A documentary film “The Return of the Uthman Quran” was presented during the holy month of Ramadan.

The film, made jointly by the Cinematography Agency, the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan, National Association of Electronic Mass Media, the BBC Uzbek Service and Sevimli TV, tells the unique story of the ancient Mushaf Uthman.

“It is symbolic that this kind of project is created in the holy month of Ramadan. The more people in Uzbekistan and the world will watch this film, the more we will be happy. This will become a key factor in our joint work with Uzbekistan Cinematography Agency on the next major projects”, Khayrullo Fayz, Editor-in-Chief of the BBC Uzbek Service said.

The proposal to make a film about the Uthman Quran was put forward in 2019 during the visit of the Director-General of Uzbekistan Cinematography Agency Firdavs Abdukhalikov to the BBC Uzbek Service.

“In September 2017, at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev put forward a special resolution “Enlightenment and Religious Tolerance”, where the establishment of tolerance and mutual respect, ensuring freedom of religion is recognized as one of the most important issues. Based on this, a special emphasis in the film “The Return of the Uthman Quran” is placed on the principles of religious tolerance. I will not be mistaken if I say that not only our compatriots, but also all Muslims will like the film. “The Return of the Uthman Quran” is planned to be shown on the country’s TV channels on the eve of Ramadan Hayit. Programs dedicated to it and creative talks will be organized. I believe that the premiere of the film in the holy month of Ramadan will become an excellent gift for the holiday”, Furqat Usmanov, Director of the SUE Documentary and Newsreel Film Studio said.

The author of the idea and project manager is Firdavs Abdukhalikov, the scriptwriter is Luiza Iskandariy, the Director is Mekhrubon Alizoda, the Director of Photography is Azizbek Normatov, the artist is Alisher Umrzakov. Filming took place in Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Kashkadarya regions and Saint Petersburg.

The circumstances of sending this rare sacred manuscript to Russia at the end of the 19th century, its preservation in the Imperial Public Library in Saint Petersburg, and its subsequent transfer to the Muftiate in Ufa were examined in the film for the first time. Based on the archival documents, the circumstances of the return of the Uthman Quran to Uzbekistan in 1923 are restored. Eyewitness accounts of the transmission of the Uthman Quran to the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan in 1989 are also used in the film.

As is known, hundreds of thousands of Muslims and tourists from all over the world come to Tashkent every year to see the Quran, which is included in the UNESCO Memory of the World register. The Uthman Quran is considered to be the oldest surviving copy of the Quran.

According to world experts, Uzbekistan is a unique country in its kind, which has two rare Qurans of Uthman. The creative team told about the first Quran two years ago in a joint film with the BBC Uzbek Service “Facts and Myths of the Kattalangar Quran”.

UzA