Beit Al-Qur'an, Manama (must see)

Beit Al-Qur'an is a multi-purpose complex, dedicated to the Islamic arts. Its most famous attraction is its Islamic museum, which is acknowledged as being one of the most renowned Islamic museums in the world. The complex's exterior designs are based on an old-fashioned 12th-century mosque. The museum houses a comprehensive and valuable collection of the Qur'an and other rare manuscripts, making it unique in the Persian Gulf region.

The museum's core holdings consist of the private collection of Abdul Latif Jassim Kanoo, an avid collector of Qur'anic manuscripts and Islamic art. In 1990, he donated his collection to the museum, establishing a first-of-its-kind institution dedicated to the service of the Qur'an and the preservation of historic manuscripts.

The entire complex comprises a mosque, a library, an auditorium, a madrasa, and a museum that consists of ten exhibition halls. The library has over 50,000 books and manuscripts in Arabic, English, and French, mostly on Islam, and its reading rooms are open to the public during working hours with internet access available. The auditorium can accommodate up to 150 people and is mainly used for lectures and conferences. The Yousuf Bin Ahmad Kanoo School for Qur'anic Studies is also located within the site.

The Al Hayat Museum is the complex's most recognized establishment. It consists of ten halls spread over two floors, exhibiting rare Qur'anic manuscripts from different periods, starting from the first century Hijra (700 AD). Manuscripts on parchments that originate from Saudi Arabia (Mecca and Medina), Damascus and Baghdad, are present in the museum. The museum also houses the world's oldest translated copy of the Qur'an, which was translated to Latin in Switzerland and dates to 955 AD. The first copy of the Qur'an, written during the reign of Caliph Uthman ibn Affan, is on display in the museum alongside a number of small copies of the Qur'an, which could only be read using optical instruments.

The museum also exhibits a rare number of gold and copper pottery and glass from different eras of Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Egypt, respectively. Grains, peas, and rice dating from the 14th century in present-day Pakistan, which contain surahs engraved into them, are also on display in the museum. The works of Islamic scholars, such as Ibn Taymiyyah, are preserved in the museum, making it the only institute in the world dedicated to the Qur'an and Qur'anic studies.