTrusts: Pavilion of the Sacred Relics, Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, ed. Talha Uğurluel andAhmet Doğru, trans. Ali Köse et al. (Somerset, NJ: The Light, Inc. & IsıkYayınları,2015).Works that discuss different aspects of H.S. 32 include:Ṣalāḥal-Dīn al-Munajjid,Dirāsātfītār-īkh al-khaṭṭal-ʿarabīmundhu bidayatihi ilānihāyat al-ʿasr al-Umawī(Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-Jadīd,1979), 55; Jean-Michel Mouton,“De quelques reliques conservées à Damas au Moyen-Âge: Straté-gie politique et religiosité populaire sous les Bourides,”Annales islamologiques37 (1993): 246, esp.n. 3, 5; François Déroche,Qurʾans of the Umayyads: A First Overview(Leiden: Brill, 2014), 130–31;Éléonore Cellard,“LaVocalisationdesmanuscritscoraniquesdanslespremierssièclesdel’I-slam,”inLes Origines du Coran, le Coran des origines, actes de colloque, ed. François Déroche,https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111467320-001
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents IX
  3. Abbreviations and Miscellaneous Conventions XIII
  4. Glossary XV
  5. Transliteration Scheme XIX
  6. Chapter 1 Introduction 1
  7. Chapter 2 Codicology and Paleography 29
  8. Chapter 3 Orthography 65
  9. Chapter 4 Emendations in H.S. 32 85
  10. Chapter 5 The Variants in H.S. 32 115
  11. Chapter 6 Conclusion 147
  12. Plates 155
  13. Appendix I: Rosettes and Headbands 159
  14. Appendix II: Versification in H.S. 32 161
  15. Appendix III: The Qirāʾāt in H.S. 32 185
  16. Appendix IV: Orthographic Comparison 235
  17. Bibliography 265
  18. Index 279
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111467320-001

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents IX
  3. Abbreviations and Miscellaneous Conventions XIII
  4. Glossary XV
  5. Transliteration Scheme XIX
  6. Chapter 1 Introduction 1
  7. Chapter 2 Codicology and Paleography 29
  8. Chapter 3 Orthography 65
  9. Chapter 4 Emendations in H.S. 32 85
  10. Chapter 5 The Variants in H.S. 32 115
  11. Chapter 6 Conclusion 147
  12. Plates 155
  13. Appendix I: Rosettes and Headbands 159
  14. Appendix II: Versification in H.S. 32 161
  15. Appendix III: The Qirāʾāt in H.S. 32 185
  16. Appendix IV: Orthographic Comparison 235
  17. Bibliography 265
  18. Index 279
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