Qur'anic Manuscripts from Late Muslim Spain: The Collection of Almonacid de la Sierra

Abstract

In spite of a widespread ignorance of Arabic among the Moriscos (the last Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula, expelled in 1018–23/1609–14), and the prohibition of the possession of books in Arabic script, the Moriscos continued transcribing and transmitting the Qur'an. These copies exhibit various peculiarities related either to their physical presentation, or to their cultural significance. The materials which are part of the Almonacid de la Sierra collection (today in the Tomás Navarro Tomás library (CCHS-CSIC), Madrid) – that means, 37 fragmentary copies of the Qur'an – provide us with an idea of the kind of Qur'anic texts the Moriscos were using by the end of the tenth/sixteenth century in spite of the religious and linguistic restraints which were imposed on them. There are complete maṣāhif, usually divided into four volumes. In addition, we find Qur'anic extracts, the contents of which are almost always the same; this probably implies some ritual use. Finally, there are family prayer books containing some suras and verses which can be recited according to the moment. The diversity of these manuscripts gives us an idea of the knowledge of the Qur'an among the Moriscos and the strength of Islam in tenth/sixteenth-century Aragon.