A recording of Qur’an recitation released recently is claimed to be the oldest in the world.
The audio clip, exhibited in Dubai’s Empty Quarter Gallery, is said to date back to 130 years ago, IQNA reported.
It was recorded by Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, a Dutch scholar of oriental cultures and languages, during a trip to the holy city of Mecca in 1885.
In this recording of the Qur’an, Surah Ad-Dhuha (the 93rd surah of the Qur’an) is being recited.
The recitation was recorded using Thomas Edison’s then newly-invented wax cylinders.
A highly controversial figure, Hurgronje traveled to study the hajj in 1885 on a scholarship from the Dutch government.
Once in Mecca, he embraced Islam according to some and was spying according to others and was known as Abdul Ghaffaar. There he took photographs and made various sound recordings.
He stayed for five months, documenting the run-up to hajj, but although he had intended to stay for the pilgrimage, he was forced to leave after accusations of his involvement in an attempt ‘to steal a historical artifact’ by the French government.
