At the Marjani Mosque you can see the Kaaba through VR goggles.

      The "World of the Quran" exhibition has reached Kazan

      Feature of the "World of the Quran" exhibition — VR headsets. Photo: Dinar Fatyhov

      The Russian-Qatari interactive exhibition "World of the Quran" was brought to Kazan's Marjani Mosque after Moscow, Saratov and Saransk. The exposition contains a variety of information about the Muslims' main book, accompanied by film screenings, activities for children and immersion in virtual reality. The exhibition is open to everyone.

      "We added, as they now say, our own creativity"

      The "World of the Quran" was first opened in November last year at the Moscow Cathedral Mosque. The exhibition was organized by the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs of the State of Qatar.

      "They had their own vision; we added, as they now say, our own creativity. And it turned out to be a unique exhibition," said Deputy Chairman of the SAM RF, Mufti Rushan Abbyasov.

      After that, he explained, there were many requests from other cities. As a result, the exhibition was shown in Moscow, Saratov and Saransk in 2025. The final stop of the tour is Kazan, with the support of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan. In particular, the chairman of the SAM of the Republic of Tatarstan, Mufti Kamil Samigullin, presented Abbyasov with a Quran printed by the Khozur publishing house and expressed the hope that the book would appear in the exposition.

      Rushan Abbyasov assured that the project will visit other cities as well. But next year.

      Dinar Fatyhov / realnoevremya.ru

      How the Quran was compiled, verified and perfected

      The exhibition is placed in the right wing of the mosque across two floors. On the first floor — large fabric panels present diverse information about the Muslims' holy book.

      According to tradition, the Quran was conveyed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Jibril from 610 to 632, and the first revelation occurred on the Night of Decree in the month of Ramadan, when the Prophet was 40 years old.

      Among the Prophet's companions were people who could write. They recorded the revelations on anything available: palm fronds, flat stones, the bones of camels and sheep, wooden saddles (examples can be seen in the exposition). In addition, the Prophet himself read fragments and chose those who would recite to him and to others, sending companions to various tribes.

      There are many panels at the exhibition.

      Dinar Fatyhov / realnoevremya.ru

      Later the records were compiled into a codex, with the material compared against the memorized texts. This work continued in 633–635. In 645, Caliph Uthman ibn Affan ordered the creation of a single codex, which became known as the "Uthmanic codex" (Rasm 'Uthmani), approved by all the companions. The Quran contains 114 surahs (chapters), 77,439 words and 323,015 letters.

      Early editions of the Quran in Europe (in Venice in 1537, Hamburg in 1694, the Netherlands in 1698) contained errors and did not conform to the rules. But later it began to be printed in Russia. The exhibition analyzes the printing of the Quran in St. Petersburg in 1787. For example, it turns out that a special typeface based on the Arabic naskh script was developed for it. A separate panel is also devoted to calligraphy.

      A separate panel is dedicated to the "Kazan basmasy", the first Kazan edition of the Quran in August 1803. Since then in our city it was printed 165 times before the revolution. The exhibition includes an 1898 edition. And if Kamil hazrat's words come true, a new modern copy will appear. As well as rare Qurans.

      Dinar Fatyhov / realnoevremya.ru

      Also of interest — a Quran set in Braille type, a series of postage stamps, a book that survived the Siege of Leningrad, and a handwritten Quran from the Tambov region.

      Probably not the most widely discussed topic — the history of the placement of dots and vowel marks. Originally the Quran did not have them, but readers could distinguish words without them because they knew native Arabic and could even hear the surahs from the Prophet or his companions. The emergence of the new system is a sign that Islam began to spread beyond the Arab world.

      By the way, the exhibition separately quotes passages that show peacefulness and good-neighborly attitudes. For example: "And engage with the People of the Book only in the best manner!" The sacred scriptures are listed — the Scrolls (revelations to Adam, Shith, Idris and Ibrahim), the Psalms, the Torah, the Gospel, the Quran. The conclusion is then drawn that they are united by calls to abstain from evil, to believe in God and to practice virtue.

      "World of the Quran" is a Russian-Qatari project.

      Dinar Fatyhov / realnoevremya.ru

      Qatari virtual reality

      On the second floor is a space for children's master classes and a virtual reality zone. Thanks to it, a visitor can visit Mecca, Medina and even find themselves inside the sacred Kaaba. Interestingly, taking Islamic traditions into account, there are no people or animals in the VR. This part of the project was prepared by Qatari colleagues who are working on the exhibition.

      The interactivity of the exhibition, which runs from October 4 to 6 from 10:00 to 18:00, also lies in the fact that the "World of the Quran" can be completed with a certificate by collecting stamps. In particular, here one can study calligraphy, the Arabic alphabet, read the main surah of the Quran "al-Fatiha" and ultimately receive gifts.

      In addition, today at 12:30 a lecture "Understanding the Quran by Musa Begiev" will be held here by imam-khatib of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque, Candidate of Historical Sciences Islam Zaripov. The exhibition runs until October 6.

      Dinar Fatyhov / realnoevremya.ru

      Daily — film screenings: "Al-Khwarizmi — Father of Mathematics", "The History of the Quran: From Revelation to Scripture", "Al-Zahrawi — Father of Surgery". Also shown will be two films that participated in the "Altyn Minbar" festival. These are "Xäterdä" ("In Memory") by director Amir Abbiassov about veteran Abdulvagat Arifullin, who attended the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Repression, observed by two Tatar villages — Semenovka and Poshatovo in the Nizhny Novgorod region; and "Xıyal" ("Dream") by Renat Abyanov about the Ural hazrat Mavlijdan, who dreams of performing the Hajj.

      In Kazan the "World of the Quran" will conclude its journey across Russia this year. But, as Rushan Abbyasov said, there have already been requests to bring it to the Caucasus, Siberia and the Far East, which will likely happen in 2026.

      Radif Kashapov