ISTANBUL — Iraqi calligrapher Ali Zaman gazes with pleasure at his masterpiece — a colossal, handwritten manuscript of the Quran that has taken six years of craft and devotion to finish.
The completed work consists of 302 double sided scrolls, every measuring 4 meters (13 toes) in size and 1.5 meters in width. The sheets, resembling heavy parchment, had been customized made for Zaman with a mix of conventional supplies together with eggs, corn starch and alum.
“Anytime I consider this Quran … it offers me very good feeling that the mighty God gave me the life to have the ability to end this factor and full it. I really feel very proud,” the 54-year-old instructed The Related Press at a mosque in Istanbu l the place the manuscript is stored.
Islamic calligraphy is considered one of the valued creative traditions within the Muslim world. The artwork kind served to protect and embellish Islam ’s holy e-book and was later additionally used to adorn mosques, palaces and manuscripts.
In Turkey, it flourished in the course of the Ottoman period when the artwork was supported by the state and calligraphers developed distinctive kinds.
Immediately, Istanbul is taken into account an essential heart for the artwork, often called “hat” in Turkish.
Artwork professional Umit Coskunsu says that due to the Islamic custom’s restrictions on depicting figures, calligraphy turned a central type of creative expression. He describes “hat” as a type of worship.
Rekar Zaman, son of Iraqi calligrapher Ali Zaman, holds one scroll of an enormous handwritten manuscript of the Quran, Islam’s holy e-book, on the Mihrimah sultan mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. Ali Zaman labored six years to write down 302 double-sided scrolls to finish a large Quran. Credit score: AP/Francisco Seco
“The artwork of hat isn’t just calligraphy, it’s seen as a method of worshipping God and coming nearer to Him,” Coskunsu stated.
Zaman was born in Ranya, a city in Sulaymaniyah governorate, in Iraq’s northern semi-autonomous Kurdish area.
He moved his household to Istanbul in 2017 to pursue his Quran challenge and to hone his craft as a result of, he says, the artwork of calligraphy is extra valued in Turkey than in his residence nation.
Zaman says he developed an curiosity in Islamic calligraphy across the age of 12 when he was first uncovered to it in Iraq.
Islamic faculty college students unroll scrolls of an enormous handwritten manuscript of the Quran, Islam’s holy e-book, by Iraqi calligrapher Ali Zaman, on the Mihrimah sultan mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. Credit score: AP/Francisco Seco
“The artwork of calligraphy was very enticing to me… I felt that I might discover my soul in it,” he stated.
Every sheet of the manuscript was solely handwritten. Zaman says he labored from daybreak to nightfall over a interval of six years in a small room reserved for him on the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Istanbul.
The manuscript is being touted because the world’s largest, although it has not obtained that recognition formally. Based on Guinness World Data, the biggest printed Quran was achieved by the Holy Quran Museum in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in March 2025.
Zaman’s son remembers lengthy absences whereas his father labored on the challenge.
“We solely noticed him once we would carry him meals or when he got here residence at evening to sleep,” stated Rekar Zaman. “Thank God, we see extra of him now.”
The manuscript is saved in stacked scrolls, and lined for defense from mud and moisture, on the mosque the place he created it.
His final want is for it to go to a purchaser who can put it on public show.
“I would like for this Quran to be in a rustic — in a museum, or in a spot that’s particular for calligraphy — the place it may be appreciated and valued,” Zaman stated.
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Related Press author Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.
