A 16th-century copy of the Qur'an that was to be auctioned at Christie's in Britain will be returned to Turkey after the country's authorities said it was stolen in an armed robbery.

The rare artifact was expected to fetch between £120,000 and £180,000 at auction.

This copy of the Holy Qur'an features the signature of a "famous calligrapher" and an ornate binding that is believed to have been added in the mid-18th century.

It was scheduled to go on sale in October 2017.

Withdrawn from an art auction

A report published by the British "The Times" said that the copy was withdrawn from an auction of Islamic and Indian art at the last minute after Turkish prosecutors said it had been subjected to a "gun robbery" and then illegally smuggled out of the country.

It was allegedly stolen in Istanbul in February 2015 by 4 men who attacked the owner with pepper spray and wrapped his face and head with tape before escaping with the Quran.

Since then, 3 men have been convicted of burglary in Turkey and each imprisoned for more than 10 years, but the fourth has not been identified.

Lawyers for Zahir al-Hijjah, who claimed to have bought the book in Istanbul, wrote to Christie's in January 2020 threatening to sue to return the book or compensation for damages to the value of the book, which they said was worth £750,000.

The following month, the Metropolitan Police obtained a search warrant at Christie's and confiscated the stolen Qur'an with the intention of returning it to Turkey as an "item of cultural significance".

The stolen Qur’an artifact

At a Supreme Court hearing last month, Zahir Hajja argued that the Metropolitan Police had misled the judge who issued the arrest warrant, but in a ruling issued last Friday, Judge William Davis dismissed his case, paving the way for the Quran to be returned to Turkey.

The judge said there were "strong reasons to believe that the stolen Qur'an was an artifact put up for auction with Christie's" by Zahir Hajja and that it had been illegally exported from Turkey.

He also said that Zaher's interpretation of an argument about how he obtained the book "was viewed with great skepticism".

A Christie's spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Christie's - which is a third party in this matter - has complied with the requirements of the Metropolitan Police. We have no further comment."