Qur’anic Calligraphy: A Systematic Review Across Manuscripts, Sacred Architecture, Education, and Digital Preservation
Keywords:
manuscript codicology, Islamic epigraphy, visual reception, religious pedagogy, document image analysisAbstract
Background: Qur’anic calligraphy connects sacred text with handwritten manuscripts, architectural inscriptions, educational practices and digital images, yet published studies use heterogeneous objects and evaluative criteria. Objective: This review project examines how empirical research documents the material, visual, social, pedagogical and technological dimensions of Qur’anic writing. Data sources: A reproducible strategy is proposed for Scopus, Web of Science, publisher platforms and relevant specialist journals for 2019–October 2026. Eligibility: Original journal research directly examining identifiable Qur’anic calligraphic text or Qur’an-writing practice is eligible; reviews, non-Qur’anic Arabic calligraphy and unsourced commentary are excluded from the planned primary corpus. Methods: The proposed protocol specifies DOI-first deduplication, dual screening, design-sensitive appraisal and narrative synthesis. Targeted publisher/journal discovery located 22 plausible primary article records; this is an illustrative set, not a completed PRISMA sample. Preliminary findings: Codicological research describes differences in manuscript scripts, decoration and writing materials; mosque studies distinguish spatial placement and devotional reception, including legibility concerns. Educational studies report instructional activities and engagement but rarely provide controlled evidence of causal effects. Material science and document-processing studies enable pigment characterization and image comparison, although output validity depends on specific objects, data and reference standards. Limitations: Complete database exports, independent screening, comprehensive full-text review and finalized risk-of-bias judgments were unavailable. No search-yield, exclusion, prevalence or pooled-effect claims are made. Conclusion: Future synthesis should keep textual accuracy, visual complexity, reception, learning performance and computational recognition distinct, combining reproducible documentation with expert interpretation. Registration: Not registered.
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