![]() ![]() ![]() This translates to ‘and let him be careful’ that means to conceal himself as much as possible. According to the tradition of Quran reading in the Malay world, the word ‘wa-l-yatalattaf’ in Surah Al-Kahf verse 19 is accepted as the centre word of the Quran. Different scribes and illuminators may use different methods to indicate the centre e.g. A Javanese Quran, for example, could feature batik-style motifs throughout its illuminated pages. The decoration style is similar to the front and back pages. ![]() This is done to celebrate the reader’s arrival at the halfway point – the ‘heart’ of the holy text. Malay Qurans are sometimes decorated in the middle, possibly influenced by Uzbek, Kashmiri and Indian Qurans. Hence, building on ‘The Quran and the Sunnah’, we will briefly touch upon tafsir (Quran exegesis) of the central illuminated pages. This is because embellishment of the Malay Quran is done to assist recitation and to bring forth emotions, for Muslims believe the Quran relates specifically to the heart of man. II (2014), the Chairman of IAMM invites us to contemplate the beauty of both the meaning and physical appearance of these manuscripts. In his forward to Al-Quran: The Sacred Art of Revelation Vol. Considering that my previous blog article had highlighted the illuminated pages found at the beginning and end of Malay Qurans, this article features the central illuminations instead. Malay Qurans are only ornately decorated at the beginning, the middle and the end. The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) has an extensive collection of Malay Qurans, from which two samples will be examined here. ![]()
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