Radiocarbon dating has determined that a manuscript held at the University of Birmingham are some of the oldest—if not the oldest—fragments of the Quran in existence.

The world’s oldest fragments of the Quran may be in Birmingham, UK.

Radiocarbon analysis of a manuscript at the University of Birmingham dates the sheep or goat skin pages to between 568 and 645 A.D.

This places the manuscript close to the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, who is widely believed to have lived between 570 and 632 A.D. 

“The person who actually wrote [the manuscript] could well have known the Prophet...he would maybe have heard him preach,”