In a villa in Jabriya, the Rajab family shows one of the finest private collections of Islamic art in the region: Qurans and manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork, costumes and an outstanding collection of jewellery.
The collection was assembled over half a century from the 1950s, and the museum opened in 1980. Fully funded by the Rajab family, it is today run by the family’s third generation.
Highlights include Qurans and manuscripts from across the Islamic world — the earliest dating to the 7th century — a large ceramics collection from pre-Islamic times to the early 20th century, arms and armour, textiles and costumes, and one of the foremost collections of silver jewellery.
A second building, the Tareq Rajab Museum of Islamic Calligraphy, opened in 2007.
