Beit Al Quran
| بيت القرآن | |
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| Established | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Location | Hoora, Manama, Bahrain |
| Type | Islamic museum |
| Collection size | 10,000 books and manuscripts |
| Director | Samar al Gailani |
| Website | Official website |
Beit Al Qur'an (Arabic: بيت القرآن, meaning: the House of Qur'an) is a multi-purpose complex dedicated to the Islamic arts and is located in Hoora, Bahrain. Established in 1990, the complex is most famous for its Islamic museum, which has been acknowledged as being one of the most renowned Islamic museums in the world.
Construction of the complex began in 1984 and the museum was officially opened in March 1990 by Abdul Latif Jassim Kanoo. It was built to "accommodate a comprehensive and valuable collection of the Qur'an and other rare manuscripts", a concept which, according to a regional magazine, is unique in the Persian Gulf region. The core of the museum's holdings is Kanoo's own collection of Qur'anic manuscripts and Islamic art, since he was reportedly said to have been an avid collector. As his collection grew, he reportedly came to feel a strong sense of responsibility toward the rare manuscripts he had acquired. In 1990, he donated his collection to the museum he established to operate a first-of-its-kind institution dedicated to the service of the Qur'an and the preservation of historic manuscripts.
The establishment of the institute was funded completely by public donations, with added help from a variety of people from all walks of life in Bahrain, ranging from heads of state to school children. The facilities at Beit Al Qur'an are free to the general public.
The institution and its museum house an internationally celebrated collection of historic Quranic manuscripts from various parts of the Islamic world, from China in the East and to Spain in the West, representing a progression of calligraphic traditions from the first Hijri century (622–722 AD) and of the Islamic Golden Age, to the present day.
The Beit al Qur'an complex is open to the public on Saturdays to Wednesdays from 9am to 12pm and 4pm to 6pm respectively. The complex's exterior designs are based on an old fashioned 12th-century mosque. The entire complex itself comprises a mosque, a library, an auditorium, a madrasa, and a museum that consists of ten exhibition halls. A large stained glass dome covers the grand hall and mosque. The Mihrab, the sign indicating the direction to Mecca, is covered in blue ceramic tiles with engraved Al Qursi Qur'anic verse.
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Wikipedia