Russia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan join forces to publish historic Islamic manuscript

Russia, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan have collaborated on the publication of Shamayil an-Nabi (The Virtues of the Prophet), a manuscript devoted to the qualities and virtues of the Prophet Muhammad.

Damir Waissowitsch Muchetdinow, first deputy chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia and head of the Medina publishing house, announced the project during a plenary session of the III International Media Forum, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

The original manuscript is held by the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was copied in 1859 by Tatar scholar and orientalist Khusain Faizkhanov, a pupil of Shigabutdin Marjani.

Muchetdinow said a cooperation agreement with the Centre for Islamic Studies, a division of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was signed in August 2024, marking the start of work on the publication.

The Russian translation was prepared by Elmir Kuliyev. The edition contains 415 hadiths divided into 56 chapters, while the original manuscript comprises 48 folios.

Firdavs Abdukhalikov, director of Uzbekistan’s Centre for Islamic Civilisation, contributed the foreword. Muzaffarkhon Joniev, director of the Imam al-Tirmidhi Centre, and theology scholar Ruslan Baishev served as reviewers.

Muchetdinow said a small print run had already been produced, with a mass edition planned by the end of 2026.

He described the project as part of wider efforts to preserve, digitise, translate and publish Islamic theological heritage, adding that the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad compiled by Imam al-Tirmidhi around 1,200 years ago remained relevant to Muslims today.