Table Of ContentTHE HISTORY OF THE QUR'ANIC TEXT
THE HISTORY OF THE
QUR>ANIC TEXT
From Revelation to Compilation
A Comparative Studywith the
Old and New Testaments
MUI:IAMMAD MU~TAFAAL-A<~AMI
Kalamullah.Com
UK ISLAMIC ACADEMY
LEICESTER· ENGLAND
For mydearmotlier, wliosefaceI wastooyoungto
remember, whosegreatest wisliforme(asI waslater
told)wastomemorise tlieQur'an, andwlioI liope to
meetagainintlie gardensofHeaven. :May)l[fali
acceptfrom usour6est deeds.Jlmeen.
VI
THE AUTHOR
MlJl:lAMMAD MUHAFA AL-A'~AM1, one of the world's premier scholars of
Hadith,wasborninMau,Indiain the early 1930sand receivedhiseducation
successivelyatDaral-'UlumDeoband,India(1952),al-AzharUniversity,Cairo
(M.A., 1955),and University of Cambridge (Ph.D., 1966).He is Professor
Emeritus at King Sa'ud University (Riyadh) where he also chaired the
departmentof IslamicStudies;heholdsa Saudi citizenship.Al-A'zarniserved
ascuratorof the National PublicLibrary,Qatar;AssociateProfessorat Umm
al-QuraUniversity(Makkah);VisitingScholar atUniversityof Michigan(Ann
Arbor);VisitingFellowatSt.CrossCollege(Universityof Oxford);KingFaisal
Visiting Professor for Islamic Studies at Princeton; and Visiting Scholar at
University of Colorado (Boulder). He is also an Honorary Professor at
Universityof Wales(Lampeter).Hispublicationsinclude StudiesinEarly/fadfth
Literature, Hadiih. Methodology andLiterature, On Schacht's Origins qfMuhammadan
Jurisprudence,Diriisatfial-Haditnan-Nabauii,Kuttaban-Nabi,Manhqjan-Naqdfindal
Muhaddithin, andal-Muf;addithiinminal-Yamdmah.Amonghiseditedworksare al
'Ilalqf Ibn al-Madini, Klwb at-Tamyi; qf Imam Muslim, Maghiiz'i Rasiilulldh. qf
'Unoah ibnZubayr, Miaoaua' Imam Malik, $aJ;1lJ ibn Khuzaimah, and Sunan ibn
MiiJah. Manyof al-A'zami'sworkshavebeentranslatedinternationally,andhis
forthcoming worksinclude TheQyr'iinic Chal1£nge: A Promise Fulfilled, and The
Isniid !iJstem: Its Origins andAuthenticity. In 1980 he was the recipient of the
prestigiousKing FaisalInternationalAwardforIslamicStudies.
Vll
CONTENTS
PREFACE xv
1.The Historyof the Qjir'anic Text
1. INTRODUCTION 3
2. EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM: A BRIEF LOOK 15
1. Pre-Islamic Arabia 15
i. The Geo-Political Condition 15
ii. Ibrahlm and Makkah 16
iii. Qu~ayy Gains FullControl of Makkah 19
iv. Makkah: A Tribal Society 20
v. From Qu~ayy to Muhammad ~ 21
vi. The Religious Conditions in Arabia 22
2. ProphetMuhammad (53B.H.-ll A.H./571-632 C.E.) 23
i. The Birth of Muhammad:I 24
ii. Muhammad ja, the Amin 24
iii. Muhammad the Messengerof Allah 25
iv. Abu Bakr and hisAcceptance of Islam 26
v. The ProphetPreaches Openly 26
vi. Quraish Offers Muhammad ~ Great Temptations 27
vii. QuraishBoycottsMuhammad:I and his Clans 28
viii. The Pledge of 'Aqaba 29
ix. The Plot to Assassinate the Prophet 30
x. Muhammad ja in Madinah 30
xi. Prelude to the Battle of Badr 32
xii. The Execution of Khubaib bin 'Adi al-Ansari 33
xiii. The Conquest of Makkah 34
3. Death of the Prophetand Accession of Abu Bakr 35
i. Abu Bakr Handles WidespreadApostasies 35
ii. MilitaryAdvances in Syria 37
4.The Countries and Provinces ConqueredDuringthe Reigns
of 'Dmarand 'Dthman 37
5. Conclusion 39
Vlll THE HISTORY OF THE QUR'ANIC TEXT
3. REVELATIONS AND THE PROPHET MUI:IAMMAD ~ 41
1.The Creator andsome of His Attributes 42
i. The Purpose BehindMankind's Creation 43
ii. TheMessage of the Prophets 43
2.The FinalMessenger 44
3. Receivingthe Revelations 45
i. The BeginningofWal,J.yand the Miracle of Qur'an 47
ii. The Impactof the Prophet's Recitation on thePolytheists 48
4.The Prophet's Roles Regarding the Qur'an 50
5.Recitation of the Qur'an in Turns withJibrli 52
6.A FewRemarks on Orientalist Claims 53
7.Conclusion 54
4. TEACHING THE QUR'AN 55
1. Incentives for Learning, Teachingand Reciting the Holy
Qur'an 56
2. The Makkan Period 59
i. The Prophet as Teacher 59
ii. The Companions as Teachers 60
iii. The Outcome of this Educational Policy in the
Makkan Period 61
3. TheMadani Period 61
i. The Prophet as Teacher 61
ii. Dialects used bythe Prophetfor Teachingin Madinah 62
iii. The Companions as Teachers 63
4.The Outcome of the EducationalActivities: Huffaz 64
5. Conclusion 66
5. THE RECORDING AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE QUR'AN 67
1. Duringthe Makkan Period 67
2. Duringthe Madani Period 68
i. Scribes of the Prophet 68
ii. The Prophet'sDictation of the Qur'an 69
iii.Recording the Qur'anwas Very CommonAmong
Companions 69
3. The Arrangementof the Qur'an 70
i.The Arrangement of Verses Within Suras 70
ii. The Arrangement of Suras 72
iii. The Arrangement of Suras in Some PartialMushafs 73
4.Conclusion 76
CONTENTS ix
6. THEWRITTEN COMPILATION OFTHEQUR'AN 77
1.Compilation of the Qur'an DuringAbu Bakr's Reign 78
i.Appointment of Zaid bin Thabit as Compiler of the
Qur'an 78
ii.Zaid bin Thabit's Credentials 78
iii.Abu Bakr's Instructions to Zaid bin Thabit 79
iv. How ZaidbinThabitUtilised the Written Materials 81
v. Zaid bin Thabit and the Use of Oral Sources 82
VI. Authentication ofthe Qjir'an: The Case of the Last
Two Versesfrom SuraBara'a 83
vii. Placementof the Suhuf into the StateArchives 84
2. 'Umar's Role in the Spread of the Qjir'an 85
3. Conclusion 86
7. 'UTHMAN'S MU~l;IAF 87
1.Disputes in Recitation and 'Uthman's Response 87
2. 'Uthman Prepares a Mushaf Directlyfrom the Suhuf 88
3. 'Uthman Makes an IndependentCopyof the Mushaf 89
i.Appointinga Committee of Twelveto Oversee the Task 89
ii. Arrangingfor an Autonomous Copy 89
iii. 'UthmanRetrievesthe Suhuffrom 'A'isha forComparison 90
iv. 'UthmanRetrievesthe SuhuffromHafsaforVerification 92
4.The Sanctioningand Distribution of 'Uthman's Mushaf 93
i.The Final CopyRead to the Companions 93
ii.The Number of Certified Copies Made 94
iii.'UthmanBurnsAllOtherManuscripts 94
iv. 'Uthman Sends Reciters Alongwith Mushafs 94
v.'Uthman's Instructions with the Mushafs He Sent 96
5. Studies on 'Uthman's Mushaf 97
i. Studies on the MushafofMalik bin Abi 'kniral-Asbahi 100
6.Al-I:Iaiiajand His Contribution to the Mushaf 102
7.Mushafs in the Marketplace 105
8.Conclusion 107
8. THE EVOLUTION OFREADING AIDS WITHINTHEMU~l;IAF 109
1. Sura Separators 109
2.Ayah Separators III
3. Conclusion 114
9. THE HISTORY OFARABIC PALAEOGRAPHY 115
1.The Historical Background ofArabic Characters 115
2. Studies in Early Arabic Documents and Inscriptions 118
x THE HISTORY OF THE QUR'ANIC TEXT
i.The BlurredLine Between Nabataean and Arabic
Inscriptions 118
ii.What Language Didthe Nabataeans Speak? 120
iii.The Early Arabic Language Possesseda Distinct
AJphabet 122
iv. The Emergence of Various Scripts and the Issue of
DatingKnfic Mushafs 125
3. Conclusion 128
10. ARABIC PALEOGRAPHY AND ORTHOGRAPHY INTHE QUR'AN 129
1.Writing StylesDuringthe Time of the Prophet 130
2. Studies on the Orthography of 'Uthman's Mushaf 131
3. The Nuqat (Dotting) Scheme in Early Mushafs 135
i. Early Arabic Writings and the Skeletal Dots 136
ii.The Invention of the DiacriticalMarkings 139
iii. ParallelUsage of Two Different DiacriticalMarking
Schemes 141
4.Sources of the Skeletal andDiacriticalDotting Systems 143
5. Orthographic and Pa1aeographic 'Irregularities' in Early
Non-Qur'anic Script 145
6.Conclusion 148
11.CAUSES OFVARIANT READING 151
1.The Qjra'atisSunna 152
2. The Needfor Multiple Readings: Simplifying Recitation
for UnaccustomedMasses 153
3. Main Cause of Multiple Readings (Variants):the
OrientalistView 155
4.SecondaryCause of Multiple Readings (Variants) 159
5.Alteringa Wordfor itsSynonym DuringRecitation 162
6.Conclusion 163
12. THE MUSLIM EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGY 165
1.The Hungerfor Information 166
2. Personal Contact: An Essential Elementfor Learning 167
3. Beginningand Developmentof the Isnad System 167
i.The Phenomenon of Isnad: Proliferation 169
4.The Authentication of Isnadand Hadnh 172
i. EstablishingTrustworthiness 172
ii.The Unbroken Chain 175
iii.Supportingor Negating Evidence 176
iv. A Test Case with a MisleadingIsnad 176
CONTENTS Xl
5. The First Generations of Scholars 177
6.PreservingBooksfrom Adulteration: A Unique System 178
i. Conditions for Utilisinga Book 181
ii. Glosses: the Addition of ExternalMaterial 182
iii. EstablishingAuthorship 182
7.Certificates of Reading 184
i.The Importance ofReading Notes 186
8.Impactof Hadith Methodologyon Other Branches 191
9. Isnad and the Transmission of the Qur'an 192
10.Conclusion 193
13. THE SO-CALLED MU~I:lAFOF IBN MAS'DD AND ALLEDED
VARIANCES THEREIN 195
1. First Point: The Arrangement ofIbn Mas'ud's Mushaf 196
2. Second Point: The Text Differedfrom OurMU~1;af 197
3. Third Point: Three Suraswere Omitted 199
i.Analysis of the Contents of Ibn Mas'ud's Mushaf 200
ii.Ibn Mas'ud's Beliefs 201
4.When CanAny Writingbe Accepted as Part of the Qjir'an? 203
i. Principles for DeterminingWhether a Verse
Belongs to the Qur'an 203
ii.Examples of Scholars Punishedfor Violatingthe
Above Principles 205
5. Conclusion 206
II. The Historyof the Biblical Scriptures
14. EARLY HISTORY OFJUDAISM: A BRIEF LOOK 211
1.Jewish HistoryPriorto Establishingthe Kingdom 211
2.Jewish HistoryAfter Establishingthe Kingdom 218
i.The Divided Kingdoms 219
ii.The Destruction of the First Temple (586 B.C.) and
the Babylonian Exile (586-538s.c.) 224
iii.The Restoration ofJerusalem and the
Establishmentof the Second Temple (515 s.c.) 224
iv. The Hellenistic rule (333-168s.o.)and the
Maccabaean Revolt (168-135 B.C.) 224
v. The End of the MaccabaeanDynasty (63B.C.),
the Roman Rule and the Destruction of the
SecondTemple (70C.E.) 225
3. Conclusion 226
