Shared Heritage of Islam' Judaism and Christianity
-- A new exhibition at London's British Library is highlighting the similarities among the "Abrahamic faiths" of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in a bid to promote mutual respect and understanding.
"We can remind people just how much they do share in common," says Graham Shaw, the library's head of the Asia, Africa, and Pacific collections and the chief curator of the exhibition. "That the Old Testament of the Christian faith, for instance, largely equates with the Hebrew Bible. And in the case of Islam, in the Quran, we find many of the stories and the characters and the messages from the Old and the New testaments retold. So, they share so much in terms of stories, in terms of message, in terms of ethics, in terms of moral teachings that it's good to remind ourselves of that."
The exhibition, entitled "Sacred- Discover What We Share," includes unique manuscripts and manuscript fragments originating from across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. They mostly come from the collections of the British Library, as well as from collections in Morocco, France, and other countries.
Lead curator Shaw notes that many visitors to the exhibition have been impressed by the common heritage of these faiths, and he points to lessons this heritage can bring to the world today.
Treasures Of World Religious Culture
Shaw explains that the oldest among the 230 exhibits is a fragment from the Dead Sea Scrolls from A.D. 50 featuring the text of two psalms of the Hebrew Bible.
The oldest Christian manuscript shown is a fragment of transcript of a gospel dating back to the first half of the second century. Also on display is the Codex Sinaiticus, a complete text of the New Testament from around A.D. 350.
As for the Islamic manuscripts, the oldest is the Ma'il Quran produced in Arabia at the end of the 7th century- that is within a century of the Prophet Mohammad's (PBUH) flight from Mecca to Medina.
Colin Baker, who heads the Near and Middle Eastern collections at the British Library, notes however, that the most valuable Quran exhibited comes from 14th-century Egypt.
The exhibition, entitled "Sacred- Discover What We Share," includes unique manuscripts and manuscript fragments originating from across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. They mostly come from the collections of the British Library, as well as from collections in Morocco, France, and other countries.
Lead curator Shaw notes that many visitors to the exhibition have been impressed by the common heritage of these faiths, and he points to lessons this heritage can bring to the world today.
Treasures Of World Religious Culture
Shaw explains that the oldest among the 230 exhibits is a fragment from the Dead Sea Scrolls from A.D. 50 featuring the text of two psalms of the Hebrew Bible.
The oldest Christian manuscript shown is a fragment of transcript of a gospel dating back to the first half of the second century. Also on display is the Codex Sinaiticus, a complete text of the New Testament from around A.D. 350.
As for the Islamic manuscripts, the oldest is the Ma'il Quran produced in Arabia at the end of the 7th century- that is within a century of the Prophet Mohammad's (PBUH) flight from Mecca to Medina.
Colin Baker, who heads the Near and Middle Eastern collections at the British Library, notes however, that the most valuable Quran exhibited comes from 14th-century Egypt.
