The Qur'an and Its Study. Adnan Zarzour
on the basis of a report by a single transmitter, or by any other means. It was a collation of a ‘master copy’, as it were. It was not intended by Abū Bakr, or the Prophet’s Companions, to abrogate or invalidate the private collections that some of the Prophet’s Companions, such as ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd, Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī, al-Miqdād ibn ‘Amr, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b and ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, had. These collections consisted of their own writings of what they heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) reciting. What Abū Bakr and ‘Umar were concerned with was to have a complete and certified copy that was collated under the supervision of a large number of people who had memorised the Qur’an and the general Muslim community. A number of those who had their private collections were leading participants in this endeavour. These collections did not differ with the master copy except in two ways: the arrangement of some surahs and some explanatory readings or pronunciations.108 They wrote for themselves and confirmed that the Qur’an was revealed in seven different pronunciation ways, as we will discuss in Chapter 9.
The author of Al-Mabānī explains their different arrangements of the surahs, stating that ‘When a Companion of the Prophet memorised or wrote down a surah revealed to the Prophet and then went away on an expedition, a surah might be revealed in his absence. When he came back he would start to learn and write what was revealed during his period of absence at his convenience. As a result, there may be some differences of arrangement in his writing... Trust in the truth and certainty of the Qur’an is by no means compromised by the lack of order in the arrangement of the surahs, as these surahs were known to all of them, protected against any addition or omission. Nor does it detract from the poetry of someone like Zuhayr or al-A‘shā that their poems were kept in no particular order and then compiled within a book in no particular order.’109
Differences of addition or omission, particularly the latter, were non-existent. Whoever thinks otherwise overlooks what we have said earlier about these collections, which were private ones. The writer of any collection might write down on a scroll a supplication or a Hadith, knowing very well that it was not part of the Qur’an, or he might choose not to write down a surah despite the fact that everyone knew the same to be part of the Qur’an. Ibn Mas‘ūd’s collection, for example, did not include the opening surah, al-Fātiḥah. Ibn Qutaybah said: ‘How could it be thought that he overlooked it when he was known to take extreme care of the Qur’an? Scholars believe that he thought that the Qur’an was put together between two covers to guard against doubt, forgetfulness, addition or omission. He might have also thought that this did not apply to al-Fātiḥah. As he believed that the cause of writing down the Qur’an did not apply to it, he did not write it knowing fully well that it is part of the Qur’an.’110
We may state here that it is very unlikely that any one of the Prophet’s Companions committed himself, or was able, to write down the Qur’an in full, leaving nothing out. Hence, when we speak of their copies we only mean their own personal collections, i.e. what each of them wrote down for his own use.
3.2 However, the presence of these different collections along with Abū Bakr’s master copy, and the travels of the Prophet’s Companions to different places in the Muslim state, led to great variations in reciting the Qur’an. This opened the way to the third and last stage of collation, certification and publication of the Qur’an, which was undertaken by ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, the third Caliph. Al-Bukharī gives us the following report:
Anas ibn Mālik said that Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān returned from participating with the troops from Syria and Iraq fighting in Armenia and Azerbaijan and met ‘Uthmān. Ḥudhayfah was worried by the disputes that occurred among the people in reciting the Qur’an. He said to the Caliph: Save the nation before they dispute over God’s book as the Jews and Christians disputed before them. ‘Uthmān sent to Ḥafṣah requesting her to send over the collated copy ‘so that we can make copies of it and we will return it to you after we finish.’ Ḥafṣah sent it to ‘Uthmān. He ordered Zayd ibn Thābit, ‘Abdullāh ibn al-Zubayr, Sa‘īd ibn al-‘Āṣ and ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, and they made copies of it. ‘Uthmān said to the three people from the Quraysh: ‘If you differ with Zayd over something of the Qur’an, write it according to the Qurayshi pronunciation, as the Qur’an was revealed in their tongue.’ They did so. When they completed their task and finished copying, ‘Uthmān returned the master copy to Ḥafṣah and he sent a copy to each province. He ordered that whatever else was written of the Qur’an in a sheet or a collection was to be burnt.111
This Hadith makes clear that the focus on this occasion was on the written form, or rather the writing that suits the pronunciation and which could accommodate the well documented variants. Other reports related by Abū Dāwūd and quoted in Al-Burhān and Al-Itqān indicate that the disputes that worried Hudhayfah when Muslim armies from Syria and Iraq joined together resulted from the fact that the Syrians adopted Ubayy ibn Ka‘b’s recitation, while those from Iraq followed ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd’s recitation. Others even adopted that of Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī. All three were Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who had memorised the Qur’an and who had taken extreme care in learning it from the Prophet (peace be upon him) and then teaching it. Yet when these armies joined together people started to say to one another: ‘Our recitation is better than yours.’112 This is something that would certainly worry any Companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him). In addition to the fact that reading variants were admissible because the Qur’an was revealed in seven different forms of pronunciation, it also indicates that an aspect of individuality was imparted to the copy collated by Abū Bakr, despite the great care that was taken in putting it together.113 What helped to give this impression was that this master copy was carefully kept by the two Caliphs and the fact that all the Prophet’s Companions had generally the same or similar status; in other words, the Caliph was not particularly distinguished in the Muslim community at the time. With the disputes mentioned by Ḥudhayfah, it was necessary to make the master copy more accessible and available throughout the Muslim provinces. It should be a document available to all people. This is what ‘Uthmān did, according to numerous reports. Such action was also approved by all the Prophet’s Companions.114
3.3 The above-quoted report in al-Bukhārī states that the committee that undertook this work consisted of four of the Prophet’s best Companions who knew the Qur’an by heart and who were also well versed in its recitation. Three of them belonged to the Quraysh, i.e. originated from Makkah, whilst Zayd ibn Thābit belonged to the Anṣār.
Some reports suggest that those who were assigned to complete this task were more than four.115 However, it appears that the committee appointed by the Caliph consisted of these four, but the fact that the Prophet’s Companions who were interested in this task and were consulted to confirm the various readings by the Prophet (peace be upon him) led to the feeling that the committee included a larger number. A report by Ibn Ashtah mentions that, worried by the dispute, ‘Uthmān said to the people [in Madinah]: ‘Let Muhammad’s Companions meet and write a master copy of the Qur’an for the people.’ They did so. If they differed on a verse and could not agree, some of them would say: ‘This was taught by the Prophet to this man.’ They would send for him even if he lived at a distance requiring three days of travel. He would then be asked: ‘How did the Prophet teach you this verse’. He would tell them, and they would write it as he said in the place they kept for it.
Another report mentions that after the master copy that was kept in Ḥafṣah’s home was brought in, ‘Uthmān ‘used to attend them and look at their work. When they differed on something, they would delay writing it. He said: I thought that they delayed it until they had consulted the one who was most familiar with the last recitation of the Prophet to Gabriel. They would write it as he would tell them’.116
The last two reports indicate that the difference between them was certainly as regards pronunciation, and consequently on how to write a certain word, as clearly indicated by al-Bukhārī’s earlier report.
3.4 According to Dr Draz:
The publication of the Qur’anic