Uzbekistan, a doubly landlocked country, seeks glory from history: Italian media reports on the opening of a new Islamic Civilization Center in Tashkent
The center, commissioned by President Mirziyoyev, features 42,000 square meters of exhibition space and is one of the largest institutions globally dedicated to researching and promoting Muslim history, culture, and civilization. It also houses the world’s oldest surviving manuscript of the Quran—the Muskhaf of ʿUthmān ibn 'Affān.
Tashkent (Asia News) – To celebrate the end of Ramadan and the arrival of the spring New Year, Nowruz, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan inaugurated the newly built Islamic Civilization Center in Tashkent. The construction took eight years to complete.
This large-scale complex will be open to the public, featuring a grand museum, a Quran Hall housing the world’s unique Quran manuscript, and a library. The Uzbekistan Administration for Religious Affairs has also relocated here.
As stated in its official opening announcement, the center is among the largest in the world for studying and disseminating Islamic history, culture, and civilization—and has thus been listed in the Guinness World Records.
The building is situated within the 10-hectare Hazrat Imam architectural complex, spans three floors, measures 161 meters in length and 118 meters in width, with a dome rising 65 meters high. The total area accessible to visitors exceeds 42,000 square meters.
The presidential press office emphasized that the palace's design concept originated directly from President Mirziyoyev himself. At the entrance, four large porticos are adorned with verses from the Quran (āyāt) and hadiths—narratives about the life of Prophet Muhammad—expressing ideals of enlightenment, humanism, and respect for elders. The basement includes a dedicated children’s zone, restoration and digitization laboratories, storage rooms for museum artifacts and rare manuscripts, as well as spacious hallways.
The ground floor hosts the museum, including a large exhibition hall covering 8,350 square meters and a conference hall accommodating up to 550 people. The second floor houses administrative offices for Muslims, another library containing manuscripts, stone engravings, printed materials, and electronic literature, reading rooms, and spaces reserved for international organizations and research institutions.
The spiritual heart of the entire complex is the Quran Hall, whose centerpiece is a holographic projection mapped beneath the dome. Visitors are first greeted by a star map based on astronomical charts—depicting the night sky over Tashkent. Ninety Swarovski crystals represent stars, illuminated by 650 bulbs.
The hall houses the Muskhaf of ʿUthmān ibn 'Affān, the oldest extant Quran manuscript, inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. Additionally, it holds 114 rare Uzbek manuscripts created during pivotal periods of Uzbek history, including the Samanid, Kara-Khanid, Ghaznavid, Timurid, and Shaybanid dynasties.
The collection includes over two thousand ancient documents and more than sixty Quranic manuscripts—some unearthed locally, others acquired through international auctions.
The center has received acclaim from several authoritative international organizations and publishers, including the French Avicenna Award, which named it among the top ten museums in the world. The center is set to officially open in 2026 and is already drawing widespread attention.
The facility meets the highest sustainability standards set by UNESCO and the International Council of Museums (ICOM). Exhibits are accompanied by multilingual explanations via QR codes, including video and audio content in three languages, with plans to expand to eight languages in the future.
The design philosophy behind this massive structure is to create a space fostering social integration, with the motto “A Museum Open to All.” The center will also install a voice-guided system specifically designed for visually impaired visitors, connecting via Bluetooth to electronic devices and offering various independent mobility solutions.
Robotic guides and other advanced technological solutions are also under consideration—just like those implemented in leading museums worldwide—with the goal of enabling everyone to experience rich spiritual heritage while feeling the promise of technology serving humanity’s future.
Source: Asia News
Original: toutiao.com/article/1861017954444427/
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