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CSMCCentre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures

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The Word of God in the Palm of a Hand

Purpose and Significance of Miniature Qur'ans

Cornelius Berthold

Lesen Sie hier die deutsche Version dieses Texts.

SUB Hamburg

Cod. In scrin 199, 2v-3r

If we assume that the main function of a book is to be opened and read, then this Quran manuscript seems extremely unsuitable. First of all, its smallness (8 × 7.6 × 1.8 cm) makes it difficult to hold, and the corners at the bottom are missing where the reader typically holds an open book with their thumbs (this is where Middle Eastern manuscripts are often the dirtiest). Finally, while legible, the small font is not exactly easy on the eye. The shape and size of this codex suggest that it had many other modes of use, its roundedness meaning not only that it looks like a piece of jewellery, but also that it almost invites people to hold it in their hands. Its contents, the text of the Quran, can also be found in countless “normal” manuscripts, so what suggests that this book is unusual is the manuscript’s outward appearance. 

Pendant Qurans in roll form, especially from Iran, often contain larger calligraphic script (usually a Quranic verse or, as here, blessing formulas) created by selectively filling the sheet with miniature script. The roll shown here is just under 8.5 metres long, but only 9.5 cm wide and only three to four centimetres thick when rolled up.

Editions of the Quran that are too small to be read comfortably, but that can be carried conveniently or even used as pendants have been documented since at least the 10th century (the 4th century of the Islamic calendar). They exist as square codices in portrait and landscape format, in scroll form, and even written on cloth that could then be folded up handily. The Hamburg copy belongs to what is probably the best-known variant, namely as a codex in the form of an octagonal prism, this variant having existed since about the 14th century. This group of Quran manuscripts have a typical leaf height of three to six centimetres, meaning that Codex in scrinio 199 is a relatively large representative of its kind. Some of these manuscripts have been preserved together with matching leather pouches or metal caskets, these protecting the holy book from dirt while allowing it to be carried on the body. One of the few Arabic terms for this type of Quran, muṣḥaf ḥamāʾilī, can be translated as “amulet Quran” or “pendant Quran”.

The practice of wearing amulets and sometimes miniature Korans is still widespread today. This lady (around 1900) from the family of the Persian Shah wears at least nine amulet containers on her body, which presumably contain folded or rolled paper amulets, for example with Quranic verses..

In fact, some contemporary European and Near Eastern witnesses also report that these pendant Qurans were worn on the body like accessories. They were used partly for reading and partly as amulets to protect the wearer against harm, but probably also to satisfy the wearer’s need to be physically close to God. The spread of devotional Qurans coincides roughly with that of Sufism in the Islamic world, where a central role is played by the aspiration to be close to the divine. In addition, pendant Qurans were attached to certain field signs and other such representative objects, especially in the Ottoman Empire. This has led researchers to refer blanketly to miniature Qurans as “flag” or “sancak” Qurans (from the Turkish word for “banner”), although most of these books are more likely to have been worn by people. From the 19th century onwards, miniature Qurans were also printed, but almost exclusively as rectangular codices. They are a typical accessory nowadays, and can be found, for example, hanging from the driver’s mirror in a car.

The maḥmal was an empty palanquin sent annually for ceremonial reasons on pilgrimage to Mecca. The Egyptian maḥmal of 1834 had two pendant Qurans tied directly under its top – one in codex and one in scroll form. Image by Edward William Lane (1801–1876).

An endpaper of the Hamburg copy bears the name of the Dutch pastor Willem Anslaer (Guilielmus Anslaer, 1633–1694), whose book collection was auctioned in Amsterdam in 1696. Cod. in scrinio 199, which unfortunately is otherwise undated, must have been produced in the Ottoman Empire or Iran at some point in the 200 years preceding that auction. Incidentally, when the book was restored, its binding was mounted upside down, meaning that the “flap” typical of Middle Eastern manuscripts that encloses the book block on the side opposite the binding is actually attached to the back cover and should be on the left when the book is open.

The three amulet containers probably come from 19th- or early-20th-century Iran or Afghanistan. They are made of silver and were decorated in niello technique or provided with inscriptions that suggest a Shiite context of origin. Although their shapes are reminiscent of the containers for octagonal or scroll-shaped miniature Qurans, they were only intended for notes inscribed with religious formulae and folded up to be carried on the body as a means of protection. Nevertheless, we should consider both practices, the wearing of amulets and pendant Qurans, to be related.