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CHAPTER
2 : Transmission of the Qur'anic Revelation
The revelation contained in the
Qur'an has been transmitted to us by numerous
persons in two ways: orally and in written form.
MEMORISATION
AND ORAL TRANSMISSION
Memorization
by the Prophet
Oral transmission of the
revelation was based on hifz or memorization and the
Prophet Muhammad himself was the first to commit a
revelation to memory after the Angel Gabriel had
brought it to him:
'Move not thy tongue
concerning the (Qur'an) to make haste therewith.
It is for Us to collect it and promulgate it;
but when We have promulgated it, follow thou its
recital' (75:
16-19)
'... an apostle from God,
rehearsing scriptures, kept pure and holy ...' (98:
2)
Memorisation
by the Companions
The Prophet then declared the
revelation and instructed his Companions to memorise
it. The case of Ibn Mas'ud, who was the first man to
publicly recite the Qur'an in Makka, shows that even
in the very early phase of the Islamic umma recital
of the revelation from memory was practised by the
Companions:
'... the first man to speak the
Qur'an loudly in Makka after the apostle was
'Abdullah bin Mas'ud. The Prophet's Companions
came together and mentioned that the Quraish had
never heard the Qur'an distinctly read to them ...
When (Ibn Mas'ud) arrived at the maqam, he read
" In
the name of God the Compassionate the Merciful",
raising his voice as he did so. "The
Compassionate who taught the Qur'an
..." (55:1)
... They got up and began to hit him in the face;
but he continued to read so far as God willed that
he should read ...
[Guillaume,
E.: The Life of Muhammad (abbr. as Ibn Hisham),
London, 55, pp. 141-2; Ibn Hisham: Sira al-nabi,
Cairo, n.d., 1, p.206.]
It is also reported that Abu Bakr
used to recite the Qur'an publicly in front of his
house in Makka. [Sira
Ibn Hisham, The Life of Muhammad]
The
Prophet encourages Memorisation
There are numerous ahadith,
giving account of various efforts made and measures
taken by the Prophet to ensure that the revelation
was preserved in the memory of his Com- panions. The
following is perhaps the most clear:
'Narrated 'Uthman bin 'Affan:
The Prophet said: "The most superior among
you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur'an and
teach it".'
[Bukhari,
VI, No. 546.]
It is also well known that the
recital of the Qur'an during the daily prayers is
required and hence many Companions heard repeatedly
passages from the revelation, memorized them and
used them in prayer.
The Prophet also listened to the
recitation of the Qur'an by the Companions.
Narrated 'Abdullah (b. Mas'ud):
'Allah's Apostle said to me: "Recite (of the
Qur'an) for me". I said: "Shall I recite
it to you although it had been revealed to
you?!" He said: "I like to hear (the
Qur'an) from others". So I recited
Surat-an-Nisa' till I reached: " How
(will it be) then when We bring from each nation a
witness and We bring you (O Muhammad) as a witness
against these people?"
' (4:
41). 'Then
he said: "Stop!" Behold, his eyes were
shedding tears then.'
[Bukhari,
VI, No. 106.]
The
Prophet sent Teachers
The Prophet sent teachers to
communities in other places so that they might
receive instruction in Islam and the Qur'an.
The case of Mus'ab bin 'Umair
illustrates that this was so even before the hijra:
'When these men (of the first
pledge of 'Aqaba) left (for Madina) the apostle
sent with them Mus'ab bin 'Umair ... and
instructed him to read the Qur'an to them and to
teach them Islam and to give them instruction
about religion. In Madina Musiab was called
"the reader".'
[Ibn
Hisham, p. 199.]
Another well-known case concerns
Mu'adh bin Jabal who was sent to Yemen to instruct
the people there.
Qur'an
Readers among the Companions
Suyuti [Itqan
1, p. 124.]
mentions more than twenty well-known persons who
memorized the revelation, among them were Abu Bakr,
'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Abu Huraira,
'Abdullah bin 'Abbas, 'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin al-'As,
'A'isha, Hafsa, and Umm Salama.
From among these, the Prophet
himself recommended especially the following:
'Narrated Masruq: 'Abdullah bin
'Amr mentioned 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud and said: I
shall ever love that man for I heard the Prophet
saying: Take (learn) the Qur'an from four:
'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Salim, Muiadh and Ubay bin
Ka'b'. [Bukhari,
VI, No. 521.]
Another hadith informs us about
those Companions who had memorized the Qur'an in its
entirety and gone over it with the Prophet before
his death:
'Narrated Qatada: I asked Anas
bin Malik: Who collected the Qur'an at the time of
the Prophet? He replied, Four, all of whom were
from the Ansar: Ubay bin Ka'b, Mu'adh bin Jabal,
Zaid bin Thabit and Aba Zaid.'
[Bukhari,
VI, No. 525.]
The fact that some of the
earliest historical reports make special mention in
the accounts of the battles that were fought, of
Muslims killed who knew (something of) the Qur'an by
heart, gives a clear indication that memorization of
the revelation was considered important and widely
practised from the earliest times. [See
below, on collection of the Qur'an in Abu Bakr's
time.]
The
Qur'an Memorized in the Prophet's Lifetime
It is therefore certain that the
Qur'an had been memorized by the Companions of the
Prophet during his lifetime. This tradition
continued among the Companions after the Prophet's
death and, later, among the tabi'un and all
generations of Muslims that have followed, until
today.
TRANSMISSION
OF THE WRITTEN TEXT
The
Written Text at the Time of the Prophet Muhammad
What
is meant by Jam' al-Qur'an?
The general meaning of jam' al-qur'an
is to 'bring together the Qur'an'. This was done and
has to be understood in two ways:
- Bringing together the Qur'an orally, or in
one's mind (hifz).
- Bringing together the Qur'an in written
form, or on sheets, or in a book.
Jam' al-qura'n therefore, in the
classical literature, has various meanings:
- To learn the Qur'an by heart.
- To write down every revelation.
- To bring together those materials upon which
the Qur'an has been written.
- To bring together the reports of people who
have memorized the Qur'an.
- To bring together all such sources, both
oral and written.
How
was the Qur'an Collected?
In Suyuti�s Itqan it is said
that the Qur'an had been written down in its
entirety in the time of the Prophet but had not been
brought together in one single place, and that
therefore these written records or documents had not
been arranged in order.' [Itqan,
I, p. 41]
However, this statement does not
preclude that the ordering of the Qur'an and the
arrangement of the suras, was fixed by the Prophet
himself and safeguarded through oral transmission.
Stages
of Collection
As far as the written text is
concerned, one may distinguish three stages:
- In the time of the Prophet:
- in the hearts of men (memorization).
- on writing materials
- In the time of Abu Bakr.
- In the time of 'Uthman.
Why
was no Book left by the Prophet?
The Prophet Muhammad did not
present to his Companions the revelation collected
and arranged in a single written volume. There are a
number of good reasons for this:
- Because the revelation did not come down in
one piece, but at intervals and was received
continuously until the end of the Prophet's
life.
- Because some verses were abrogated in the
course of revelation, and therefore
flexibility needed to be maintained.
- The ayat and suras were not always revealed
in their final order, but were arranged later.
- The Prophet lived only nine days after the
last revelation and was severely ill.
- There was no dispute or friction about the
Qur'an during the time of the Prophet, as
developed afterwards when he, as the final
authority, was no longer available.
Writing
down the Revelation
While writing was not widespread
among the people in Arabia at the time of the
Prophet there were persons of whom it is reported
that they did write. It is said for example of
Waraqa, Khadija's cousin, that he had been converted
to Christianity in the pre-Islamic period 'and used
to write Arabic and write of the Gospel in Arabic as
much as Allah wished him to write'. [Bukhari.
VI. No. 478.]
The Prophet himself did much to
encourage the Muslims to learn to write. It is
related that some of the Quraish, who were taken
prisoners at the battle of Badr, regained their
freedom after they had taught some of the Muslims
the art of writing.' [Tabaqat
Ibn Sa'd, II(2), p. 19]
Did
the Prophet himself write?
Although it is not clear whether
the Prophet Muhammad knew how to write, there is
unanimous agreement among scholars that Muhammad
himself did not write down the revelation. The
Qur'an clearly states:
'And thou (O Muhammad) wast not
a reader of any scripture before it, nor didst
thou write it with thy right hand, for then might
those have doubted who follow falsehood' (29:48)
The Qur'an also refers to
Muhammad on several occasions as the 'unlettered
prophet' which some scholars have interpreted in the
sense that he did not read or write:
'Those who follow the apostle,
the unlettered prophet ...' (8:
157)
His community too has been
described as 'unlettered':
'It is he who has sent amongst
the unlettered an apostle from among themselves
...' (62:2)
The
Qur'an written during the Prophet's Lifetime
There is no doubt that the Qur'an
was not only transmitted orally by many Muslims who
had learned parts or the whole of it, but that it
was also written down during the lifetime of the
Prophet.
The well-known report about 'Umar's
conversion shows that large passages of the
revelation had already been written down even at a
very early time, in Makka, long before the hijra,
when the Prophet was still in the house of Arqam.
'Umar had set out to kill the
Prophet Muhammad, when somebody informed him that
Islam had already spread into his own family and
pointed out to him that his brother-in-law, his
nephew and his sister had all become Muslims. 'Umar
went to the house of his sister and found her
together with her husband and another Muslim. A
dispute arose and 'Umar violently attacked both
his brother-in-law and his own sister. 'When he
did that they said to him "Yes, we are
Muslims and we believe in God and His apostle and
you can do what you like". When 'Umar saw the
blood on his sister, he was sorry for what he had
done and turned back and said to his sister, 'Give
me this sheet which I heard you reading just now
so that I may see just what it is which Muhammad
has brought', for 'Umar could write. When he said
that, his sister replied that she was afraid to
trust him with it. 'Do not be afraid', he said and
he swore by his gods that he would return it when
he had read it. When he said that, she had hopes
that he would become a Muslim and said to him, 'My
brother, you are unclean in your polytheism and
only the clean may touch it'. So 'Umar rose and
washed himself and she gave him the page in which
was Taha and when he had read the beginning he
said 'How fine and noble is this speech ..."
[Ibn
Hisham, pp. 156-7.]
The
Qur'an Dictated by the Prophet
The Qur'an was not only written
down by those Companions who did so on their own
initiative. Indeed, the Prophet, when a revelation
came, called for the scribe and dictated to him. The
Prophet while in Madina had several such scribes, [M.
M. A'zami, in his book Kuttab al-Nabi (Beirut,
1393/1974) mentions 48 persons who used to write for
the Prophet.]
among whom Zaid bin Thabit was very prominent.
Narrated al-Bara': There was
revealed 'Not
equal are those believers who sit (at home) and
those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah'
(4:
95).
The Prophet said: 'Call Zaid for me and let him
bring the board, the ink pot and the scapula bone
(or the scapula bone and the ink pot).' Then he
said: 'Write: Not equal are those believers ...
[Bukhari,
VI, No. 512; also VI, No. 116-18.]
It is also reported that material
upon which the revelation had been written down was
kept in the house of the Prophet. [Suyuti,
Itqan, I, p. 58.]
Written
during the Prophet's Lifetime
Another report informs us that
when people came to Madina to learn about Islam,
they were provided with 'copies of the chapters of
the Qur'an, to read and learn them by heart'. [Hamidullah,
M.: Sahifa Hammam ibn Munabbih, Paris, 1979, p. 64.]
Further evidence for the
existence of the Qur'an as a written document during
the lifetime of the Prophet comes from the following
account:
'Abd Allah b. Abu Bakr b. Hazm
reported: The book written by the apostle of Allah
for 'Amr b. Hazm contained also this that no man
should touch the Qur'an without ablution.'
[Muwatta',
No. 462.]
Malik said: And no one should
carry the mushaf by its strap, nor on a pillow,
unless he is clean. And even if this be allowed to
carry it in its cover, it is not disliked, if
there is not in the two hands which carry it,
something polluting the mushaf, but it is disliked
for the one who carries it, and he is not clean,
in honour to the Qur'an and respect to it. Malik
said: The best I heard about this is the verse 'None
shall touch it but those who are clean'
(56:
79).'
[Muwatta',
Arabic, p. 204.]
The commentary to the muwatta'
explains that the book referred to as written by the
Prophet (which means of course written upon his
instruction) was sent with some Muslims for
instruction in Islam of the people of Yemen. [Muwatta',
Arabic, p. 204.]
In fact the Qur'anic verse 56:
79, read in context, clearly explains that the
Qur'an is available to those who receive instruction
by revelation, in the form of a book or a piece of
writing:
'... this is indeed a Qur'an
most honourable, in a book (kitab) well guarded,
which none shall touch but those who are clean: a
revelation from the Lord of the worlds' (56:
77-80).
The same fact, i.e. that the
Qur'an did exist as a written document in the
lifetime of the Prophet is proved by the following
ahadith:
From Ibn 'Umar: ... 'The
messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:
"Do not take the Qur'an on a journey with
you, for I am afraid lest it should fall into the
hands of the enemy".
[Muslim,
III, No. 4609, also 4607, 4608; Bukhari, IV, No.
233.]
The correctness of the assumption
that the reference is to a written document is
supported by one of the transmitters: Ayyub (i. e.
one of the narrators in the chain of transmission of
this report) said: The enemy may seize it and may
quarrel with you over it. [Muslim,
III, No. 4609.]
Furthermore, the chapter-heading
used by Bukhan for the section, (which usually
contains additional information,) explains:
'Ibn 'Umar said: No doubt the
Prophet and his Companions travelled in the land
of the enemy and they knew the Qur'an then.'
[i.e.
they knew that the Quran was carried - as a
scripture - by the Muslims. Bukhan, IV, p. 146,
Ch. 129.]
Collection
of Revelation during the Prophet's Lifetime
During his last pilgrimage, at
the sermon which he gave to the large gathering of
Muslims, the Prophet said: 'I have left with you
something which if you will hold fast to it you will
never fall into error- a plain indication, the book
of God and the practice of his prophet. [Ibn
Hisham, p. 651.]
This advice from the Prophet to
the Muslims implies that the revelation was
available as kitab (writing) before his death, for
otherwise he would have referred to it in some other
term.
From other reports also, we can
conclude that the Prophet himself took care of the
actual arrangement of the revelation, when it was
written down.
Zaid is reported to have said:
'We used to compile the Qur'an
from small scraps in the presence of the Apostle.'
[Itqan,
I, p. 99; Salih, p.69.]
'Uthman said, that in later days,
the Prophet 'used to, when something was revealed to
him, call someone from among those who used to write
for him and said: Place these ayat in the sura, in
which this and this is mentioned, and when (only)
one aya was revealed to him, he said: Place this aya
in the sura in which this and this is mentioned'. [Jeffery,
A.: Materials for the history of the text of the
qura'n, (incl. Kitab al-masahif by Ibn Abi Dawud
(abbr. as Ibn Abi Dawud, masahif) Leiden, 1937, p.
31.]
This indicates that not only was
the revelation written down during the lifetime of
the Prophet, but that he himself gave instructions
for the arrangement of the material. According to
some other reports, it is also clear, that this
proper arrangement and order of the ayat was well
known to the Companions of the Prophet, and they
were not prepared to tamper with it.
'Narrated Ibn Az-Zubair: I said
to 'Uthman "This verse which is in Sura al-Baqara:
'those of you who die and leave wives behind ...
without turning them out' has been abrogated by
another verse. Why then do you write it in the
Qur'an?" 'Uthman said: Leave it (where it is)
O son of my brother, for I will not shift anything
of it (i . e. the Qur'an) from its original
position.' [Bukhari,
VI. No. 60.]
Similarly quite a number of
reports mention the various Suras by their names or
beginnings. Two examples may suffice to make this
point:
Narrated Abu Huraira: The
Prophet used to recite the following in the Fajr
prayer of Friday: Alif Lam Mim Tanzil (Sajda) (32)
and Hal-ata 'ala-l-Insani (al-dahr) (76).
[Bukhari,
II, No. 16.]
Abu Huraira said: God's
messenger recited in both rak'as of the dawn
prayer: "Say O unbelievers (99) and Say, He
is God, one God (112).'
[Robson,
J. (transl.): Mishkat al Masabih, Lahore, 1963, I,
pp. 172-3 - Tabrizi: Mishkatal-masabih, Beirut,
1961, I, No. 842.]
The order and arrangement was of
course well known to the Muslims due to the daily
recitation of the Qur'an in the prayers at the
mosque of the Prophet and at other places. Finally
there are three ahadith in Sahih Bukhari, informing
us that the Angel Gabriel used to recite the Qur'an
with the Prophet once a year, but he recited it
twice with him in the year he died. The Prophet used
to stay in i'tikaf for ten days every year (in the
month of Ramad. an), but in the year of his death,
he stayed in i'tikaf for twenty days. [Bukhari,
VI, No. 520; see also Nos. 518, 519.]
We can therefore distinguish the
following measures which ensured the collection of
the revelation in writing during the lifetime of the
Prophet:
- Revelation used to be written down even in
the very early days of the Prophet's call.
- In Madina, the Prophet had several persons
who wrote down revelation when it was
revealed.
- The Prophet himself instructed his scribes
as to where the different revealed verses
should be placed, and thus determined the
order and arrangement.
- This order and arrangement was well known to
the Muslims and strictly observed by them.
- The Angel Gabriel went through all the
revelation with Muhammad each year in Ramadan,
and went through it twice in the year the
Prophet died.
- There are numerous reports about the
existence of the written Qur'an - in the form
of a book or piece of writing (kitab) during
the lifetime of the Prophet.
What
did the Prophet leave behind?
The way the material of
revelation was left by the Prophet at his death was
the most suitable for the Companions in that:
- All parts of the revelation were available
both in written form and memorized by the
Companions.
- All pieces were available on loose writing
material, making it easy to arrange them in
the proper order.
- The order already fixed of the ayat within
the suras, in the written form, as well as in
the memory of the Companions, and of the suras
in the memory of the Companions.
What arrangement could have been
better than to have everything to hand in written
form, as well as memorized by the Muslims, and to
have the order and arrangement already determined,
partially in the written form and completely in the
memories of the people?
It is for these reasons that a
later scholar, al-Harith al-Muhasibi in his book
kitab fahm al-Sunan, summarized the first phase of
the written collection of the Qur'anic material in
the following words:
'Writing of the Qur'an was no
novelty, for the Prophet used to order that it be
written down, but it was in separate pieces, on
scraps of leather, shoulder blades and palm risp,
and when (Abu Bakr) al-Siddiq ordered that it be
copied from the (various) places to a common
place, which was in the shape of sheets, these
(materials) were found in the house of the Prophet
in which the Qur'an was spread out, and he
gathered it all together and tied it with a string
so that nothing of it was lost.
[Suyuti,
Itqan, I, p. 58.]
It is obvious that the history of
the Qur'anic text cannot be compared with that of
other Holy Scriptures. While the books of the Old
and New Testaments, for example, were written,
edited and compiled over long periods, sometimes
centuries, the text of the Qur'an, once revelation
had ceased, has remained the same to this day.
Suhuf
and Mushaf
Both words are derived from the
same root Sahafa 'to write'. The word Suhuf also
occurs in the Qur'an (87:19) meaning scripture or
written sheets.
Suhuf (sg. sahifa) means loose
pieces of writing material, such as paper, skin,
papyrus, etc.
Mushaf (pl. masahif) means the
collected Suhuf, brought together into a fixed
order, such as between two covers, into a volume.
In the history of the written
text of the Qur'an, Suhuf stands for the sheets on
which the Qur'an was collected in the time of Abu
Bakr. In these Suhuf the order of the ayat within
each sura was fixed, but the sheets with the suras
on them were still in a loose arrangement, i.e. not
bound into a volume.
Mushaf in the present context
means the sheets on which the Qur'an was collected
in the time of 'Uthman. Here both the order of the
ayat within each sura as well as the order of the
sheets were fixed.
Today we also call any copy of
the Qur'an, which has both order of ayat and suras
fixed, a mushaf.
How
the Suhuf were made
Tradition informs us that at the
Battle of Yamama (11/633), in the time of Abu Bakr,
a number of Muslims, who had memorized the Qur'an
were killed. Hence it was feared that unless a
written copy of the Qur'an were prepared, a large
part of the revelation might be lost.
The following is the account in
the Sahih Bukhari
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit Al-Ansari,
one of the scribes of the Revelation: Abu Bakr
sent for me after the casualties among the
warriors (of the battle) of Yamama (where a
great number of Qurra were killed). 'Umar was
present with Abu Bakr who said: "Umar has
come to me and said, the
People have suffered heavy casualties on the day
of (the battle of) Yamama, and I am afraid that
there will be some casualties among the Qurra
(those who know the Qur'an by heart) at other
places, whereby a large part of the Qur'an may
be lost, unless you collect it. And I am of the
opinion that you should collect the Qur'an.'
Abu Bakr added, 'I said to 'Umar, "How
can I do something which Allah's Apostle has not
done?"
'Umar said (to me) "By Allah, it is
(really) a good thing". So 'Umar kept on
pressing trying to persuade me to accept his
proposal, till Allah opened my bosom for it and
I had the same opinion as 'Umar'. (Zaid bin
Thabit added:) 'Umar was sitting with him (Abu
Bakr) and was not speaking. Abu Bakr said (to
me), 'You
are a wise young man and we do not suspect you
(of telling lies or of forgetfulness); and you
used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's
Apostle. Therefore, look for the Qur'an and
collect it (in one manuscript)'.
By Allah, if he (Abu Bakr) had ordered me to
shift one of the mountains (from its place) it
would not have been harder for me than what he
had ordered me concerning the collection of the
Qur'an. I said to both of them, 'How
dare you do a thing which the Prophet has not
done?' Abu
Bakr said, 'By Allah, it is (really) a good
thing. So I kept on arguing with him about it
till Allah opened my bosom for that which He had
opened the bosoms of Abu Bakr and 'Umar. So I
started locating the Quranic material and
collecting it from parchments, scapula,
leafstalks of date palms and from the memories
of men (who knew it by heart). I found with
Khuzaima two verses of Sura at-Tauba which I had
not found with anybody else (and they were):
'Verily there has come to
you an Apostle (Muhammad) from among
yourselves. It grieves him that you should
receive any injury or difficulty. He
(Muhammad) is ardently anxious over you (to be
rightly guided)' (9:128).
The manuscript on which the
Qur'an was collected, remained with Abu Bakr till
Allah took him unto Him, and then with 'Umar till
Allah took him unto Him, and finally it remained
with Hafsa, 'Umar's daughter. [Bukhari,
VI, No. 201.]
Here we can distinguish the
following steps, which led to the preparation of the
Suhuf:
- Zaid was instructed by Abu Bakr to collect
the Qur'an.
- Zaid collected it from various written
materials and the memories of people.
- The sheets thus prepared were kept with Abu
Bakr, then 'Umar, then Hafsa.
THE
MASAHIF OF THE COMPANIONS
There are numerous indications in
the literature of hadith that several of the
Companions of the Prophet had prepared their own
written collections of the revelations. [Suyuti.
Itqan, I, p 62]
The best-known among these are from Ibn Mas'ud, Ubay
bin Ka'b and Zaid bin Thabit. [See
Dodge, B, The Fihrist of al-Nadim, New York, 1970
(abbr. as fihrist), pp 53-63.]
A list of Companions of whom it
is related that they had their own written
collections included the following: Ibn Mas'ud, Ubay
bin Ka'b, 'All, Ibn 'Abbas, Abu Musa, Hafsa, Anas
bin Malik, 'Umar, Zaid bin Thabit, Ibn Al-Zubair,
'Abdullah ibn 'Amr, 'A'isha, Salim, Umm Salama, 'Ubaid
bin 'Umar. [See
Ibn Abi Dawud: Masahif, p 14 Ansari, M.: The
qura'nic Foundations and Structure of Muslim
Society; Karachi, 1973, drawing
upon various sources, says
(1, p.76, note 2) that
there existed at least 15 written copies of the
Qur'an in the Prophet's lifetime. In addition to the
list of 15 names quoted above, he includes Abu Bakr,
'Uthman, Mu'adh b. Jabal, Abu Darda', Abu Ayyub
Ansari, 'Ubada b. al-Samit, Tamim Dari. This would
add up to 23 written copies of the Qur'an, which
existed while the Prophet was alive.]
It is also known that 'A'isha and
Hafsa had their own scripts written after the
Prophet had died. [Rahimuddin,
M. (transl.): Muwatta) Imam Malik, Lahore, 1980, No.
307, 308; Malik b. Anas: al-muwatta', Cairo, n.d.,
p. 105.]
The following is a very brief
description of some of the masdhif, which are
attributed to the Companions of the Prophet. All the
information is based on classical sources. [For
details see Ibn Abi Dawud, also fihrist and Itqan]
The
Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud (d. 33/653)
He wrote a mushaf, in which
sudras 1, 113 and 114 were not included. Ibn al-Nadim
[Fihrist,
I, pp. 57-8.]
however said he had seen a copy of the Qur'an from
Ibn Mas'ud which did not contain al-fatiha (Sura 1).
The arrangement of the suras differed from the 'Uthmanic
text. The following is the order attributed to Ibn
Mas'ud's copy: [Fihrist,
I, pp. 53-7.]
2, 4, 3, 7, 6, 5, 10, 9, 16,
11, 12, 17, 21, 23, 26, 37, 33, 28, 24, 8, 19, 29,
30, 36, 25, 22, 13, 34, 35, 14, 38, 47, 31, 35,
40, 43, 41, 46, 45, 44, 48, 57, 59, 32, 50, 65,
49, 67, 64, 63, 62, 61, 72, 71, 58, 60, 66, 55,
53, 51, 52, 54, 69, 56, 68, 79, 70, 73, 74, 83,
80, 76, 75, 77, 78, 81, 82, 88, 87, 92, 89, 85,
84, 96, 90, 93, 94, 86, 100, 107, 101, 98, 91, 95,
104, 105, 106, 102, 97, 110, 108, 109, 111, 112.
This list is obviously
incomplete. It contains only 106 suras and not 110,
as Ibn Nadim wrote.
In Sura al-baqara, which I take
as an example, there are a total of 101 variants.
Most of them concern spelling, some also choice of
words (synonyms), use of particles, etc.
Examples:
Pronunciation:
2:70 Ibn Mas'ud reads al-baqira
in place of al-baqara
Spelling:
2:19 He reads kulla ma
in place of kullama
Synonyms:
2:68 He reads sal (seek,
beseech)
in place of ud'u
(beseech)
Assuming that all these are
reliable reports, the copy of Ibn Mas'ud would then
have been prepared for his personal use and written
before all 114 suras were revealed.
Nadim, who lived in the tenth
century (4th century Hijra) also added: 'I have seen
a number of Qur'anic manuscripts, which the
transcribers recorded as manuscripts of Ibn Mas'ud.
No two of the Qur'anic copies were in agreement and
most of them were on badly effaced parchment ... [Fihrist,
I, p. 57.]
This note indicates that the
question of authentic manuscripts of Ibn Mas'ud
needs to be treated with some caution.
The
Mushaf of Ubay bin Ka'b (d. 29 H/649)
He wrote a mushaf, in which two
'additional suras and another 'additional aya' were
reportedly found.
[ Itqan,
I, p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, masahif, pp. 18S1; also
Noldeke, T. et al.: Ceschichte des Qorans,
Leipzig, 1909-38 (abbr. as GdQ), 11, pp. 33-8.
The first so called sura
entitled al-khal' (separation), translates as
follows: 'O
Allah, we seek your help and ask your forgiveness,
and we praise you and we do not disbelieve in you.
We separate from and leave who sins against you.'
The second so-called sura,
entitled al-hafd (haste) translates as follows: 'O
Allah, we worship You and to You we pray and
prostrate and to You we run and hasten to serve
You. We hope for Your mercy and we fear Your
punishment. Your punishment will certainly reach
the disbelievers.'
Obviously these two pieces constitute so-called 'qunut',
i.e. supplications which the Prophet sometimes
said in the morning prayer or witr prayer after
recitation of suras from the Qur'an. They are in
fact identical to some parts of qunut reported in
the collections of hadith. See:
Nawawi, al-adhkar, Cairo, 1955, pp. 57-8.
As to the single additional
so-called aya, its translation is as follows: 'If
the son of Adam was given a valley full of riches,
he would wish a second one, and if he was given
two valleys full of riches, he would surely ask
for a third one. Nothing will fill the belly of
the son of Adam except dust, and Allah is
forgiving to him who is repentant. '
Again this text is known to be
a hadith from the Prophet. See Bukhari,
VIII, No. 444-47.
According to Ibn 'Abbas
(No.
445)
and 'Ubay (No.
446)
this text was at times thought to be part of the
Qur'an. However Ubay himself clarifies that after
sura 102: I had been revealed, they (i.e. the
sahaba) did not consider the above to be part of
the Qur'an. See Bukhari,
VIII, No. 446.
This explanation of Ubay also makes it very clear
that the Companions did not differ at all about
what was part of the Qur'an and what was not part
of the Qur'an. when the revelation had ceased. and
if e.g. this hadith occurred in the mushaf of Ubay,
it was a mushaf for his own personal use, in other
words, his private notebook, where he did not
always distinguish between Qur'anic material and
hadith, since it was not meant for general use and
he himself knew well what to make of his own
notes. The same is true of the other copies of the
Qur'an, which some of the Companions had for their
own personal use. Also those who transmitted to us
the reports about these copies of the Qur'an of
the Companions have only narrated to us the
various differences which occurred there according
to reports that reached them (e.g. the hadith in Bukhari,
VIII, No. 446
that Ubay at some early stage held this sentence
to be part of the Qur'an). However the actual
manuscripts of these copies of the Qur'an of the
Companions have not come down to us, since all of
them agreed on the correctness and validity of the
copies which 'Uthman had arranged to be written
and distributed for general use. Hence their own
personal notebooks became obsolete and were
destroyed.]
The order of the suras is again
different from 'Uthman as well as Ibn Masud.
The following is the order of
suras in the copy attributed to Ubay b. Ka'b: [Fihrist,
I, pp. 58-60.]
1, 2, 4, 3, 6, 7, 5, 10, 8, 9,
11, 19, 26, 22, 12, 18, 16, 33, 17, 39, 45, 20,
21, 24, 23, 40, 13, 28, 27, 37, 38, 36, 15, 42,
30, 43, 41, 14, 35, 48, 47, 57, 52, 25, 32, 71,
46, 50, 55, 56, 72, 53, 68, 69, 59, 60, 77, 78,
76, 75, 81, 79, 80, 83, 84, 95, 96, 49, 63, 62,
66, 89, 67, 92, 82, 91, 85, 86, 87, 88, 74?, 98?,
61, 93, 94, 101, 102, 65?, 104, 99, 100, 105, ?,
108, 97, 109, 110, 111, 106, 112, 113, 114.
Again, as in the case of Ibn
Mas'ud above this list is incomplete and does not
contain all 114 suras of the Qur'an.
'Ubay has a total of 93 variants
in Sura al-baqara. [Again
taken as example only to illustrate the point.]
Very often, his readings are similar to those of Ibn
Mas'ud. For example, he reads al-baqara in 2:70 as
al-baqira. So does Ibn Mas'ud.
The
Mushaf of Ibn 'Abbas (d. 68H/687)
Ibn 'Abbas also wrote a mushaf,
which according to the Itqan [I,
p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, masahif, p. 193.]
also included the two additional suras which Ubay
had. Again his arrangement of the suras differed
from the other copies. In Sura al-baqara, he has a
total of 21 variants, some of them identical with
Ibn Mas'ud and Ubay as well as other Companions.
Some
other Companions
According to the Itqan [I,
p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, masahif, p. 210.]
the mushaf of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (d. 44H/664)
contained the same material as Ubay had.
There is only one variant
reported from him in Sura al- baqara, namely that he
read Ibraham in place of Ibrahim.
Hafsa (d. 45H/665) had three
variants in the same sura, and Anas b. Malik (d.
91H/709) had five.
Examples:
To further illustrate, here are a
number of examples. They have been taken, as far as
possible, from well-known suras. While perhaps
better examples exist to illustrate the points under
discussion, they might not be understood as easily
by readers less familiar with the Qur'anic text.
Difference in vowelling:
Ibn 'Abbas [I,
p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, masahif, p. 208.]
is reported to have read in sura
111:4
hamilatun al-hatab,
in place of
hammalata-l-hatab
which could not be distinguished
on the basis of the early written text, which
omitted both haraka and alif.
Difference in spelling:
Ibn 'Abbas [I,
p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, masahif, p. 195.]
reportedly wrote in sura 1:6 as well as all other
places the word al-sirat as al-sirat.
Some variants attributed to Ibn
Mas'ud: [I,
p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, masahif, p. 25.]
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1. in Sura al-fatiha:
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1:6
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he read
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arshidna
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in place of
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Ihdina
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he read
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man
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in place of
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al ladhina
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he read
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ghaira
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in place of
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Ghairi
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2. in sura al-baqara:
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2:2
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he read
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tanzilu-l-kitabiin
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in place of
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Dhalika-l-kitabu
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2:7
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he read
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ghishwatun
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in place of
|
Ghishawatun
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2:9
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he read
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yakhda'dna
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in place of
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Yukhadi'una
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2:14
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he read
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bi shayatinihim
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in place of
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ila shayatinihim etc.
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Variants
on Sura Al-lkhlas, (112)
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Verse
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Ibn Mas'ud [I,
p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, masahif, p. 113.]
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'Ubaid [I,
p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, masahif, p. 180.]
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'Umar [I,
p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, masahif, p. 222.]
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normal reading by
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112:1
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qul
omitted
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qul
omitted
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qul
omitted
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Ali, Ibn Abbas, Abu Musa,
Hafsa
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al wahid, in place of al
ahad
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Anas b. Malik, Zaid b.
Thabit, Ibn al Zubair, Ibn Amr,
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112:2
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omitted
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112:3
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lam yulad wa lam yulid,
in place of lam yalid wa lam yulad
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Aisha, Salim, Umm Salama,
Ubaid b. Umar
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Even today the variants and
synonyms are found in such copies of the text as are
attributed to the Companions and are of some value
to us in the sense that they may have served as an
early rudimentary form of tafsir. For example,
according to some reports the words 'salat al-wusta'
(middle prayer) were read and written by Hafsa, [Muwatta'
Malik; Jeffery, p. 214.]
Ubay [Jeffery,
p. 122.] and Ibn
'Abbas [Jeffery,
p. 196.] as 'salat
al-'asr' (i.e. afternoon prayer).
As long as the sahaba wrote their
own copies for personal use only, there was nothing
wrong, if they did not strictly adhere to the order
of suras which was the order of the Qur'an. Later
on, when 'Uthman's copy became the standard version,
the Companions adopted the order of this copy
including Ibn Mas'ud who perhaps differed most. [Ibn
Abi Dawud, p. 12; Salih, S.: Mabahith fi 'ulum al-qura'n,
Beirut, 1964,]
There were also, as indicated,
some variant readings in these copies, [See
also below, seven readings and qira'at.]
when some words were pronounced and spelt in
slightly different ways, etc. However, it should be
noted that variant readings are usually reported by
a single person only, and occasionally by perhaps
two or three while the version called the 'Uthmanic
text is mutawatir, i.e. transmitted by numerous
people and is without doubt authentic.
THE
MUSHAF OF 'UTHMAN
During the time of 'Uthman
differences in reading the Qur'an became obvious,
and after consultation with the Companions, 'Uthman
had a standard copy prepared from the Suhuf of Abu
Bakr that were kept with Hafsa at that time.
The following is the report
transmitted in the Sahih Bukhari:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman came to 'Uthman at the time
when the people of Sham and the people of Iraq
were waging war to conquer Arminya and Adharbijan.
Hudhaifa was afraid of their (the people of Sham
and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the
Qur'an, so he said to 'Uthmfin, 'O chief of the
Believers! Save this nation before they differ
about the Book (Qur'an), as Jews and the
Christians did before'. So 'Uthman sent a message
to Hafsa saying, 'Send us the manuscripts of the
Qur'an so that we may compile the Qur'anic
materials in perfect copies and return the
manuscripts to you'. Hafsa sent it to 'Uthman. 'Uthman
then ordered Zaid bin Thabit, 'Abdullah bin
Az-Zubair, Sa'id bin Al-'As and 'Abdur Rahman bin
Hari-bin Hisham to rewrite the manuscripts in
perfect copies. 'Uthman said to the three Quraishi
men, 'In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thabit on
any point in the Qur'an, then write it in the
dialect of Quraish as the Qur'an was revealed in
their tongue'. They did so, and when they had
written many copies, 'Uthman returned the original
manuscripts to Hafsa. 'Uthman sent to every Muslim
province one copy of what they had copied, and
ordered that all the other Qur'anic materials
whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or
whole copies, be burnt. Zaid bin Thabit added, 'A
verse from Sura al-Ahzab was missed by me when we
copied the Qur'an and I used to hear Allah's
Apostle reciting it. So we searched for it and
found it with Khuzaima bin Thabit Al-Ansari'.
(That verse was):
'Among
the Believers are men who have been true in their
convenant with Allah'
(33:
23). [Bukhari,
VI, No. 510]
The following events led to the
preparation of the mushaf of 'Uthman:
- Disputes had arisen among the Muslims about
the correct manner of reciting the Qur'an.
- 'Uthman borrowed the Suhuf, which were kept
with Hafsa.
- 'Uthman ordered four Companions, among them
Zaid bin Thabit, to rewrite the script in
perfect copies.
- 'Uthman sent these copies to the main
centres of the Muslims to replace other
materials that were in circulation.
Chronology
of the Written Text
Around 610 Muhammad's
Prophethood commences.
1st revelation in cave on
Mount Hira
Transmitted orally, later
in written form.
610-32 Muhammad in Makka
and Madina.
Continious revelation on
numerous occasions
Transmitted orally after
memorisation by many, and writing down of
revelation by various companions upon the
direct instruction of the Prophet himself.
632 Prophets death. Last
revelation few days before this.
Compelete revelation left
behind both in the memories of various
companions as well as on various writing
materials.
At the death of the
Prophet, complete revelation left behind.
632-34 Abu Bakrs caliphate
633 During the battle of
Yamama several companions who knew the Quran
by heart were killed.
Abu Bakr instructs Zaid b.
Thabit to prepare a single copy of the
complete revelation.
Zaid b. Thabit brings
together all the revelation into the Suhuf
from both oral as well as written sources
demanding two witnesses for each piece. The
Suhuf remain with Abu Bakr.
During the 1st/2nd year
after the Prophets death the entire revelation
was copied onto sheets (Suhuf).
634-44 Umar's Caliphate.
The Suhuf remain with Umar.
644-56 Uthmans Caliphate.
The Suhuf remain with Hafsa
bint Umar.
653 Campaign against
Armenia and Azerbaidjan.
Serious differences arose
among muslims about the correct recitation of
the Quran. Uthman instructs Zaid together with
three other sahaba to prepare copies from the
Suhuf kept with Hafsa.
Zaid and three Companions
prepare a number of fresh copies from the
Suhuf. These copies are sent to the various
muslim regions to replace other material in
circulation. Suhuf returned to Hafsa.
�Uthman also keeps one copy (mushaf).
Several copies of the
entire revelation available through out the
muslim lands.
What
the Prophet left to the Muslims
The revelation, as left by the
Prophet, was available both orally and written on
various materials. Its internal order was known to
the Muslims and strictly observed by them.
Abu Bakr collected these loose
materials and had their contents written on to
sheets (Suhuf).
The
Difference between Abu Bakr's and 'Uthman's
Collection
Abu Bakr had made one single copy
from the various verbal and written material. This
copy was later kept by 'Umar and then by his
daughter Hafsa.
'Uthman had many copies prepared
from this copy and sent them to various places in
the Muslim world, while the original Suhuf were
returned to Hafsa and remained with her until her
death. Later, Marwan b. Hakam (d. 65/684), according
to a report in Ibn Abi Dawud, collected it from her
heirs and had it destroyed, presumably fearing it
might become the cause for new disputes. 'Uthman
also kept one of the copies for himself. This
version of the text, also known as 'Mushaf 'Uthman
in fact constitutes the ijma'(consensus) of the
sahaba, all of whom agreed that it contained what
Muhammad had brought as revelation from Allah.
[According to Ibn
Abi Dawud (117-8)
eleven changes were made under al-Hajjaj, among them
e.g.
5:48
'shari'atan
wa minhajan'
into 'shir'atan
wa minhajan';
12:45
'ana
atikum bi-ta'wilihi'
into ana
unabbi'ukum bi ta'wilihi.
These are again according to Ibn Abi Dawud mistakes
which were made in the preparation of Uthmans copy (pp.
37-49).
The first version of 12:45
e.g. was the reading of 'Ubay (ibid.
p. 138)
and Ibn Masud (ibid.
p. 39).]
The wide distribution of this
text and its undisputed authority can also be
deduced from the reports on the battle of Siffin
(A.H. 37) 27 years after the death of the Prophet,
and five years after 'Uthman's copies were
distributed, Mu'awiya's troops fixed sheets from the
Qur'an on their spears to interrupt the battle. [See
Suyuti, History of the Caliphs. transl. H. S.
Jarrett. Baptist Mission Presss Calcutta. 1881, p.
177.] However
nobody accused anyone else of using a 'partisan'
version of the text, which would have made a
splendid accusation against the enemy.
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