Al-Mushaf al-'Uthmani: Difference between revisions

'''Al-Muṣhaf al-ʿUthmānī''' (Arabic: {{ia|المصحف العثماني}}) is a manuscript of the [[Qur'an]], which was compiled at the command of [[Uthman b. Affan]]. It was called al-Mushaf al-Uthmani, or sometimes '''Mushaf al-Imam'''. The reason for the compilation of the mushaf was the existence of a variety of Quranic manuscripts among [[Muslim]]s and disputes over them. After the compilation of al-Mushaf al-Uthmani, other [[mushaf]]s or manuscripts were destroyed at the command of Uthman. On the majority view, compilers of al-Mushaf al-Uthmani were four people: [[Zayd b. Thabit]], [[Abd Allah b. Zubayr]], [[Sa'id b. 'As]], and Abd al-Rahman b. Harith.

"Mushaf" is a word referring to the [[Qur'an]]. According to historical sources, such use of the word traces back to the period of [[Abu Bakr]]. According to Quranic scholars, the [[Prophet (s)]] himself never compiled the whole Qur'an within a single manuscript, although he had specified [[verse|Quranic verses]] and names of [[sura|Quranic suras]]. The compilation of the Qur'an with separate suras and the arrangement of its suras were carried out after the [[demise of the Prophet (s)]] by his [[companions]]. Every one of the companions began to compile their own Quranic manuscript after the Prophet's demise. Thus, many mushafs or manuscripts came to exist. [[Mushaf of Imam Ali (a)]], Mushaf of [[Abd Allah b. Mas'ud]], Mushaf of [[Ubayy b. Ka'b]], Mushaf of [[Abu Musa al-Ash'ari]], and Mushaf of [[Miqdad b. al-Aswad]] were the best-known mushafs compiled by the [[companions]].

Since mushafs compiled by the companions were different in their arrangements of suras and spellings, they gave rise to disagreements among Muslims over the Qur'an. Each group of the companions considered their own mushaf to be the right one, and took other manuscripts to be inaccurate or fabricated. Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Hujjati, a scholar of Quranic sciences, has quoted al-Tabari as saying that such disagreements sometimes led to [[takfir]].

To settle the disputes, [[Uthman b. Affan]] ordered four people to compile a single Quranic manuscript based on the available manuscripts at the time. He also ordered the destruction of all available manuscripts of the Qur'an in different Islamic areas at the time.

There is a disagreement over when al-Mushaf al-Uthmani was compiled. According to Ibn al-Hajar al-Asqalani, a [[Shafi'i]] [[muhaddith]] of eighth/fourteenth and ninth/fifteenth centuries, the compilation took place in 25/646, but according to Ibn al-Athir, a historian of sixth/twelfth and seventh/thirteenth centuries, it took place in 30/651. Some scholars of [[Quranic sciences]] have cited certain evidence to show that the latter view is inaccurate. One piece of evidence is that [[Sa'id b. al-As]], one of the four compilers of al-Mushaf al-Uthmani, was not present in [[Mecca]] from 30/651 to 34/655.

There are different accounts of who was in charge of the compilation of al-Mushaf al-Uthmani. On one account, only [[Zayd b. Thabit]] was in charge, but on another account, he and Sa'id b. al-As were involved in the work. On another account, the group consisted of the latter two in addition to [[Ubayy b. Ka'b|Ubayy]]. Yet there are also accounts that take five people or twelve people from the [[Quraysh]] and the [[Helpers]] to be in charge of the compilation.

Some people take the most reliable account to be the one provided by [[Anas b. Malik]] and Aslam, an emancipated slave of [[Umar b. Khattab]], who cooperated with the compilation group. On this account, four people were in charge of the compilation: Zayd b. Thabit, [[Abd Allah b. Zubayr]], Sa'id b. al-As, and Abd al-Rahman b. Harith. [[Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat]], a scholar of Quranic sciences and the author of ''[[al-Tamhid fi 'ulum al-Qur'an]]'', explains the account on which twelve people were involved as follows: the four people could not accomplish such a heavy task on their own; thus, they asked for the help of other people such as [[Abd Allah b. Abbas]] and Anas b. Malik as well.

[[Zayd b. Thabit]] was the head and supervisor of the group. He was from the Helpers and was trusted by Uthman and was in charge of the [[Treasury]] (Bayt al-Mal). The other three people were all from the Quraysh and were Uthman's sons in law. [[Abd Allah b. Mas'ud]], a prominent companion of the Prophet (s), objected to the choice of people. He objected to the headship of Zayd b. Thabit by saying: "the compilation of the Qur'an is assigned to someone who was not still born when I converted to Islam".

According to historical accounts, al-Mushaf al-Uthmani was compiled in accordance to a manuscript that was transcribed in the period of [[Abu Bakr]]. It was also based on manuscripts of Quranic [[sura]]s transcribed in the period of the [[Prophet (s)]] as well as [[Ubayy b. Ka'b|Ubayy]]'s mushaf. Uthman told the group to apply the [[Quraysh]] dialect if there is a disagreement over a word, since the Qur'an was [[revealed]] with the dialect of the Quraysh.

According to [[Mahmud Ramyar]], the author of ''[[Tarikh-i Qur'an]]'' (the history of the Qur'an), the compilation of al-Mushaf al-Uthmani was accomplished with the highest degree of precision. He cites Malik b. Abi Amir as saying that whenever the compilers disagreed over a Quranic verse, they left a blank in the manuscript until they could find someone who had heard the verse from the Prophet (s) himself, so that they could be assured of the accurate version of the verse. Régis Blachère, a French Orientalist who translated the Qur'an into French, says that the compilers of al-Mushaf al-Uthmani were undoubtedly highly responsible and wrote the manuscript with great precision.

According to [[Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat]], just like other manuscripts of the Qur'an compiled before al-Mushaf al-Uthmani, the mushaf has arranged Quranic [[sura]]s from longest to shortest. However, there were slight differences between them. For example, in mushafs compiled by the [[companions]], [[Qur'an 10]] was considered as a long sura, and thus it was positioned as the seventh or eighth sura, but in al-Mushaf al-Uthmani, [[Qur'an 8]] and [[Qur'an 9]] replaced Qur'an 10, because Uthman took them to be one sura, and thus, longer than Qur'an 10. It is said that [[Ibn Abbas]] objected to Uthman for this.

Another feature of al-Mushaf al-Uthmani was that it did not involve diacritic dots on its letters, because of the primitiveness of the Arabic writing at the time. For example, letters such as, "تـ" ,"بـ" ,"يـ" and "ثـ", as well as "ج", "ح" and "خ", were all written without diacritic dots and thus they looked the same. Also, words were written without other diacritic sings that indicated their grammatical functions; for example, {{ia|یعلمه}} and {{ia|نعلمه}} were written similarly (where one is third-person singular and the other is first-person plural form of the verb). Thus, to learn the Qur'an in that period one needed to hear it from Quranic reciters. According to ''[[Al-Tamhid fi 'ulum al-Qur'an (book)|al-Tamhid]]'', lack of diacritic signs was the most significant factor in the formation of different [[recitation]]s of the Qur'an.

There are also reports of different views of certain companions over some words within al-Mushaf al-Uthmani. For example, "hadhan" (these two)" in the phrase "hadhan la-sahiran" (truly these two are magicians) must, in accordance with regular rules of the Arabic grammar, be "hadhayn", "not "hadhan". Thus, [[Aisha]] and [[Sa'id b. Jubayr]] pronounced it in the latter way, because they thought the way it was written in the mushaf was wrong.  

According to [[al-Tabrisi]] in his ''[[Majma' al-bayan]]'', some of the [[Seven Reciters]] of the Qur'an have also recited it as "hadhayn". There is a report that Uthman himself also considered it as wrong, but did not change it because it does not amount to the permission of something impermissible or the forbiddance of something unforbidden.  

In ''Jami' al-bayan'', [[Imam Ali (a)]] is quoted as saying that the phrase, "ṭalḥ manḍūd", (a banana tree with clusters of fruits) should be pronounced as "talʿ manḍūd" (dense clusters of palms), but he did not permit people to change it.

According to [[Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat]], [[Imams of the Shia]] did not object to al-Mushaf al-Uthmani. Thus, Shiites take the Qur'an which is available today as accurate and complete. Al-Suyuti cites a [[hadith]] according to which Uthman consulted with [[Imam Ali (a)]] over the compilation of the mushaf, and he agreed to it. According to a [[hadith]] cited in ''[[Wasa'il al-shi'a]]'', [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]] prohibited a person from reciting the Qur'an with non-standard recitations.

According to historical sources, original manuscripts of al-Mushaf al-Uthmani were deemed sacred by Muslims and were particularly protected. However, despite the fact that many other manuscripts were transcribed based on them, there are no precise information as to the fate of those original manuscripts. Because of special respect that a city or a mosque received because of having an original manuscript of al-Mushaf al-Uthmani, there was feverish rivalry over obtaining a manuscript. Thus, there have always been manuscripts that are claimed to be an Uthmani Mushaf, although such claims are rejected by scholars who believe that there is no trace of such mushafs today.

For example, there is a manuscript of the Qur'an, known as the Mushaf of Samarkand, in Tashkent which was claimed to be the same mushaf on which [[Uthman]] was murdered and his blood was shed. However, according to [[Mahmud Ramyar]], although the manuscript is very old and lacks diacritic signs, it does not date back to the period of Uthman. Moreover, there is a manuscript of the Qur'an in a museum in [[Istanbul]] which is attributed to Uthman, but since it has diacritic signs, the claim must not be true.

Mushafs sent by Uthman to different parts of the Islamic world at the time attracted the attentions of Muslims. Shortly after the compilation of Uthmani Mushafs, many manuscripts were written based on them. According to Mahmud Ramyar, since the second/eighth century, there were people who devoted their life to the transcription of the Qur'an. For example, Abu Amr al-Shaybani wrote over eighty manuscripts and put them in the [[Mosque of Kufa]]. Quranic manuscripts were soon proliferated. For example, in 403/1013-14, al-Hakim Billah, the [[Fatimid]] [[Caliph]] in [[Egypt]] sent 1298 manuscripts of the Qur'an to 'Atiq Jami' Mosque and 814 manuscripts to al-Tuluni Mosque .

[[Iran]] was the first Muslim country to print the Qur'an. In 1243/1826-27 and 1248/1832, two gorgeous lithographical prints of the [[Qur'an]] were published in Iran. Later, other Islamic countries, such as [[Turkey]], [[Egypt]], and [[Iraq]], also printed the Qur'an.