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Ulum_al_Qur'an |
An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur'an
Ahmad von Denffer
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: The Qur'an and Revelation
CHAPTER 2 : Transmission of the Qur'anic Revelation
CHAPTER 3 : The Qur'an in Manuscript and Print
CHAPTER 4: Form, Language and Style
CHAPTER 5 : Understanding the Text
CHAPTER 6 : Interpreting the Text
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.
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)
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]
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.]
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.
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]
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.]
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.]
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.
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.
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]
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.
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.]
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
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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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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.
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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