Does the Birmingham Quran Predate Our Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace)?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I have heard of the Birmingham Quran, which was radiocarbon-dated to predate the Prophet Muhammad. Is this true? And how can this even be possible?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

It is not a predated copy, but maybe that was completed some years after the death of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). It came into the ownership of the Birmingham Library through British colonialism.

The Muslim World Journal writes, ‘Birmingham University has found fragments of potentially the world’s oldest Quran, which was completed at the very latest 20 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace).’

Dr Muhammad Isa Waley, an expert at the British Library, said this is an “exciting discovery.”

How Old is it?

The Prophet Muhammad’s (Allah bless him and give him peace) prophethood was from 610 to 632 C.E. Oxford University’s carbon dating places the date of transcription as 568 – 645 C.E. The latest of those dates means it was finished only 13 years after the Prophet Muhammad’s (Allah bless him and give him peace) death. This raises the possibility that this could have been written by one of the Prophet’s companions.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.

Related Answers

• Oldest Quran found in Birmingham | MWJ (muslimworldjournal.com)
• The History of The Quranic Text, from Revelation to Compilation – Turath Publishing
  (518) The Holy Qur’an: Historical Basis For Its Compilation – Khalid Blankinship – YouTube

Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.