The museum of pastila and Coca-Cola, the museum of death and birth of life, and even the museum of broken hearts – in this world there is a huge variety of different bizarre museums. The Islamic world has only one museum where a mass pilgrimage is annually made to. Every devout Muslim knows about it.
The House of the Quran which is located in the city of Manama on the territory of an ancient Arabic state of Bahrain is the most renowned Islamic museum in the world and is the only museum which is devoted to the sacred book of Muslims that is the Quran. The construction of this unique museum had lasted for 6 years and was finished with a grand opening in 1990. Its appearance resembles the mosques of the 12th century: it is a stone construction of considerable size with a glass dome and a high narrow minaret. It consists of several premises among which there are 10 spacious halls of the museum, a big library and a modern lecture hall for 150 people. Famous lecturers and scientific researchers from all over the world are often invited to the museum. There is also a local madrasa and, of course, a functioning mosque. The mihrab, indicating the direction to Mecca, is veneered with the blue and light blue ceramic tiles with an engraving of one of the most famous verses of the Quran – The Throne Verse.
The magnificent building in the traditional Islamic style was built thanks to the generous donations of the Bahraini residents. The basis of its collection is the private collection of rare manuscripts of the founder of the museum, Dr. Abdul Latif Jassim Kanoo. Other valuable exhibits were transported there from all over the world: from India and China to Spain and Portugal.
Nowadays in the halls of the museum, you can see ancient manuscripts from Mecca and Medina, Baghdad and Damascus, including the seventh-century manuscript of the Quran written on parchment, the Quran in Latin of the 16th century, and the copies of the sacred book of the 17th century printed in Germany.
Miniature pieces that can only be viewed with the help of powerful optical devices deserve special attention. Among them, there are rice and pea grains with the Quran Surahs written on them.

The most valuable exhibit of the House of the Quran in Bahrain is considered to be the first copy of the handwritten Quran of the 7th century. It was the time of the reign of the legendary Caliph Muhammad and his companion – Uthman ibn Affan. It was then that the collection of the sacred text was completed into a single book.
Apart from handwritten and printed copies of the Islamic holy book, the museum has a lot of rare jewelry and household items decorated with precious metals. The hallmark of this collection is the glassware from China with the application of verses from the Quran.