The certified interdisciplinary “International Summer School” program, organized in collaboration between the Islamic Foundation of the Netherlands (ISN) and the “Istanbul Research and Education Foundation” (ISAR) ended on August 3, 2023, with a concluding lecture entitled “The Accuracy and Precision in Radiocarbon Dating Test in Relation to Paleographic Features: How accurate is Carbon-14 (C14) in Dating Qur’anic Parchments”, provided by Emeritus Professor Prof. Qasim al-Samarrai (Leiden University).
The program was attended by Dr. Muhammed Emin Altın (Deputy Counseller for Religious Affairs in The Hague and Attaché for Religious Affairs in Rotterdam), Zehra Vlug-Ünver (Education Coordinator ISN), Ahmed Bulut (Specialist Religious Translations ISN), students participating in the Summer School program, researchers and academics.
In the closing lecture, Prof. Al-Samarrai shared information about his studies at the University of Birmingham, which dealt with parts of the Qur’an that are claimed to belong to the Holy Qur’an.
Prof. Al-Samarrai stated that the manuscripts in question are not among the oldest copies of the Holy Quran in the world, as claimed, and stated that as a result of the studies carried out with the so-called “Carbon-14 dating method”, they cannot belong to the copies of the Holy Qur’an (maṣāḥif) that were multiplied in the period of Caliph ʿUthmān.
Prof. Al-Samarrai noted that Western Orientalists did not work with sufficient thoroughness and precision in their studies on the Islamic world, and warned that Islamic community should protect the large number of manuscripts belonging to our scientific and cultural heritage that have been brought to the West through purchase or smuggling.
Prof. Al-Samarrai, who continued his scientific studies and activities after his retirement, received two recent publications of ISN in Dutch, named “Islām in the Light of Aḥādīth” and “Manual of Islām”. He was also informed about ISN’s activities and fields of activity.
After a question-and-answer session, the program concluded with the presentation of certificates to the participants and snacks provided by ISN.
