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Textual History of the Qur'an: Difference between revisions
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Textual History of the Qur'an (view source)
Revision as of 03:48, 10 November 2020
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Narrated Anas bin Malik: | Narrated Anas bin Malik: | ||
When the Prophet died, none had collected the Qur'an but four persons: '''Abu Ad Darda, Mu'adh bin Jabal, Zaid bin Thabit and Abu Zaid'''. We were the inheritor (of Abu Zaid) as he had no offspring .}} | When the Prophet died, none had collected the Qur'an but four persons: '''Abu Ad Darda, Mu'adh bin Jabal, Zaid bin Thabit and Abu Zaid'''. We were the inheritor (of Abu Zaid) as he had no offspring .}} | ||
=== The Collection of the Qur'anic Corpus under Caliph Uthman === | |||
Multiple sources report that the third caliph Uthman ordered various copies of the Qur'an to be burnt because there were clear differences in the recitation of Qur'an among people of Sham and people of Iraq. The differences were so great Uthman and his companions feared future dispute about true Qur'an and its contents. So Uthman asked Hafsa for her copy and he ordered to make many copies of Qur'an and to burn and destroy all the existing copies of the Qur'an. Uthman ordered others to accept Hafsa's copy as the official Qur'anic text. That this happened at all indicates at one time even the Muslim community acknowledged the existence of multiple divergent versions of the Qur'an. | |||
Narrated Anas bin Malik: | |||
{{Quote|{{bukhari|6|61|510}}|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 'Uthman, "O chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book (Quran) 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 AzZubair, Said bin Al-As and 'AbdurRahman bin Harith 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, 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'''. Said bin Thabit added, "A Verse from Surat 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 covenant with Allah.' (33.23)}} | |||
===Disagreements on the Qur'an and its Burning=== | ===Disagreements on the Qur'an and its Burning=== | ||
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From Abu Ubaid we find that, whereas Surah 17:16 in the standard text reads ''amarnaa mutrafiihaa fafasaquu'', Ubay read this clause ''ba'athnaa akaabira mujri-miihaa fdmakaruu''.<ref>cf. Nِldeke 3.88; Jeffery, p.140</ref> | From Abu Ubaid we find that, whereas Surah 17:16 in the standard text reads ''amarnaa mutrafiihaa fafasaquu'', Ubay read this clause ''ba'athnaa akaabira mujri-miihaa fdmakaruu''.<ref>cf. Nِldeke 3.88; Jeffery, p.140</ref> | ||
== | ==Extant Early Manuscripts== | ||
A significant number of early Hijazi manuscript fragments have been radio-carbon dated to the first Islamic century, covering the vast majority of the Qur'an between them. All but one of those discovered so far have been of the Uthmanic text type (the exception being the Sana'a manuscript<ref>"The text does not belong to the 'Uṯmānic textual tradition, making this the only known manuscript of a non-'Uṯmānic text type." Behnam Sadeghi and Uwe Bergmann, “The Codex of a Companion of the Prophet and the Qur’ān of the Prophet,” Arabica 57, no. 4 (2010): 343–436. p.343</ref>). However, these manuscripts are not identical. Every early manuscript falls into a small number of regional families (identified by variants in their rasm, or consonantal text), and each moreover contains variants in dotting and lettering that can often be traced back to those reported of the Companions.<ref name="Morteza Karimi-Nia">Morteza Karimi-Nia of the Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation, Tehran, says in a paper on the Codex Mashhad manuscript: | A significant number of early Hijazi manuscript fragments have been radio-carbon dated to the first Islamic century, covering the vast majority of the Qur'an between them. All but one of those discovered so far have been of the Uthmanic text type (the exception being the [[Sana'a Manuscript|Sana'a manuscript]]<ref>"The text does not belong to the 'Uṯmānic textual tradition, making this the only known manuscript of a non-'Uṯmānic text type." Behnam Sadeghi and Uwe Bergmann, “The Codex of a Companion of the Prophet and the Qur’ān of the Prophet,” Arabica 57, no. 4 (2010): 343–436. p.343</ref>). However, these manuscripts are not identical. Every early manuscript falls into a small number of regional families (identified by variants in their rasm, or consonantal text), and each moreover contains variants in dotting and lettering that can often be traced back to those reported of the Companions.<ref name="Morteza Karimi-Nia">Morteza Karimi-Nia of the Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation, Tehran, says in a paper on the Codex Mashhad manuscript: | ||
{{Quote-text||"''Irrespective of the above-mentioned regional differences, any early Qurʾānic codex simultaneously contains variant readings. In other words, no codex contains only a single reading. However, it must be noted that the seven variant readings attributed to the Seven Readers, which have been prevalent since the fourth/tenth century, are only rarely evident in the Qurʾānic manuscripts of the first two Islamic centuries. In these manuscripts, instead, one can find either the above-mentioned regional differences (as between Mecca, Medina, Kufa, Basra, or Damascus) or differences in lettering and dotting, which do not necessarily reflect the canonical variants of the Seven Readers but can be traced back to the readings of one of the Prophet’s Companions or Followers.''"}} | {{Quote-text||"''Irrespective of the above-mentioned regional differences, any early Qurʾānic codex simultaneously contains variant readings. In other words, no codex contains only a single reading. However, it must be noted that the seven variant readings attributed to the Seven Readers, which have been prevalent since the fourth/tenth century, are only rarely evident in the Qurʾānic manuscripts of the first two Islamic centuries. In these manuscripts, instead, one can find either the above-mentioned regional differences (as between Mecca, Medina, Kufa, Basra, or Damascus) or differences in lettering and dotting, which do not necessarily reflect the canonical variants of the Seven Readers but can be traced back to the readings of one of the Prophet’s Companions or Followers.''"}} | ||
Morteza Karimi-Nia, [https://www.academia.edu/33908045/Mashhad_Codex_Uthm%C4%81nic_Text_of_the_Qur_%C4%81n_with_Ibn_Mas_%C5%ABd_Arrangement_of_S%C5%ABras_Possibly_Meccan_Medinan_Codex_in_the_Library_of_%C4%80st%C4%81n-e_Quds_paper_presented_in_the_conference_Paleo-Quranic_Manuscripts_Conference_State_of_the_Field_May_4-6_2017_Central_European_University_Budapest_ A new document in the early history of the Qurʾān: Codex Mashhad, an ʿUthmānic text of the Qurʾān in Ibn Masʿūd’s arrangement of Sūras], Journal of Islamic Manuscripts, Volume 10 (2019) 3, pp. 292-326 DOI:10.1163/1878464X-01003002</ref> The Sana'a manuscript is especially known to have this feature.<ref>Behnam Sadeghi and Uwe Bergmann, “The Codex of a Companion of the Prophet and the Qur’ān of the Prophet,” Arabica 57, no. 4 (2010): 343–436. See pages 390 ff.</ref><ref>[https://www.islamic-awareness.org/quran/text/mss/soth.html Codex Ṣanʿāʾ I – A Qur'ānic Manuscript From Mid–1st Century Of Hijra] Islamic Awareness</ref> | Morteza Karimi-Nia, [https://www.academia.edu/33908045/Mashhad_Codex_Uthm%C4%81nic_Text_of_the_Qur_%C4%81n_with_Ibn_Mas_%C5%ABd_Arrangement_of_S%C5%ABras_Possibly_Meccan_Medinan_Codex_in_the_Library_of_%C4%80st%C4%81n-e_Quds_paper_presented_in_the_conference_Paleo-Quranic_Manuscripts_Conference_State_of_the_Field_May_4-6_2017_Central_European_University_Budapest_ A new document in the early history of the Qurʾān: Codex Mashhad, an ʿUthmānic text of the Qurʾān in Ibn Masʿūd’s arrangement of Sūras], Journal of Islamic Manuscripts, Volume 10 (2019) 3, pp. 292-326 DOI:10.1163/1878464X-01003002</ref> The Sana'a manuscript is especially known to have this feature.<ref>Behnam Sadeghi and Uwe Bergmann, “The Codex of a Companion of the Prophet and the Qur’ān of the Prophet,” Arabica 57, no. 4 (2010): 343–436. See pages 390 ff.</ref><ref>[https://www.islamic-awareness.org/quran/text/mss/soth.html Codex Ṣanʿāʾ I – A Qur'ānic Manuscript From Mid–1st Century Of Hijra] Islamic Awareness</ref> | ||
No copy of the Uthmanic recension exists despite its centrality as the Ur-Qur'an of all modern readings, so no confirmation is available via comparison with it. A very old palimpsest (imprinted scroll which was washed and written over) is extant from Sana'a, Yemen (the [[Sana Manuscript|Sana'a Manuscript]]), which contains variants not found in any of the accepted readings of the Qur'an. The Islamic narrative itself comes to us mostly through the hadith tradition, which has been proven since Ignac Goldziher in the 19th century to be unreliable due to the nature of the "asaanid" or chains of authority supporting the hadith and the immense gulf of time between when the hadith were collected and when Muhammad lived. In addition the earliest copies of the Qur'an lack vowel and many diacritic markings, indicating that they were more a guide for memorization than the fully-fleshed out text that is extant today. | |||
The earliest found copies of the Qur'an do not have diacritical marks, and evidence points to changes made to the Uthmanic recension.<ref name="guardian2">{{cite web |last=Taher |first=Abul |title=Querying the Koran |work=The Guardian |date=2000-08-08 |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4048586,00.html |}}</ref> Multiple people are said to have collected verses and surahs of the Qur'an after [[Muhammad's Death|Muhammad's death]]. Differences existed among the various versions of the Qur'an before Caliph Uthman decided to burn all the copies except one. Muhammad himself forgot Qur'anic verses according to the hadith. Some verses, like the ones for stoning, are missing from the Qur'an that is extant today according to the hadith tradition. | |||
==What is Missing from the Qur'an== | ==What is Missing from the Qur'an== | ||
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==The Qira'at (Variant Oral Readings of the Qur'an)== | ==The Qira'at (Variant Oral Readings of the Qur'an)== | ||
<center><youtube>k6v3b9uPT38</youtube></center> | <center><youtube>k6v3b9uPT38</youtube></center> | ||
=== Status of Qira'at in Islamic Scripture === | |||
The hadith themselves confirm that variant readings not found in the Qur'an today were in circulation in the Muslim community at one time:{{Quote|{{Muslim|5|2286}}| Abu Harb b. Abu al-Aswad reported on the authority of his father that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari sent for the reciters of Basra. They came to him and they were three hundred in number. They recited the Qur'an and he said: You are the best among the inhabitants of Basra, for you are the reciters among them. So continue to recite it. (But bear in mind) that your reciting for a long time may not harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you. We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to (Surah) Bara'at. '''I have, however, forgotten it''' with the exception of this which I remember out of it: "If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam but dust." And we used to recite a surah which resembled one of the surahs of Musabbihat, and '''I have forgotten it''', but remember (this much) out of it: "O people who believe, why do you say that which you do not practise" (lxi. 2) and "that is recorded in your necks as a witness (against you) and you would be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection"}} | |||
===Differences in the Qira'at=== | ===Differences in the Qira'at=== | ||