Iraqi, Kurdish calligraphers hold exhibition presenting Quran manuscripts
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - After working relentlessly for one month, a group of 30 calligraphers from various parts of Iraq on Monday presented a manuscript of the holy Quran during an exhibition in the Iraqi capital city, with the Iraqi government planning to distribute its copies across global libraries.
'The Quran is our path' was a slogan adopted by the Iraqi Calligraphers’ Association to calligraphy the Holy Quran in one style.
For binding and reading purposes, manuscripts of the Quran are often divided into thirty equal parts, called Juz'.
Each of the thirty calligraphers had been assigned to manuscript a juz of the Quran.
Calligrapher Abd al-Qadir Arbili was the sole representative of the Kurdistan Region. He had been assigned to manuscript the very last juz of the Quran.
Arbili was thrilled and honored to contribute to the nationwide activity.
"We started this work with the Iraqi Calligraphers Association. The idea was to gather calligraphers and collect all calligraphic schools in one Quran," Arbili said.
The Kurdish calligrapher went on to say that there were 30 calligraphers and in "one month, we completed the Quran in a very beautiful artistic way, with scrutiny from committees and follow-up from a committee supervising the project."
The Iraqi Ministry of Culture, which organized the exhibition, has adopted the printing of the calligraphers' manuscripts and will distribute them to international libraries across the world.
"The Ministry will adopt the printing of this large-sized Quran and distribute copies of it to all international libraries all over the globe...," Ahmed Fakak Al-Badrani, Iraq's Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities told Rudaw.
This exhibition will be held across the other Iraqi provinces.
The exhibition was held just three days after Iraq’s foreign ministry praised a Danish government decision to introduce a draft bill that seeks to ban burning the Quran over national security concerns after tensions rose domestically and internationally over repeated burnings of the Muslim holy book last month in Sweden and Denmark.
Al-Badrani added that the exhibition was "in response to those who did the shameful act [the burning of Quran in Sweden]."
The Islamic holy book and the Iraqi flag were desecrated twice this summer in Sweden, drawing the ire of Sadr supporters and the Iraqi government, which expelled the Swedish ambassador and recalled its charge d’affaires from Oslo after Swedish police gave a green light for a protest by an Iraqi refugee who burned a copy of the Quran and the Iraqi flag.
'The Quran is our path' was a slogan adopted by the Iraqi Calligraphers’ Association to calligraphy the Holy Quran in one style.
For binding and reading purposes, manuscripts of the Quran are often divided into thirty equal parts, called Juz'.
Each of the thirty calligraphers had been assigned to manuscript a juz of the Quran.
Calligrapher Abd al-Qadir Arbili was the sole representative of the Kurdistan Region. He had been assigned to manuscript the very last juz of the Quran.
Arbili was thrilled and honored to contribute to the nationwide activity.
"We started this work with the Iraqi Calligraphers Association. The idea was to gather calligraphers and collect all calligraphic schools in one Quran," Arbili said.
The Kurdish calligrapher went on to say that there were 30 calligraphers and in "one month, we completed the Quran in a very beautiful artistic way, with scrutiny from committees and follow-up from a committee supervising the project."
The Iraqi Ministry of Culture, which organized the exhibition, has adopted the printing of the calligraphers' manuscripts and will distribute them to international libraries across the world.
"The Ministry will adopt the printing of this large-sized Quran and distribute copies of it to all international libraries all over the globe...," Ahmed Fakak Al-Badrani, Iraq's Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities told Rudaw.
This exhibition will be held across the other Iraqi provinces.
The exhibition was held just three days after Iraq’s foreign ministry praised a Danish government decision to introduce a draft bill that seeks to ban burning the Quran over national security concerns after tensions rose domestically and internationally over repeated burnings of the Muslim holy book last month in Sweden and Denmark.
Al-Badrani added that the exhibition was "in response to those who did the shameful act [the burning of Quran in Sweden]."
The Islamic holy book and the Iraqi flag were desecrated twice this summer in Sweden, drawing the ire of Sadr supporters and the Iraqi government, which expelled the Swedish ambassador and recalled its charge d’affaires from Oslo after Swedish police gave a green light for a protest by an Iraqi refugee who burned a copy of the Quran and the Iraqi flag.