brother_farrukh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: "brother_farrukh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 12:39:51 -0000
Subject: [ islam4all ] Uthman's Mushaf
Assalam alaikum,
During the reign of Uthman, selected by popular pledge (i.e. voted
into office) as the third Caliph, Muslims engaged in jihad to the
reaches of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the north. Hailing form various
tribes and provinces, these fighting forces possessed sundry dialects
and the Prophet, out of necessity, had taught them to recite the Quran
in their own dialects, gievn the difficulty of having them abandon
their natve tonuges so suddenly. But the resyltant differences in
pronunciation now began producing breaches and conflict within the
community.
I. Disputes in recitation and Uthman's response
Hudaifa bin al Yaman went to Uthman directly from the Azerbaijani and
Armenian frontier where, having united forces from Iraq with others
from Syria, he had observed regional differences over the
pronunciation of the Quran - differences which had caused friction. 'O
Caliph' he advised, 'take this community (umma) in hand before they
differ about the Book like the Christians and Jews'
[Bukhari, Sahih, hadith no 4987; Abu Ubaid, Fadail, p 282]
Such disagreements were not altogether new, fro Umar had anticipated
this danger during his Caliphate. Having sent Ibn masud to Iraq and
discovered him teaching in the dialext of Hudhail (as Ibn Masud had
originaly learned it), Umar rebuked him, 'The Quran was revealed in
the dialect of the Quraish, so teach according to the dialect of the
Quraish and not that of Hudhail.
[Ibn Hajr, fath al Bari, ix:9; NB. Hudhail were one of the tribes of
Arabia at that time]
Ibn Hajr's comments are valuable in this regard. 'For a non-Arab
Muslim who desires to read the Quran' he says, 'the most propious
choice is to read according to the Quraishi dialect. That is indeed
best for him (as all Arabic dialects for him will be of eual
difficulty, so might as well learn it in the dialect of revelation)'
[Ibn Hajr, fath al Bari, ix:27]
Hudaifa ibn al Yaman's warning to the Caliph came in 25 AH, and that
very year Uthman resolved to end these disputes. Assembling the
people, he explained the problem and sought their opinion on recital
in different dialects, keeping in mind that some might claim a
particular dialect superior based on their tribal affiliations.
[Ibn Abi Dawood, al Masahif, p 22; Suyuti, al Itqan, i: 170]
When asked about his own opinion Uthman replied, 'I see that we bring
the people on a single Mushaf (with a simple dialect) so that there is
neither division nor discord' And those who were gathered said, 'An
excellent proposal'
[Ibn Abi Dawood, al Masahif, p 22; Ibn Hajr, Fath al Bari, x: 402]
There are two narrations on how Uthman proceeded with this task. In
the first of these he made copies relying exclusively on the Suhuf
kept in Hafsa's custody, who was the Prophet's widow. A lesser-known
narration suggests that he first authorised the compilations of an
independent Mushaf, using primary sources, before comparing this with
the Suhhuf. Both versions concur that the Suhuf of hafsa played a
critical role in the making of Uthman;s Mushaf.
II. Uthman prepares a Mushaf directly from the Suhuf
According to the first report Uthman concluded his deliberation and
retrieved the Suhuf from Hafsa, arranging immediately for the scribing
of duplicate copies. Al-Bara narrates,
'So Uthman sent Hafsa a message saying, Send us the Suhuf so that we
may make perfect copies and then return the Suhuf back to you. Hafsa
sent it to Uthman who ordered Zaid ibn Thabit, Abdually ibn Zubair,
Said ibn Al Aas and Abdur Rahman ibn al Karith to make duplicate
copies. He told the three Quraishi men, Shold you disagree with Zaid
ibn Thabit on any point regarding the Quran, wriet it in the dialect
of the Quraish as the Quran was revealed in their ongue. They did so,
and when they had prepared several copies, Uthman returned the Suhuf
to Hafsa...'
[Ibn Hajr, Fath al Bari, ix:11 hadith # 4987; Ibn Abi Dawood, Al
Masahif, pp 19-20; Abu Ubaid, Fadail, p 282]
III. Uthman makes an independant copy of the Mushaf
The second account is somewhat more complex. Ibn Sirin (d. 110 AH)
reports, 'When Uthman decided to collect the Quran he asembled a
committee of twelve from both the Quraish and the Ansar. Among them
were Ubayy ibn Kaab and Zaid ibn Thabit.
[Ibn Saad, tabaqat, iii/2:62]
The identities of these twelce are as follows. Al Muarrij as Sadusi
states, 'The newly prepared Mushaf was shown to Said ibn al Ass for
proof reading', Nafi ibn Zuraib, Zaid ibn Thabit, Ubayy ibn Kaab,
Abdullah ibn az Zubair, Abdur Raman ibn Hisham and Kathir ibn Aflah,
Anas ibn malik, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Malik ibn Amir, Abdullah ibn Umar
and Abdullah ibn Amr al Aas.
[Al-Muarrij as Sadusi, Kitab Hadhfin min Nasab Quraish, p 35, p 42;
Ibn Abi Dawood, al Masahif pp 20, 25-6; Ibn Hajr, fath al Bari, ix:
19; Al Baqillani, al Intisar, p 358]
Uthman commissioned these twelve men to manage this task by collecting
and tabulating all the Quranic parchments written in the Prophets
presence.
The great historian Ibn Asakir (d. 571 AH) reports in his History of
Damascus,
'Uthman delivered a sermon and said, The people have diverged in
theirrecitations, and I am determined that whoever holds any verses
dictated by the Prophet himself must bring them to me. So the people
brought their verses, written on parchment and bones and leaves, and
anyone contributing to this pile was first questioned by Uthman. Did
you learn these verses directly from the the Prophet himself? All
contributors answered under oath.
[Ibn manzur, Mukhtasar Tariq Dimasq, xvi: 171-2; Ibn Abi Dawood, al
Masahif, pp 23-4]
All collected materual was individually labelled and then handed to
Zaid ibn Thabit.
[Jeffery, Muqaddimatan, p 22]
Malik ibn Abu Amir relates, I was among those whom the Mushaf was
dictated (from written sources) and if any controversies concerning a
particular verse they would say, 'Where is the scriber of this
parchment? Precisely how did the Prophet teach him this verse?'. And
they would resyme scribing, leaving that portion blanc and sending for
the man in question to clarify his scribing.
[Ibn Abi Dawood, al-Masahif, pp 21-2]
Thus an independant copy gradually emerged, with the twelve setting
aside all uncertainties in spelling conventions so that Uthman might
attend to these personally.
[Ibn Abi Dawood, al Masahif, pp 19, 25]
Abu Ubaid lists a few such cases. One uncertainty for example lay in
the spelling of at-tabut, whether to use an open 't' or a closed one.
Hani al-Barbari, a client of Uthman, reports, 'I was with Uthman when
the committee was comparing the Mushaf. He sent me to Ubayy ibn Kaab
with a sheep's shoulder bone containing three different words from
three different surahs (a word each from 2:259, 30:30 and 86:17),
asking him to revise the spellings. So Ubayy wrote them down (with the
revised spelling)'.
[Abu Ubaid, Fadail, pp 286-7]
Uthman ibn Shabba, narrating through Sawwar ibn Shabib reports, 'Going
in to see Ibn az Zubair in a small group, I asked him why Uthman
destroyed all old copies of the Quran... He replied, 'During Umar's
reign an excessively talkative man approached the Caliph and told him
that the people were differing in their pronunciation of the Quran.
Umar resolved therefore to collect all copies of the Quran and
standardise their pronunciation, but he suffered that fatal stabbing
before he could carry the matter any further. During Uthman's reign
this same man came to remind him of the issue, so Uthman commissioned
his independant Mushaf. Then he sent me to the Prophet's widow, Aisha
to retrieve parchments upon which the Prophet had dictated the Quran
in its entirety. The independently prepared Mushaf was then checked
against these parchments, and after the correction of all errors he
ordered that al other copies of the Quran be destroyed.
[Ibn Shabba, Tarikh al-Madina, pp 990-991; Suyuti, al-Itqan, ii:272]
There are some useful details in this narration regarding the
acquisition of parchments from Aisha's custody, through by
traditionist standards the narrative is weak.
The following report however lends strength to the previous one. Ibn
Shabba narrates on the authority of Harun ibn Umar who relates, 'When
Uthman wanted to make an official copy, he asked Aisha to send him
those parchments which were dictated by the Prophet and which shekept
in her house. He then ordered Zaid ibn Thabit to correct accordingly,
as he himself was not free since he wanted to devote his time to
governing the people and judging among them'
[Ibn Shabba, Tarikh al Madina, p 997]
Similarly Ibn Ushta (d. 370 AH) reports in al-Masahif that Uthman
resolving on an autonomous copy using primary sources, sent to Aisha's
house for the Suhuf. In this account a few differences were found,
with Uthman's copy being corrected as necessary.
[As Suyuti, al Itqan, ii: 272]
Gathering these narratives together gives s the following: Uthman
pepared an independant copy relying entirely on primary sources, which
included the Companions parchments along with additional material held
by Aisha. This can be concluded from the following hadiths in the
Sahih of Bukhari:
Zaid ibn Thabit reports that when he was compiling the Quran during
the reign of Abu Bakr, he could not locate two ayahs from the end of
Sura Baraa till he found them with Abu Khuzaima al ansari, with no one
else posessing a first hand copt. The completed Suhuf were kept in Abu
Bakr's custody till he passed.
Kharja ibn Zaid ibn Thabit transmitted from his faither, Zaid ibn
Thabit, 'While we were copying the Mushaf I missed an ayah (no 23 from
Sura al Ahzab) which i used to hear the Prophet reciting. We sought it
until it was found with Khuzaima ibn Thabit al ansari and then
inserted it into its proper Mushaf.
These two hadith have caused confusion among some scholars, mainly due
to the proximity of the two names. Note that the two are distinct:
Khuzaima and Abu Khuzaima. Now if we read the hadith carefully, we see
that Zaid used the word Suhuf for the collection during Abu Bakr's
regin, and the word Mushaf or Masahif (pl of Mushaf) for the work he
did under Uthman's supervision. Thus we may safely conclude that these
two are two different instances of compilation.
IV. Uthman retrieves the Suhuf from Hafsa for Verification
Zaid ibn Thabit said, 'When I was revising (Uthman's independenty)
Mushaf I discovered that it lacked the ayah, so I searched among the
Muhajirin and the Ansar, till I found it with Khuzaima ibn Thabit al
Ansari. So I wrote it down... Then I revised once more and did not
fins anything questionable. Uthman then send to Hafsa and asked to
borrow the Suhuf which had been entrusted to her, she gace it to him
only after he vowed to return it. In comparing these two, I found no
discrepencies. So I gave it back to Uthman and he, with an elated
spirit, ordered the people to make duplicate copies of the Mushaf.
[Ibn Shabba, Tarikh al Madina, pp 1001-2]
So this time the independent copy was rechecked against the official
Suhuf which resided with Hafsa.
One may wonder why Caliph Uthman took the trouble to compile an
autonomous copy, when the end product was to be compared with the
Suhuf anyway. The likeliest reason is a symbolic one. A decade earlier
thousands of Companions engaged in the battles against apostacy in
Yamama and elsewhere, were unable to participate in the Suhuf's
compilation. In drawing from a larger pool of written materials,
'Uthman's independent copy propovided these surviving Companions with
an opportunity to partake of this momentous endeavour'.
In the above account no inconsistencies were found between the Suhuf
and the independent Mushaf, and from this two broad conclusions
emerge: first, the Quranic text was thoroughly stable from the
earliest days and not as some allege, fluid and volatile, until the
third centuy; and second, the methods involved in compilation during
both reigns were meticulous and accurate.
V. The sanctioning and distribution of Uthman's Mushaf
This definitive copy, once verified against the Suhuf was 'read to the
companions in Uthman's presence'.
[Ibn Kathir, Fadail, vii: 450]
With the final recitation over, he dispatched duplicate copies for
distribution throughout the many provinces of the Islamic nation. His
general injuctions that people 'write down the Mushafs' suggests that
he wanted the companions to make duplicate copies of the Mushaf for
their personal use.
With the task complete, the ink on the final copy dry, and duplicate
copies dispatched, there was no need fr the numerous fragments of the
Quran circulating in people's hands. So all such fragments were burned.
Masub ibn Saad asserts that the people were pleased with Uthman's
decisions; at the very least no one voiced any objections.
[Abu Ubaid, Fadail, p 294; a-Dani, al-Muqu, p 18]
Other reports confirm this unanimous approval, including, Ai ibn Abi
Talib who says, 'By Allah, he did what he did with these fragments in
the presence of us all (i.e. none of us objected)'
[Ibn Abi Dawood, al Masahif, p 22]
VI. Uthman sends reciters along with Mushafs
No copy was sent forth without a qari (reciter). These included:
- Zaid ibn Thabit to Medina
- Abdullah ibn as Said to Mecca
- Al-Mughira ibn Shibab to Syria
- Amir ibn Abd Qais to Basra
- Abu Abdur Rahman as Sulami to Kufa
Abdul fath al Qadi said, 'Each of these scholars recited to the people
in his respective city in the manner he had learned it through
authenticated, multiple channels going back to the Prophet, insofar as
these channels lay in complete agreement with each other and fit the
Mushaf's consonantal skeleton. Any mode of recitation arriving through
a single channel was discarded. Dispatching reciters with the Mushafs
meant limiting the possibilities that were compatible with the
consonantal script to only those that enjoyed authenticated and
multiple backing... Sending a scholar with every Mushaf was,
therefore, elucidating that proper recitation was dependent on the
learning through direct contact with teachers whose transmission
channels reached to the Prophet, not simply a product of script or
spelling conventions'.
[Abdul Fattah al Qadi, al Qiraat fi Nazar al Mustashriqin wa
al-Mulhidn, Majallat al-Azhar, vol 43/2, 1391 (1971 AD), p 175]
[Azami, The History of the Quranic Text, pp 87 - 95]
May God have mercy and help us understand the value and efforts
undertaken to preserve the Quran by the early Muslims for benefit of
all time, ameen.
fi amanillah, assalam alaikum, f
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
The Beneficent, the Merciful.
Master of the Day of Judgment.
Thee do we serve and Thee do we beseech for help.
Keep us on the right path.
The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors. Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray.[the Holy Quran-chapter#1 verse 1-7]
"Say: we believe in God and in what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma'il: Isaac, Jacob and The Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus and the Prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another, among them, and to God do we bow our will (in Islam)." (Qur'an, Al-Imran 3:84)
"So,verily,with every difficulty,there is relief."-[THE HOLY QURAN,094.005]
"If Allah is your protector,none can overcome you,and if He forsakes you, then who can help you? Trust Allah and have faith in His sovereign power"[Qur'an, Al-Imran, Surah 3:160]
"Faint not nor grieve for you will overcome them if you are(indeed) believers."[Qur'an, Aal -e-imraan-3,verse 139]
"And say "O my Lord! I seek refuge with Thee from the suggestions of the Evil Ones.And I seek refuge with Thee O my Lord! lest they should come near me." [Qur'an, AL-MUMENOON 023.097-98]
"O ye who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are true (in word and deed)." [Qur'an , Al-Tauba,009.119]
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