First International 'Quran of Negel' Congress Held in Sanandaj
The event took place at Fajr Hall and continued until the Maghrib and Isha prayers. It was organized on the sidelines of Iran’s 48th National Quran Competition, which Kordestan Province is hosting this year.
The congress is named after the famous handwritten Quran of Negel, a village in Kordestan Province known for safeguarding an ancient Kufic manuscript written on deer skin.
The manuscript, believed to date back to the early Islamic era and attributed by some experts to the time of the third caliph, is kept in a museum at the village’s historic mosque. Measuring 21 by 38 centimeters and marked with gold vowels, it is widely considered one of four Qurans said to have been dispatched centuries ago for the propagation of Islam.
According to local accounts, the manuscript was discovered nearly a thousand years ago by a shepherd who unearthed a wooden chest while digging near a flowering plant on a grazing field. The site later became a place of reverence, leading to the construction of a mosque and eventually the formation of the village of Negel.
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Monday’s gathering brought together Kurdish Quran reciters and activists from several Kurdish-populated regions of Iran, as well as participants from Turkey and Iraq.
The congress opened with a recitation by international qari Vahid Nazariyan of Kermanshah origin. Hojat-ol-Islam Karvand, head of the Endowments and Charity Affairs Office of Kordestan Province and secretary of this year’s national competition, delivered the welcoming remarks.
Hojat-ol-Islam Salehi, director of the Endowments Office in Kermanshah Province, also addressed the participants. The program continued with additional recitations and performances by selected choral groups from the competition.
The following photo story, published some 9 years ago, showcases the historic Quran and the mosque:
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