Beit Al Quran

Beit Al Quran, meaning House of the Quran, is a museum and Islamic study centre in the Hoora district of Manama, Bahrain. It opened in 1990 on the initiative of the Bahraini businessman and collector Abdul Latif Kanoo, who gathered rare manuscripts and Quranic copies from across the Islamic world. The collection includes Quran manuscripts, fragments and printed editions spanning many centuries, with some pieces attributed to the early Islamic period, and examples of calligraphy in Kufic, Naskh and other scripts, as well as Islamic art. The complex is arranged as a group of buildings rather than a single hall: it contains the museum galleries, a library, a school for Quranic studies, an auditorium and a mosque. The architecture draws on traditional Islamic design, with a brick-and-stone facade, arches and a dome, courtyards and geometric patterns, and a calm interior of wood and carved plaster. The displays are organised thematically by script, region and material, showing how the Quran was copied, bound and decorated, together with scientific instruments and other artefacts of Islamic civilisation. The curators present the pieces in glass cases with descriptive labels in Arabic and English. The institution functions also as an educational body, teaching recitation and calligraphy and hosting conferences, and it is maintained by the Kanoo family and the Bahraini religious authorities. The building has been kept in good condition since opening, and conservation of fragile manuscripts is overseen with attention to light and humidity. Visitors are welcome to tour the galleries, courtyard and mosque exterior, with modest dress required and shoes removed in prayer areas. The visit is quiet and contemplative, and it complements the nearby Al Fateh Grand Mosque and the Bahrain National Museum on a cultural itinerary.