Balinese holds RI’s oldest Koran

Is it true that the oldest piece of the Koran in Indonesia can actually be found in the Hindu island of Bali?

Yes, apparently. Believe it or not, the country's oldest Islamic holy book is owned by a tinker in Singaraja village, Buleleng.

It is now in the hands of the tinker's heir, 57-year-old Mohammad Zen Usman, a resident of Singaraja village, formerly known as Kampung Jawa.

The village is located at the center of the town of Singaraja, and is surrounded by three puri (castles): Puri Kanginan, Puri Gede Singaraja and Griya Batan Cempaka. The castles used to be King of Buleleng’s palace.

The village, which lies exactly at the center of the three castles, is divided into Kampung Jawa and Kampung Islam.

Usman, who died in 1998, asked his son, Mohammas Zen Usman, to keep the old holy book.

“I am the heir of the Koran. Before my father died, he asked me to preserve the Koran,” Zen told The Jakarta Post.

Besides working for the Public Works Agency in Buleleng, Usman was also a tinker who liked to make household equipment, and a tailor.

One day, before he died, he told his son to take good care of the Koran.

Zen initially thought the holy book was just an ordinary Koran.

“I didn’t think there was something special about it. I just kept it. I never opened it because I was afraid it would fall apart.”

But then his curiosity grew. Rumors about the old holy book were rife, so one day, his best friend Dr. Soegianto, came by, eager to find out whether the book was an original.

An archeological team also came to examine the ancient book.

Zen also became curious about the Koran he inherited from his father, which seemed to be older than the one kept in Aceh. He, however, did not know how his father had managed to get hold of the
holy book.

“I am close to my father, but he never told me how he got the book. All I know is that my father is a persevering person, and has friends in many places.”

A government decree in 2005 declared this Koran as a cultural heritage.

As a result, the government, the owner and the public share the responsibility to protect, maintain and use this holy book as long as it doesn’t violate the law.

This ancient Koran is the handwritten by Abdushhaufiddin on a brownish paper made of pressed bamboo. The 769-page holy book features Arabic characters written in Chinese ink. Every page is decorated with pictures of leaves, flowers, and geometrical shapes in red, green and brown colors.

One of the pages shows the Koran was completed on “Thursday, 21st of Muharram 1035 Hijriah” or “Oct. 25, 1626 anno domini”.

Zen still keeps the Koran in his house, inside a wooden box with anti-termite product.

Zen said that as the heir, he preferred to keep the book at home, rather than in a museum, because his father had asked him to take care of it.