Smithsonian to hold first-ever major Quran exhibit in United States
The Quran will be the centerpiece of an American art exhibit for the first time this fall, when the Smithsonian will feature beautifully decorated manuscripts of Islam鈥檚 central religious text.
鈥淭he Art of the Qur'an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts鈥� will display 48 manuscripts and folios that span a millennium, from the 7th to the 17th century, and demonstrate .
The Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery announced Tuesday that the exhibit will run from October 15 to February 20, 2017, opening in the final weeks of the presidential campaign. At a time when Islam and the Quran are often referenced in political debate in relation to terrorism, museum curators believe the exhibit will inspire discussion of the book's artistic and historical value.
The show is an opportunity for Americans to see Qurans up-close and 鈥�,鈥� Julian Raby, director of the Sackler and Freer Gallery, told the Associated Press. He calls it a 鈥渇itting complement鈥� to a 2006 exhibition of early versions of Bibles.
The release yesterday of a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) report on may suggest a motivation for the timing of the exhibit. In 2015, according to the report, mosques in the US were targeted with violence or intimidation in 78 recorded incidents, more than triple the numbers from the previous two years.
Also in 2015, Florida and Tennessee modified textbooks to remove Islam鈥檚 five pillars from the curriculum of introductory religious courses, due to activist concerns of 鈥渋ndoctrination鈥� and 鈥減roselytization,鈥� according to CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.
The CAIR report drew attention to the phenomenon of what it calls 鈥淢uslim-free鈥� businesses in the US. In one case near Tulsa, Okl., an American Muslim US Army Reserve member .
The Smithsonian鈥檚 efforts to bridge cultural divides is just one piece of a broader movement also being carried out by some on an individual level. In Cleveland's Little Italy, Ayman Alkayali, a Muslim artist originally from Libya, Mr. Alkayali told Al Jazeera鈥檚 Angelo Merendino that he didn鈥檛 hide his Muslim faith, even when it was bad for business, because he wanted his shop to be a place for open and honest discussion.
鈥淭his is for people who understand art, multi-culture, and handiwork, and , Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, you know," he told Al Jazeera鈥檚 Angelo Merendino.
Alkayali says that individuals have the power to counteract anti-Muslim rhetoric through acts of kindness. 鈥淭he media can sing hatred and war and fear all day long, but it comes down to this, 'What are you doing?' "
