A Qur’an manuscript held by the University of Birmingham’s Cadbury Research Library has been placed among the oldest in the world thanks to modern scientific methods. (Photo : University of Birmingham/Youtube)
Scientists suggest that the Qur'an or some parts of it, could be apparently older than the prophet Muhammad himself. If these new findings are proven to be true that this evidence can rewrite the early Islamic history and even pose reasonable doubts of the origins of the Islamic holy manuscripts.
With the use of radiocarbon analysis or carbon dating, researchers believe that an ancient copy of the Qur'an housed under the Birmingham Library was apparently written during 568 and 645 A.D. where the prophet Muhammad was supposedly born in 570 A.D. and died during 632 A.D. This copy of the holy text that is now under the library is also famed for being one of the oldest copies that is still existing in the world.
Scholars and scientists revealed their conclusion upon carbon dating which yielded a 95.4 percent accuracy from a small piece taken from the parchment of the holy book. Carbon dating methods and techniques are considered to be extremely precise and accurate suggesting that the new data that the Qur'an was written before Muhammad was living or even during his early years of childhood.
The Birmingham Library is home to the oldest copy of the Qur'an in the world where the documents and parchments are not apparently complete, as the library do not have a complete copy of the holy Islamic text but only suras or chapters, particularly 18 to 20 that are written in ancient Arabic form called Hijazi.
If this carbon data analysis is indeed accurate, then this can raise some critical questions about the origins of the Islamic holy book. However, researchers note that the carbon dating was applied to the parchment paper of the Qur'an and not the ink that was used to write the holy scripture which suggests a possibility that the Qur'an was also written on old paper.
The first Qur'an was officially written around 650 A.D. that was ordered by the Caliph Uthman but scholars believe that there were already written scriptures that were circulating before the Qur'an was officially released. In ancient times, the Qur'an was passed along generations orally, before it was recorded on paper where some devout followers had chosen to memorize the entire Qur'an by heart.
Some were skeptical, as some scholars believe that Muhammad did not directly receive that Qur'an from the heavens as he claimed during his lifetime but instead, gathered texts and scripts for his personal and political interests.
