Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization

The museum stands on the Majarrah Waterfront in the historic centre of Sharjah, in the former Souq Al Majarrah, whose size and golden dome make it visible from afar. Its collection, first shown in the heritage area of the city, was enlarged when it moved here, and takes in calligraphy, carvings, ceramics, coins, glass, manuscripts, metalwork and scientific instruments from across the Islamic world.

Background

The Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization stands on Corniche Street in Sharjah, across from Sharjah Creek, in a large building with a golden dome that was first built as a souq. It grew out of the Islamic Museum, opened in 1996, and was inaugurated in its new home on 5 June 2008. More than 5,000 objects from the Islamic world are shown in seven galleries, six of them permanent: one is given to Islamic faith, one to science and technology and four to Islamic art through the ages. The museum marked its tenth year in November 2018 with an exhibition made with the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin.

Source: Wikipedia, "Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization"

What to look for

• The science gallery - the Ibn Al-Haytham Gallery, on Muslim discoveries in astronomy, medicine, navigation and engineering, with complex early clocks, navigational aids and models of astrolabes.
• The coin cases - Islamic coins along the central passage, among them many Umayyad dinars.
• The chronological galleries - Islamic art from the 7th to the 20th century: ceramics, metalwork and glass, Mamluk, Safavid and Ottoman pieces, and crafts and weapons of the 19th and 20th centuries.
• The faith gallery - the Abu Bakr Gallery, with a copy of the Quran of the Caliph Uthman, who ruled from 644 to 656, a Kiswa from the Kaaba and early black-and-white photographs of Sharjah people setting out on the Hajj.

When to go

October to April. The temporary exhibitions, many co-curated with other museums, have ranged from Ottoman masterpieces of the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest to Persian calligraphy from the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia; the museum usually takes part in the Sharjah Biennial, and it marked its tenth year in November 2018 with an exhibition made with the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin. Half a day.

What to expect

Upstairs, the art galleries hold a bronze incense burner in the shape of an animal, made in Khorasan in the 11th or 12th century, and a Quran stand modelled on a Mamluk one of the Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, kept in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo; they also show modest fashion and contemporary pieces. The science gallery has models of astrolabes made or described by Muslim scholars between 1100 and 1200.

Nearby

In a straight line, the Sharjah Art Museum is about 0.5 km to the south-southwest and Sharjah Fort about 0.8 km to the south-southwest; the Sharjah Heritage Museum and the Sharjah Calligraphy Museum are about 0.9 km to the south-southwest, Bait Al Naboodah about 0.9 km to the south-west and Al Noor Island about 3.4 km to the south.

Key facts