Bloody quran

Production and display

The writing of the book was entrusted to the specialist in Arabic-Muslim calligraphy Abbas Shakir Judi al-Baghdadi ^[4] , who currently lives in the United States in the state of Virginia . During the two years that Judy spent writing 6000 verses and 336,000 words of a copy of the Koran, Saddam provided 24–27 liters of his own blood ^{[5] [4]} . Judy recalls that Saddam summoned him to Baghdad at the Ibn Sina Hospital , where his son Uday Hussein , who survived the assassination, was treated and asked to write a copy of the Qur'an using his blood, which meant " a kind of vow from Saddam " ^[6] . In September 2000, the finished work was solemnly handed over to Saddam ^[2] . Subsequently, the “Blood Quran” was kept in the Baghdad mosque of Umm al-Qur where it was put on public display. This mosque was built in memory of the Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991, it has minarets in the form of Scuds and trunks of a Kalashnikov assault rifle ^{[7] [8]} . The immediate storage location of the book is a hexagonal marble building located in the middle of an artificial lake. In the time of Saddam, only invited guests had the opportunity to see the "Blood Quran", since the building was usually closed and not allowed to visit ^{[9] [10]} . Limited access was preserved later, the book is kept behind three locks, and the keys are held by three people - the keeper, the police chief and another unknown person located in another district of Baghdad who can open the door to the store ^[4] .

According to the testimony of the Australian journalist Paul McGioch, who saw the page from the book, “the blood inscription is about two centimeters high, and the wide decorative frames shimmer with blue, light and dark, shades of red and pink and light glare on black ” ^[10] . In turn, the correspondent of the British newspaper The Guardian, Martin Chulov, described the “Blood Quran” as “an exquisitely made book that could take its place at any exhibition, if it had not been written in truth with blood ” ^[5] .

After the overthrow of Saddam

After the occupation of Baghdad by the American military, the keepers of the mosque hid him in a vault to save the “Blood Quran” ^[4] . The overthrow of Saddam Hussein confronted the religious and secular authorities of Iraq with a very difficult double choice. On the one hand, writing a holy book with blood was seen as haram , and the spiritual authorities of the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the same 2000 condemned this act of Saddam ^[11] . In Iraq itself, there were also persons who openly condemned the writing of the "Blood Quran." Thus, the professor of Islamic thought, Abdul Kwahar al-Anu of Baghdad University, argued that " Saddam is not a holy man, therefore his blood is unclean " ^[10] . In turn, the Shiite cleric Said Ali Alvaah, who was imprisoned during the reign of Saddam, called the “Blood Quran” “the black magic of Saddam ” ^[10] . In addition, he noted that “the Quran is gold and silver, and not something unclean like blood ”, so the “Blood Quran” is worthy of only being burned in a fire or drowned in water ^[10] . With the fact that the writing of the Koran in blood is haram, the keeper of the "Blood Quran" Sheikh Samarrai agrees ^[4] . At the same time, if you look at the situation on the other hand, then in Islam there is a ban on damage to copies of the Koran, which means that the destruction of the “Blood Quran” can be considered as its desecration .

Iraqi statesmen and politicians also have different opinions on what to do with the Blood Quran. So, for example, the spokesman for the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nuri Al-Maliki Ali al-Mussavi, referring to the issue of the “Bloody Quran”, noted: “ We must save this as evidence of Saddam’s cruelty: he should not have created such a Quran. He talks a lot about Saddam. But you cannot put the Koran in a museum: not a single Iraqi wants to look at it, ”although he admitted that such things can be stored in private collections, as is the case with items belonging to Hitler and Stalin ^[4] .

While the Blood Quran was put on public display, there were doubts that Saddam Hussein was really able to donate so much blood to the creation of books, and whether at least most of this blood belonged to him. Thus, on July 29, 2001, The Daily Telegraph correspondent wrote on July 29, 2001 that “the most striking thing is the dubious and unverifiable claim that Saddam donated almost 50 ^{[ref. 1] a} pint of his own blood for writing the Koran ” ^[12] . In addition, he noted: “ Western diplomats in Baghdad are not impressed by the piety of the Iraqi leader and reject his mosque and holy book, written in blood, as a cheap publicity stunt. “How can we be sure that this is the blood of Saddam, and not one of his victims?” - one of them asks ” ^[12] . In turn, another The Daily Telegraph correspondent David Blair, on December 14, 2002, commented on the Blood Quran: “ In fact, the skilled calligrapher wrote 605 pages of the holy book using the blood of Saddam Hussein. Iraqi dictator donated 3 ^{[ref. 2]} pints for two years, and they, mixed with chemicals, were used to write each verse ” ^[9] .

In 2010, America’s Blood Centers Executive Vice President Celso Bianco doubted that Saddam was able to donate 27 liters of blood in two years, since, for example, the largest fence in the United States is 5 or 6 pints per year. Thus, Saddam would need to act as a donor for nine years to collect the declared amount of blood. Otherwise, Saddam would have anemia ^[13] .

in Russian

• The bloody Quran of Saddam Hussein is kept behind three castles // Interfax-West . - 12/22/2010.

in other languages

• Alianak S. Middle Eastern Leaders and Islam: A Precarious Equilibrium . - Peter Lang , 2007 .-- 241 p.
• Arnold JR Saddam Hussein's Iraq . - Twenty-First Century Books, 2012 .-- 160 p.
• Blair D. Saddam has Koran written in his blood // Telegraph . - December 14, 2002.
• Chulov M. Qur'an etched in Saddam Hussein's blood poses dilemma for Iraq leaders // The Guardian . - December 19, 2010.
• Emirate official: Saddam's writing of the Quran with his blood is prohibited // Arabic News. - 09/26/2000.
• Fassihi F. Waiting for an Ordinary Day: The Unraveling of Life in Iraq . - PublicAffairs, 2008 .-- 368 p.
• Graham N. Koran Written In Saddam Hussein's Blood Poses Problem For Iraqi Leaders // The Huffington Post . - December 20, 2010.
• Iraqi leader's Koran 'written in blood // BBC News . - 09/25/2000.
• McGeough P. Storm over tyrant's unholy blood // The Sydney Morning Herald . - December 18, 2003.
• Nelson S. . A grisly legacy: What is to become of the Koran written in Saddam Hussein's blood? // Daily Mail . - December 21, 2010.
• Pappas S. Bio-Art: 'Blood Quran' Causes Controversy // Live Science . - December 21, 2010.
• Saddam orders to write the Koran from his blood // Arabic News. - 02/05/2004.
• Smucker P. Iraq builds 'Mother of all Battles' mosque in praise of Saddam // The Daily Telegraph . - 07.29.2001.