النص المفهرس

32.
Single hamzat al-qat' that
is absent from the script.
الْمَابِ
فَاقْرَءُوا
جَاءَ
مَسْئُوْلًا
مُتَّكِيْنَ
اُلْمَتَابِ
فَاقْرَءُواْ
جَاءَ
مَسْئُولًا
Imam al-Kharraz states that any hamzah that does not have a shape in the
rasm (alif, waw, or ya') should be written on the line.33 We see from the
examples that the two masahif do not differ in this regard, except when the
letter after the hamzah is an alif. In this case, the South Asian mushaf
interprets the alif as the hamzah, and the standing alif as the letter of madd.
مُتَّكِئِينَ
33.
Two consecutive
hamzahs, both carrying
the same vowel, and one
does not have a shape in
the rasm of the word
ءَآَنْذَرْتَهُمْ
ءَأَنذَرْتَهُمْ
Both masahif take Imam al-Kisa'ī's opinion that the first hamzah is the one
that does not have a shape, and the second hamzah is represented by the alif
that is part of the rasm of the word.34
34.
Two consecutive
hamzahs, with different
vowels, and one does not
have a shape in the rasm
of the word
ءَأُنْزِلَ
ءَإِنًا
أَهُنزِلَ
أَعِنَّا
The two masahif differ in their dabt in this scenario. The South Asian mushaf
continues to apply the opinion of Imam al-Kisa'ī, that the first hamzah is the
one that does not have a shape, and the alif is the shape of the second
hamzah. The Madinah mushaf applies the opinion of Imam Farra' in this
scenario. He opined that it was the first hamzah that had a shape, and it was
the second hamzah that was without a shape. The Madinah mushaf follows
what Imam al-Kharraz has stated in his text, that the opinion of Imam Farra'
33 al-Kharrāz, Mawrid al-Zam'ān fi Rasmī Ahruf al-Qur'an wa Matn al-Dhayl fī al-Dābț, 1. 511.
34 Ibrāhīm al-Tūnisī, Dalīl al-Hayrān 'alā Mawrid al-Zam'ān, 388-389.
20

be applied when the hamzahs have different vowels, and Imam al-Kisa'ī's
opinion be followed when the hamzahs have the same vowel.35
35.
Three consecutive
hamzahs
ءَ أُلِهَتُنَا
ءَأَ لِقَتُنَا
Both masahif take the same opinion. The alif that is part of the rasm of the
word represents the second hamzah, while the first hamzah is marked by the
head of 'ayn and the third hamzah is marked by a dagger alif/standing
fathah. 36
36.
Hamzat al-wasl preceded
by a hamzat al-istifhām
آللَّهُ
◌ِ الذَّكَرَيْنِ
ءَآللَّهُ
ءَ الذَّكَرَيْنِ
The discussion of the dabt of such words is like two hamzahs coming together
and yet only one shape is present in the rasm of the word. The first hamzah
will be considered to be without a shape, and the second hamzah will be in
the shape of alif. A sign of madd must also be added to indicate the madd lāzim
that may apply. While both systems of dabt consider the first hamzah to be
the one without a shape, they have marked the madd differently. The
Madinah mushaf marks the madd as it marks madd muttasil etc., with a sign of
madd on the letter of madd. This is how it is described in the books of dabt.37
The South Asian mushaf places a standing fathah to indicate that the fathah
will be extended and places the madd sign on the standing fathah.
Dabt of the Additional, Unread Letters in Rasm
35 al-Kharrāz, Mawrid al-Zam'ān fi Rasmī Aļruf al-Qur'ān wa Matn al-Dhayl fī al-Dābț, 1. 518-520; Ibrahim al-Tūnisī, Dalīl al-Hayrān 'alā Mawrid al-
Zam'ān, 388-389.
36 al-Kharrāz, Mawrid al-Zam'ān fi Rasmī Ahruf al-Qur'an wa Matn al-Dhayl fi al-Dābț, 1. 524-525.
37 Ibrahim al-Tūnisī, Dalīl al-Hayrān 'alā Mawrid al-Zam'ān, 394.
21

37.
When alif is written as
part of the rasm of a
word, but it is not read.
لَ اذْبَجَنَّةً
لَأَ أَذْبَجَنَّهُوَ
مِأْئَةً
مِائَةَ
وَجِائِّءَ
وَجِأْىّءَ
تَايْئَسُوْا
تَأْيْفَسُواْ
The Madinah printed mushaf marks the extra alif that will not be read in wasl
or waqf with a circle, as is stated in the books of dabt.38 The South Asian
mushaf follows its general principle that all letters that are to be read, even
letters of madd will be marked with a symbol, either a vowel or a sukūn.
Letters that are not to be read, either because they are extra letters in the
rasm of the Qur'an or due to being dropped in the state of wasl will be left
empty of any markings at all. For example, the waw in the word kadsi has a
sukūn on it, as it will be read. However, the waw on the word base, does not
. إِلَّا الَّذِيْنَ أُمَنُوْا وَعَمِلُوا الصُّلِحُتِ ,as it will be dropped in wasl
38.
When an extra yā' is
present in the rasm of a
word after a hamzah
maksūrah.
ثَبَائِ
آَفَأْيِنْ
وَمَلَاْبِهِمْ
تَبَإِئْ
أَفَإِئْنِ
وَمَلَإِئْهِمْ
The two masahif interpret the extra letters in this scenario differently. The
Madinah mushaf's dabț places the hamzah on the alif and sees the ya' as extra.
The South Asian mushaf places the hamzah on the ya' and sees the alif as
extra. Both methods have been mentioned by 'Allāmah al-Dānī in al-
Muhkam. They are two of out six ways in which such words may be marked.39
39.
When an extra yā' is
present in the rasm of a
word after a yā' sākinah
بِآَيْدٍ
بِأَنْيْدِ
Both mașāhif place a sukūn on the first yā' and see the second as extra, as is
described by 'Allāmah al-Dānī. The Madīnah mushaf places a circle to mark
the second ya' as extra as mentioned in al-Muhkam.40 The South Asian mushaf
38
Al-Dānī, al-Muļkam fi Ilm Naqț al-Masāhif (Damascus: Dār al-Gawthānī, 2024), 317; Ibrāhīm al-Tūnisī, Dalīl al-Hayrān 'alā Mawrid al-Zam'ān, 423-
426.
39 Al-Dānī, al-Muļkam fī ‘Ilm Naqț al-Masāhif (Damascus: Dār al-Gawthānī, 2024), 287-288.
40 Al-Dānī, al-Muļkam fi Ilm Naqț al-Mașāhif (Damascus: Dār al-Gawthānī, 2024), 291.
22

leaves the second ya' empty of any marking at all, following its general
principle on how to mark letters that will not be read.
40.
When an extra yā' is
present in the rasm of a
word before a yā'
mushaddadah
بِآَتِّكُمُ
بِأَبِيِّكُمُ
The Madinah mushaf marks this scenario as described in books of dabt, with
a shaddah on the second ya' and no marking at all on the first ya'.41 The South
Asian mushaf places the shaddah on the first ya' and leaves the second one
empty of any marking.
41.
When an extra wāw is
present in the rasm of a
word
أُولّبِكَ
سَأُورِيْكُمْ
أُوْلِِّكَ
سَأُوْرِبِكُمْ
The Madinah printed mushaf marks the extra waw that will not be read in
wasl or waqf with a circle, as is stated in the books of dabt. 42 The South Asian
mushaf follows its general principle that all letters that are not to be read,
either because they are extra letters in the rasm of the Qur'an or due to being
dropped in the state of wasl will be left empty of any markings at all.
Dabt of Lam Alif
42.
Lām alif
الْآَنْهُرُ
الْأَرْضُ
مَالًا
إِلَّ آَنْفُسَهُمْ
الْأَخِرَةُ
لايُلُفِ
اُلْأَنْهَرُ
اُلْأَرْضُ
مَالَا
إِلَّ أَنْفُسَهُمْ
اُلْآخِرَةُ
لِإِیلَفِ
In the books of dabt, there is a difference of opinion as to which line is the
lām and which is the alif. Both masahif follow the opinion of Imam Akhfash
and consider the second line as the alif that represents hamzah.43 The
scenario in which they differ is when there is a hamzah maftuhah and an alif
in the same word. The Madinah printed mushaf treats the alif in lam alif as
the letter of madd and places a hamzah between the lam and alif. The South
41 al-Kharrāz, Mawrid al-Zam'ān fi Rasmī Ahruf al-Qur'an wa Matn al-Dhayl fī al-Dābț, 1. 572.
42 al-Kharrāz, Mawrid al-Zam'ān fi Rasmī Ahruf al-Qur'an wa Matn al-Dhayl fī al-Dābț, 1. 571.
43 Ibrahim al-Tūnisī, Dalīl al-Hayran 'alā Mawrid al-Zam'ān, 435-436.
23

Asian mushaf continues to treat the alif as hamzah and places a standing
fathah to indicate that it should be extended.
24

Alhamdulillah, the table summarizes the main differences in the dabt of the two
masahif. There are other finer differences as well, which often apply only to one
word. Those have not been included in the table. It is obvious from the table
above that the dabt of the Madinah printed mushaf in the Naskh script follows the
books of dabt very closely. However, there are many details of the South Asian
mushaf's dabt that cannot be explained through the books of dabt. I would also
like to share some general observations that some scholars have made about the
dabț of the South Asian mushaf.
Shaykh Amir al-Dib mentions that the South Asian mushaf's dabt is not based on
wasl as is common. But rather, if waqf is to be made on a word, either due to a
strong sign of waqf that may occur in the middle of an ayah or at the end of it, the
following letter will not carry any indication as to how it should be read in wasl.
Examples include hamzat al-wasl carrying a vowel and the letter of idgham carries
٩٩. عَظِيمٌ ﴾ وَمِنَ النَّاسِ, وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِيْنُ هُ إِهْدِنَا ,.no shaddah after a nun sakinah or tanwin, e.g
Professor Ahmad Yar , explains that the dabt of the Arab and North African
printed mașāhif take the rules of Arabic grammar and morphology into account.
However, the South Asian printed masahif focus more on ensuring that the reciter
pronounces a word correctly.45 For example, some hamzat al-wasl are marked with
a vowel in such a way that they cannot be distinguished from hamzat al-qat' in the
South Asian dabt. Hamzat al-wasl and hamzat al-qat' can easily be differentiated in
the Arab prints of the Qur'an. However, the reciter must know the rules of how
to begin from hamzat al-wasl to do so correctly when reading from the Arab
printed mașāhif.
Qārī Muhammad Mustafa Rasikh writes that the South Asian mushaf does not
follow all the principles outlined in the classical books of dabt. However,
wherever it differs, it does so to create ease. This variation has been allowed by
scholars to make things easier for the reader. Because the entire science of dabt
is according to the understanding and reasoning of scholars, the norms of dabt
44 Amīr Ādil Mabrūk al-Dīb, Kitab Dabț al-Mushaf, (Amīr al-Qirā'āt, 2023), 114.
Ahmad Yār, Qur'an o Sunnat: Chand Mabahith, 120.
25

of a particular region cannot be considered mandatory for all Muslims to follow.
It is permissible to differ from these norms as long as the differences facilitate
ease for reciters. 46
The Application of the Principles of Dabt in Earlier Masahif
While researching for Maintaining the Meaning, I found a note in the information
pages of a mushaf in the riwayah of Durī published in Sudan by Dār Mushaf Ifrīqa.
It explains that the scholars overseeing the publication of the mushaf marked the
beginnings of the ajzā' and ahzab according to Imam al-Safaqusī's Gayth al-Naf.
They also consulted Nazimat al-Zuhr and other books. Then it mentions that the
markings at the sevenths of the Qur'an as well as the eighths of ahzab were taken,
with some differences, from handwritten Sudanese masahif. I read this point in
2021 and it came to mind again while working on this project. The division of the
mușhaf is not an issue of halal and harām, nor are the ajzā' and ahzab established
by the șahabah . Therefore, any amount of reasonable variation in them is
permissible. The committee publishing the Durī mushaf in Sudan did not feel the
need to provide any textual references for the divisions that were taken from
handwritten manuscripts. Because the science of dabt was also not established
by the sahabah
but rather is the ijtihad of later scholars, I decided to look
through older manuscripts of the Qur'an to find evidence for the conventions of
dabț in which the South Asian dabt differs from the Madinah printed mushaf. I
looked specifically for those places that cannot be explained through the books
of dabt, or more precisely, for those places that are marked in dark grey in the
table in the previous section.
In the pages that follow, I will share pages from handwritten or early printed
mașāhif. I will share my analysis of its dabt in comparison to the contemporary
South Asian mushaf. I have only chosen those masahif that follow the dabt of Imam
Khalil al-Farāhīdi
.
46 Muhammad Mustafa Rāsikh, “Nașse Qur'anī kay muta liq chand 'ulūm kā ta āruf," al-
Rushd (June 2009): 536.
26

Handwritten Egyptian Mushaf - Fourth quarter of Eight Century Hijrī47
Most of the details of the dabt
of this mushaf follow the
classical books of dabt. Every
hamzat al-qaț is marked with
مَ الْخَبِ وَالجوع وَنَفْصِ بَأْوَالـ
the head of 'ayn and every
hamzat al-wasl is marked with a
small șād. Similarly, the nūn
sākinah has been left empty of
١٥
الَّذِبَ عَذَا أَصَابَهُم مُصِيبَةَالَانا
لِلَّنَا إِلَبِرَاحِغوَ أَوَلَيَك
عَلَيهِنْ صَلَوَ انَغْ زَنِهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ
any markings to indicate ikhfā'
and idghām, such as in the word
The nun.مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ and وَالْأَنفُسِ
sākinah that is followed by a
letter of the throat is marked
with a sukun, see ◌َّفَمَنْ حَج on
the next page. However,
interestingly, there is no
change in the tanwin when
idghām or ikhfā' are to be made
,مُصِيبَةٌ قَالُواْ ,وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ such as in
To make this. صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن
comparison clearer, see the words $ Je $ us on the next page. Books of dabt
47Leaf from Qur'an. 4th quarter 8th century AH/AD 14th century (Mamluk). Ink and
pigments on Arab paper with chains lines grouped in threes, The Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore. Leaf from Qur'an | The Walters Art Museum.
27

وَأَوْلَ هُمْ الْتَدُوَ إِنَ الْصَّمَا
وَالمَزْوَةَ مِنَعَابِاللّه ◌َخَ الَ
أو أَعْمَر ◌َاجَاحَ عَلَيهِأَنْظُفَ
هِمَا وَمَن تَطُعَ خبرافازَانَه ◌َاكد
عِيمِه ◌ِ الكِبرَكُمْوَ أَفْلِهَا
mention that tatābu'
of tanwin should be
done to differentiate
the tanwin of izhār
from the tanwin of
idghām and ikhfā'. Like
the
contemporary
South Asian mushaf,
this
handwritten
mushaf does not have
tatābu‘ of tanwīn, but
does place a shaddah
on the letter after
tanwīn if idghām is to
be made.
28

Handwritten Indian Manuscript - 9th Century Hijrī48
The dabț of this
قَبلهمُ إشباع مع القصر كلون سنا رعاية وسيط رواية بعام الاشباع وابن كثير بالاتباع بالإ علان
handwritten mushaf is
like the contemporary
وَالْقُرآنَِ
عِرٌ وَشَاقِ
بالاوجه الأربعة
بالحمية
إبراهران
الوقات الكلب
وَشِقَاقِ ا
مَنَاصِ
بالارجعلاريعة
الذِّكْرِ ي
عامرمع الأوجه التاريخ
سيرة الوقوف سط الزحيه
العلمين ص.
الله على الانفقة
الدول غير حمزة
والمشرع لم الكتها القمر
سيذا توقفا بكل
South Asian mushaf. On
the page to the left, we
can see that all sakin
letters have been
marked with a sukūn.
مِنْ القَرارَدِى الدَّكريم
مَاصِ
Like the manuscript
الدَّمَ كْفِرُالعَرَةِ وَسَنَاو
from 8th century Egypt,
كَ أَهْلَكُنَا
the symbol for sukūn is a
small circle instead of
فَنَادِوَ اللَّبِ حْ مَصْ
the head of kha'. Also,
like the contemporary
South Asian mushaf, the
dabț of this mushaf
leaves the hamzat al-wasl
باكتتك
-وَلاَ تَخَيْتَ
التتار منقلة عيب فى الامام
كالا بر عمرو ولم نجاد كككَذَكَفِ
سيئة سويلم، من صاحف احل
كتفات
رواية
أمضارة*
empty of all markings,
see the words ◌ِالَّذِينَ ,الذِّكْرِ , وَالْقُرْءَان . It also does not mark the alif that is a hamzat al-
qat with the head of 'ayn, and instead marks it with a vowel only, see the word
UKÍ Î. Lastly, like the South Asian mushaf, the nun sākinah is marked with a sukūn
even when it is followed by a letter of ikhfa', see ◌ٍمِّن قَرْن . There is also no tatabu' of
tanwin, see ◌ٍعِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاق. This will show more clearly in the next sample page from
the same manuscript.
48 Double page illuminated incipit. 9 th century AH/AD 15th century (Timurid). Ink and
pigments on thin laid paper, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Double-page
Illuminated Incipit | The Walters Art Museum.
29

While there are
الَكُمُ بالإشباع في هذا اللفظ مع القهر فالوز مي بداية وابن كثير بالاشباع بالخلاف ضمان حلة المسئمات للجم
more examples of
some of the details
الرقيق شـ
تتكر ش سكت
بالمابة السع الأوجدالثلاثة
لِلْمُؤمنين؟
عافية دواية
كتا انزلَـ
بالهمز مع المذجدا الثلث
في الأقوال
of dabt that were
بية الوقف غير مدشن ◌َّ
لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
الرحيم
الج ابن كير
ـاربعة اوجه
pointed out in the
previous page from
this
manuscript,
there are two details
أُنْذَ
that are especially
مَكَيْنَابَل المبكر
interesting on this
page. Firstly, when
فَ صُ صَالحَن
سَدِ السُدْ رِ بِهَ ذِكْرَى
وَذِكْرَ
you compare the
امال بين بينه
كِتَبْ أُنزِلَ tanwin on
البـ
المَصَامَا الـ
and ◌ُحَرَجٌ مِّنْه, it
becomes very clear
وَدِكْتِ
للْمُؤْمِنْنَ
لابد الإدار وش
بالا مالة المحصابو عمرو حمزة
والكتابة
that tatābu' is not
being applied. The
Ņāmmah tanwīn in
وسيئة الوقف حمزة
both these places are
identical. Secondly, after the end of the second ayah, the hamzat al-wasl of the
word Laå sl is marked with a kasrah as it would be read when beginning from it.
This instance of this word is marked with a kasrah in contemporary South Asian
mașahif as well. This handwritten mushaf shows that many of the features of the
contemporary South Asian mushaf's dabt have been in use in India since at least
the 9th century hijrī, or for approximately 600 years.
30

Handwritten Turkish Manuscript - 11th Century Hijrī49
مُنْزَهُمْ وَأولئِ هِ المُفْلِوَازَالِدَيْبفواسوا
عَلَّهِمْ مَانَدْ زَ تَهَوْاَ لَتْهُوَ بُوْنُوْنَاَ لّ ◌َلُبْهُوَ
عَلَ بَعِهِمْ وَصَارِ هِشَاقُ وَمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِ وَبَِِّوُ
آَابَاللَّهِ وَالبُؤْمِ الْآخِرِ وَمَا هُمْ يُؤْمِنِيْنِ يَخَادِ عُونَ اللَّهَ وَلَوْا
وَمَا يَخَلْ عَوْنَ إِلَّانَفْسُهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُ ونَ فِي قُلِبَهْ مَرَضَنْ فَزَادَهُمْ
اللَّهُرَصَنَّا وَنَهُمُ عَذَابٌ الْمُ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُتَ وَإِذَاقَّا لَمْ
لأَنْفُسِدُ واِالْأَضْ قَالْوُاِّ ◌َُ صُوْنَالَهُمُ المُفْسِدَُّ
وَلَكْلاَ يَعْرُ ونَ وَادَاقَِّلَهَمْ آيِوَكَانَ النَّاسَ لَوْ أَنَوُْ
كَانَةُ السُّعَ لَائِ مُرُ السَّفَاو ◌َ بَعَتْ
وَإِّ القَوْنِّيَوْافَ لَوْ اْنَاوَإِذَا خَلَقَ الَى شَيَاطِينِهْقَالوُالْ مَعَكُمْ
إِّمَا تَرُسُتَهَزِونَ ﴾ اللّه يَهَِّ فُبِهْمَ وَمْدُّ ◌ُمْيَ طُغْيَانِهِمْ
يَعْمَوْنَ أُوْلَكَ الدِّينَاشْتَرَوْالصَّلَالَةِ بَالهُدَّةَ فَرَتِ تَجَارَمُ
وَمَا كَانُوامُهْتَلِينَ الِسَلَهُمُ كَمَّلِ الذِّسْوَقَكَنَّا تَفَلَا أَضَّارَة
مَكَلَهَ ذَهَبَالَّهِرِهِ وَكِهَمْرِ ظَهَن ◌َ بْصِرُوْنَ الَةِ
عُمْ فَهُ لَبَجْعُونَ أَكَصَبَِ الَاِظَاتٌ وَرَعَدْ وَبَّقٌ
◌َعُلُنَا صَابِعَهُمْ عَيْ آذَانِهِمِنَ الصَّوَاعِقِ عَ المُؤْثِ وَاللََّفُ
Like the handwritten
Indian manuscript
shared earlier, this
mushaf too does not
add the head of 'ayn
to a hamzat al-qaț“
that is written as an
alif. Instead, it simply
marks it with the
vowel with which it is
to be read. However,
this mushaf does mark
hamzat al-wasl with a
small
șād.
Interestingly,
it
بَالِكَا فِرْ كَاء البرويُخَطِفْ ابَصَارِهِم
includes absolutely
no indications for
idghām or ikhfã'.
Every nūn sākinah is
marked with a sukūn,
and there is no tatābu'
of tanwin. There is also no shaddah on the letter into which idgham is to be made.
It omits the shaddah on the letter into which idgham is being made for both
,رَبِحَتَ تِّجَرَتُهُمْ idgham of nun sakinah and tanwin as well as idgham mithlayn, see
. ظُلُمَتِ لَّا
49Leaf from Qur'an. 11 th century AH/AD 17th century (Turkish). Ink and pigments on laid
non-European with flyleaves of Italian, pink-tinted paper, The Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore. Leaf from Qur'an | The Walters Art Museum.
31

Handwritten Iranian Manuscript - 11th century50
This manuscript's rasm is different than both the contemporary Arab and South
Asian maşāhif. However, I have included it here because it does use standing
fathahs and kasrahs in a way that is similar to the contemporary South Asian
mushaf. When it applies a standing fathah or kasrah, it does not also use a slanted
line for fathah and kasrah. However, while the contemporary South Asian mushaf
only uses standing fathahs and kasrahs when there is a letter omitted from the
rasm, this mushaf uses them whenever a fathah or kasrah is to be extended, even
if the letter of madd is present. Interestingly, it does not use a standing dammah
to indicate that a waw has been omitted. Compare the dabt of the word aufle, and
.below دَاوُودُ
هُوَ الَيْنَ أَوْ مَعَهُ قَالُوا مَا الَوْمَالُوتَ وَجُودٌ
قَالَ الّذِينَ يَطْنُونَ أَنْهِمْ مُلَّقُوا اللهِ كَمْ مِنْفَةٍ ◌َِيَةٍ عَلَتْ
فِنَّهُ كَتِيَ إِذْنِ أَِّوَ مَعَ الضَّامِنَّ وَوِيَ
وَجُودِ بَلَوَرَّبَنَا أَفِعْ عَلَيْنَا صَنَا وَتَتْ أَقْنَامَا وَانْنَا
عَلَ الْقَوْمِالْكَافِينَ فَهُوَهُم ◌ِنِ أَنْوَقَدَاوُدَّجَالُوتَ
وَّهُ الَّ ◌ِلْكَ وَالِكَةَوَهِ يَاءِوَ النَّسَ
بَهُمْبِعَصْ لَلَبِ الْأَرْ وَلِحَ دَوْفَل ◌َ
وَلِكَّ لَاتُ لَه ◌َلْوَهَا عَلَيْكَ أْحَقْ وَأَتَ لَ المَلِنَّ
الَّلُ عَلَ بَعْضْ عَلَ مَضِهِمْ مَهُوَع ◌َمْ
وَاتٍ وَاتَّنَا مُحَ مَالنَّاسِ وَأَاءِ الَّ
وَشَاءُ الَّمَاقَ الَ مِنْ بَدِّهِمْ مِنْ صَدِ مَ تَهُمْ
البَّنَاتُ وَلَكِنْ أَخَلَوَا فَنْهُمْ مَنْ أَ
50Qur'an. 11 th century AH/AD 17th century (Safavid). Ink and pigments on thick cream-
colored paper covered in black leather, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Qur'an | The
Walters Art Museum.
32

Handwritten Ottoman Manuscript - 13th Century51
This Ottoman mushaf is from
about two hundred years after
the Iranian mushaf shared on
the previous page, and its dabț is
very similar to it. One thing that
is different is that it marks
hamzat al-wasl with a small șād as
mentioned in the books of dabt.
الَّ ذَلِكُ الكتابُ لاَرِيبَ فَيْهِ مّ
لِلْنُقَلَ ى الَِّنَّوْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْوَّ
When the reciter will start from
يُعْبُونَ الصَّلَةَ وَمَارَزَهَا مُنْفِقُونَ)
﴿ وَالّذِينَ بَوْمِنُونَ بَا أَبِالَّتْ وَمَا
the word with a hamzat al-wasl,
this mushaf adds a fathah in red
الْلَمِن ◌َّلُ وَبِ يُوقُه ◌ُوَ
عَ مَدُفِ يَنْ دِيِمْ وَأُولَئِكُ مُ الْعِلْنَ
ink on top of the hamzat al-wasl,
see ◌َالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُون .We will see this
convention being used in the
next manuscript as well. Like
the South Asian mushaf, a
hamzat al-qat that is in the
shape of alif is not marked with
the head of 'ayn and is only marked with the harakah with which it will be read.
This mushaf also uses standing fathahs and kasrahs similarly to the Iranian mushaf.
Handwritten Mushaf by Mulla 'Alī al-Qarī - 999 AH52
Mulla 'Alī al-Qarī , was a master of the sciences of the Qur'an as well as an
expert in other Islamic sciences. He authored commentaries on major works in
the sciences of the Qur'an, such as a commentary on the Jazariyyah (al-Minah al-
Fikriyyah), a commentary on the Shātibiyyah (still unpublished), and a
51 Double-page illuminated frontispiece. 1269 AH/AD 1853 (Ottoman). Ink and pigments
on laid European paper, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Double-page Illuminated
Frontispiece | The Walters Art Museum
52 I am deeply grateful to my student, Qarī Basil Farooq, for sharing this resource with
me. May Allah reward him with the best in both worlds. Āmīn.
33

commentary on Imam al-Shațibī's , didactic poem on the science of rasm. In
addition to being a scholar of the Islamic sciences, he was also a calligrapher. The
images shared here are from a mushaf that he completed writing in 999 AH.53 As
the entire mushaf can be viewed, I have looked for those aspects of dabt that were
not viewable in the other manuscripts. When we look at the word net in the
sample page below, we
كَلَ فَمَا خَطِبْكُرْآَيُّهَا الْسَلُونَ﴾ قَالُوا إِنَّا أَرْسِلِنَآ إِى قَوٍْ
مُحِمِينَهْ لِتُرْسِلُ عَلَهِم ◌َارَةً مِنْ طِينٍ مُسَوَمَةً مِنْدَ رَّبِكَ
لِسْرِفِينَ * فَأَخْرَجْنَا مَنْ كَانَ فِيهَا مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَّْ نَا
وَجَدْنَا فِيهَا غَيْرَبَكْتٍ مِنَ المُسْلِينَّ وَتَكْنَا فِيهَا آيَةٌ لِلَّذِينَّ
يَخَافُونَ الْعَذَابَ الَلِيمّ وَفِى مُوسَى إِذَا رَ سَلْنَهُ إِى فِرْعَونَ
بسُلْطِنِ مُيِنِ فَنَوَلَى بِرُكْنِهِ وَقَالَ سَاجِرًّا وْ مَجَنُونَ
فَأَخَذْتُهُ وَجُنُودَةُ فَنَبَدْ نُهُمْفِ الَمّ ◌َهُوَ مُلِمْ وَفِى حَادٍ
إِذَاَ رْسَلَتْا عَلَيْهِمِ الرّحَ الْعَقِيمَ مَا تَذَرُ مِنْ شَىء ◌َتْ عَلَيَّهِ
الْأَجْعَلَتْهُ كَالزَّبِمِّ وَفِيَ مُودَ إِذَقْلَ لَهُمْ تَغُوا حَتّى
حِينٍ فَعَنَّوْا عَنْ آَمِيَقِمْ فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّحِفَّةُ وَيْنَظَرَّ
فَمَا اسْتَطَاعُوا مِنْ قِيَّامٍ وَمَا كَانُوامَنْتَصَرِيَّهُ وَقَوْمَ نويج
مِنْ قَبَُ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَوْمًا فْسِقِينَ وَالسَّمَّاءِ بَنَّيْنِهَا
بَيْدٍ وَإِنَّاكَوْسِعُونَ وَالْأَرْضَ وَشْفُهَا فَعْمَ الْمِهِدُونَ
وَمِنْ كُلِّيَّةِ، خَلَمْنَازَ وْجَيْنِ لَعَلَكُنْ تَ كَرُنَ
فَقِدُّواْ إِلَى اللَّهِ إِ لَكُمْ مِنْ نَذِيرُعُين
notice two things. Firstly,
that it considers the first
ya' as extra instead of the
second. The second is that
the extra ya' is left empty
of any markings in order
to indicate that it is not to
be read. Although the
South Asian dabț like the
dabț of the Madinah
mushaf considers the
second ya' as extra, the
method of marking the
unread letter is the same.
Other similarities include
that hamzat al-wasl is left
empty of any markings,
unless ibtidā' is to be made
from it, such as in
أُخْتُوا الَّذِينَ ظَوْا وَزْ وَاجَهُمْ وَمَا كَانُوا يَعْبُدُ ونَ
and
What is . الرُّسَلِينَ *إِبْتَّعُوا مَنْ لَا
different is that the vowel marking on the hamzat al-wasl is written with red ink,
which indicates that it is a temporary vowel. Secondly, the red temporary vowel
53 Iyād al-Sāmirā'ī and Tāj al-Dīn Amjad 'Abd al-Mun im and Zayd al-Samira'ī, "Juhūd al-
Mullā 'Alī al-Qārī fi Kitabat al-Masāhif ma a Dirāsat Mushafihi al-Makhțuț Sanah 999 AH,"
Surra Man Ra'a 57, no. 14 (2018): 15.
34

is placed on the hamzat al-wasl regardless of what kind of stop sign occurs before
it, strong or weak. We also see the use of standing fathahs with no additional
slanted fathah to indicate omitted alifs, and the use of standing kasrahs and
dāmmahs to indicate omitted ya's and waw's; compare the dammah on the ha' in
'anhu and māluhū
مَا أَعَنَى عَنْهُ مَالَهُ
One of the major differences between this mushaf
and our contemporary South Asian and Arab masahif is that this mushaf does not
allude to the rules of nun sakinah and tanwin in any way at all. It does not add a
shaddah on the mudgham fih, or have tatābū' of tanwīn, or leave the nun sākinah
empty of a vowel in any circumstance. I did not find a reference in any of the
books of dabt that would allow for this. Yet, a scholar of the Qur'an as great as
Mulla 'Alī al-Qarī 4 did not seem to understand those recommendations to be
absolute, and he did not include them in his handwritten mushaf. Interestingly,
the dabt of his mushaf is similar to the 11th century Iranian and Turkish
manuscripts that were shared earlier. The researchers who have studied this
mushaf write that it is written in the dabt of Imam Khalil al-Farahīdī 49,.54 A similar
claim is made by other masahif, showing us that the application of the principles
of dabt is done in a general way with regional differences.
Early Published Mașāḥif
The above were some examples of handwritten masahif. They obviously follow
the system of diacritics of Imam Khalil 4, but they do not adhere to the classical
books of dabt in each and every one of their details. Next, we will see some
examples of early printed masahif. I have chosen those that were printed under
the supervision of or by scholars. On the next page we will see a page from an
Indian mushaf that was published by Mawlana Ahmad Saharanpūrī 4% in 1852 CE
through his publishing house in Delhi. He intended to publish a mushaf that
54 Iyād al-Sāmirā'ī and Tāj al-Dīn Amjad 'Abd al-Mun im and Zayd al-Sāmirā'ī, "Juhūd al-
Mullā 'Alī al-Qārī fi Kitabat al-Masāhif ma a Dirāsat Mushafihi al-Makhțuț Sanah 999 AH,"
Surra Man Ra'a 57, no. 14 (2018): 14.
35

adhered strictly to rasm 'Uthmanī. 55 When we analyze the dabt of the available
وما مندابة
images of this mushaf, we
وَكَّجَتْ رُسُلََّبْرِمَالْمُشْرِى فَاسَمْفَ أَنَ
find that it is almost
بَصْ حَدِ هِ فَكَّارَ ا آَيْدِيَمْ لَا تَصِلُ إِلَّهِ نَكَرَ سُمْ وَأَ وْ جَسَمِنْ
identical to the dabț of
فات والك
◌ِفَةَ وَاُلَفَِّنَ أرْسِنَا إِلى قَوْ كَوْطُ
the South Asian mushaf
◌َ فَيَ حْقَّ عَ مِنْ وَرَاِ اْحَ يَعْقُوْبَ هَالَتْ
today. There were some
ديرب وبشر تهادبي في
◌َوْ زُ وَهَذَابَعَِّ شَاء إِنَّهُنَالَشَىْء ◌َمْيُ قَالَمَّا الَجَيْنَ مِنْ
scenarios, such as iglāb
◌َمْ اللّهِ رَحْمَهُ اللهِ وَرَ كَتَّةَ عَلَيْكُمْأَصْلَ الَّهُ الَّحَمْدُ فَحَيْدُ
and the dabt of letters
وورآخر بادءالم جز هاوله
فَكَادَ هَبَعَنْ إِبْضِيَ الرَّوُْ وَجَآَتَهُ الْبُشْرِ يُجَادِ لُنَا فِى قَوَرِ
that are additional in the
أُرِ حَرَابْمِيْمَ لَحَلَّمَ اوَاء عَنْبُ فَإ برَاهِيمُ أَعْرِضْ عَنْ هَذَا
rasm, that I was not able
بعدالاست وبركت في الفم
أَ قَدْ جَاءَ أَمْرُ رَ بِكَ تَنَّكُمْ أَيْهِمْ عَذَابٌ غَبْرُ مَرْدُورِهِ وَلَنَاه
to compare as there
وَأبراسيم في العطاءوسشرى
الَّطَّاسِيُِّ مْمَ وَضَاقَ بِهِمْذَرْ عَا وَ قَالَ هَذَا يَمُّ عَصِدْ
were no examples of
باست وتاثر يم ولها
them in the pages that
مِنْ تَلُ كَانُوا يَعَمُوْنَ السَّبَّائِهِ
وَجَ: تَوَمَةُ يُصْرَعُونَ
إلى الله السيدات بمكة
◌ْفَتَقَوِ اللّهَ وَلَ تُخْرُ ونَ فِىْ
were available to me.
است ويقوم والفولالى لبن
Just like the handwritten
mașāhif, the Sahāranpūrī
قَالُوَ الَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَالَنَا فِى بَتِكَ
. وفر بروا واست ١٣هـ
mushaf adheres to the
مِنْ حَقِّ وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَمْ مَانِيُ قَالَ لَوَ أَنَّ لِى بِكُمْ قُرَّةً أَوَادِى
ثالى بالوز
rules of dabț mentioned
وَكَيِ شَدِيدٍ قَالُ الْلُوطِّرُسُلُ وَبِّكَ لَنْ يَصِلُوّ النَّكَ فَاسْه ◌ِ مْلـ
in classical books in a
واحلوم
general way, instead of
in each and every detail.
However, the Saharanpūrī mushaf is not the one that contemporary South Asian
mașāhif are printed from. Rather, it is the Taj company mushaf that was checked
and published under the guidance of Mufti Kifayatullah (d. 1372 AH), the grand
Mufti of Delhi and one of the leading scholars of India at the time, that is still in
publication today. This mushaf was approved for publication around 1935.56 I
would also like to mention here that today, there are many publishers of masahif
in South Asia, and there are small differences in the dabt of these masahif even
55 Zaman, Muntasir. "The Saharanpūrī Print of the Qur'an." Qalam Research. Qalam
Seminary. May/18/2023. The image on the next page was also taken from this article with
permission from the author.
56 Muhammad Shafa at Rabbanī, Rasm Mushaf Matba at Tāj, 1232.
36

though they look identical at first glance. Some of these are mentioned by
Ustadha Sara Bano in her articles that were cited earlier.
The Mushaf of Shaykh al-Mukhallalatī57
جر وب
٢٩٨
In 1308 AH/1890 CE, an
ـوعشرُوز اتفاقاً
بِسِاللهِ الرّحمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
ت الفاتكية وأَاهَا
هَلَ أَتْكَ حَدِيثُ الْعَشِيَةِّ وُجُوهُ يَوْمَمِذِ خْشِعَةُ : عَامِلَةُ نَاصِبَةٌ تَصَلى
نَارًّا حَامِيَة ◌ٍلُقْر مِنْ عَيْنٍ،َ انِبَكِ لَيْرَهُمْ طَعَامُ إِلَّ مِن ضَرِيعُ لَ يُسْزُوَ
يُقْنِ مِنْ جُوعُ وُجُوِّهُ يَوْمَسِّذِنَّاعَةُ: لِسَعِيهَا رَاضِيَّةٌ فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةِ:
لَا تَسَمَعُ فِيهَا لِغِيَةًّْ فِيهَا عَيْ جَارِيَةٌ فِيهَا سُئِ مَزْ فُوعَةٌ * وَأكُوَابٌ
تَّوْضُوعَةُ وَتَارِقُ مَصْفُوفَةٍ، وَزَرَابِىٌ مَبْتُوتَّةُ : أَفَلاَ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَىَ
الْإِبِكَفَ خُلِقَتْ وَإِلَى السَّمَاءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ، وَإِلَى الْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ»
﴿ وَ إِلَى الأَرْضِكِيَفِ سُطِحَيْءٌ وَدَّكِنَّ أَنْتَ مُدََِّسْتَعَلَيِّصْطِ
◌ٌ إِلَّمَنْ تَوَلَى وَكَفَرَهُ فَيُعَذِّ بُهُ اللهُ الْعَذَابَ الْأَكْبَرَإِنَّ إِلَيْنَ إِيَامَهُمْ
مكي فا بإيها
ثُمَّإِنَّ عَلَيْنَا حِسَابَهُمْت
Egyptian press, run by Shaykh
Muhammad Abū Zayd
published a mushaf that had
been produced under the
supervision of Shaykh Ridwan
ibn Muhammad 4%, known as
al-Mukhallalātī. This mushaf
paid close attention to rasm
'Uthmānī and also added the
differences between the verse
counts. One of its unique features is that it includes an introduction written by
Shaykh al-Mukhallalatī 4% in which he shares the history of the writing of the
Qur'an, details of rasm, dabt, waqf, and verse enumeration (fawāsil).58
This mushaf's dabt is closer to the dabt of the Madinah printed mushaf than the
contemporary South Asian mushaf. One of its similarities to the South Asian dabt
is that it does not have tatabu' of tanwin. In the introduction of the mushaf as well
as in his book, Shaykh al-Mukhallalatī #, has written that tanwin should be
written with tarkib (the lines being parallel to each other) when tanwin is followed
by one of the letters of izhar. When tanwin is followed by the letters of ikhfa' and
idgham, it should be written with tatabu", meaning that the tanwin should be off
set.59 However, the mushaf consistently does not apply tatabu‘. There could be
المصحف الشريف الشهير بمصحف الشيخ رضوان المخللاتى The entire mushaf can be viewed here 57
Free Download, Borrow, and: برواية حفص ومعه مقدمة في الضبط والرسم والعد للشيخ المخللاتي رحمه الله
Streaming : Internet Archive.
58 "Abd al-Fattah al-Qādī, Tārīkh al-Mushaf al-Sharif (Cairo: Al-Azhar, 2014-2015), 51-52.
59 Ridwan ibn Muhammad al-Mukhallalātī, Irshād al-Qurrā' wa al-Kātibīn ilā Ma'rifat Rasm
al-Kitab al-Mubīn (Egypt: Maktabat al-Imam al-Bukhārī, 2007), 2:741-744.
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reasons for this that we do not know, such as the calligrapher not applying this
rule due to his own reasons or limitations of the printing method.6º Regardless
of the reason, what remains a fact is that the lack of tatabu was not seen as a
serious enough concern to prevent the mushaf from being published or
disseminated. Some other similarities with the South Asian dabt include the use
of a standing fathah to serve as both the fathah and the omitted alif, see the word
JUFÎ in the image on the previous page. To mark an omitted ya', the Mukhallalatī
mushaf uses a standing kasrah in addition to writing a miniature ya', ,
To
mark an omitted waw, it uses something very similar to a standing dammah.
Notice the difference between the dammah on the waw in the word Dawud and the
other dammahs, Muitos,"he Even if we interpret that as a small waw, as is
mentioned in the books of dabt, it still functions like a standing dammah in that
it acts as both the vowel and the omitted letter. Another example of this is
الَفَيَقًّايَلُونَ أَلْسنَتَهُمِ
Another interesting similarity between the dabt of the Mukhallalatī
mushaf and the South Asian mushaf is the dabt of ism al-jalalah, the word "Allah."
The Arab printed masahif do not add a standing alif on top of the lām. This is as it
has been described in the books of dabt. However, the South Asian mushaf as well
as the Mukhallalatī mushaf place a standing alif on the lām,
وَاللّهُ يَـ
I do not think that these are mistakes in the mushaf of Shaykh Mukhallalatī
but rather they reveal what the other masahif do as well, that the rules of dabt are
not absolute, but rather general guidelines. This point is even more stark in this
mushaf, because Shaykh al-Mukhallalatī , has written a work on the science of
rasm and dabt. His chapters on dabt rely heavily on 'Allāmah al-Dānī 440, Abū
Dawud Ibn Najāh 4%, Imam al-Kharraz 4, and the commentaries written on
Imam al-Kharraz's 4, work. These are the same sources that the Madinah printed
mushaf uses.
60 We know that this mushaf was produced through the lithographic printing method. My
limited understanding of this process did not provide any reason why the lithographic
method would prevent something like offset tanwin. However, my knowledge and
research about this method and its development in Egypt is limited. And Allah knows
best.
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Mușhaf al-Amīrī61
(١٠٥) سُوّرة الفِيلٌ مكيَّة
وآياتها، نزلتْ بَعَد الكافرون
-
Unfortunately, the quality of
printing of the Mukhallalātī mushaf
was poor. Due to this, King Fuad I of
Egypt commissioned a committee to
publish a new mushaf. At the head of
this committee
was
أَوْ تَكَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ أَعْخَبِ الْفِلِ ي أَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ
فِي تَضْلِيلٍ ◌ّ وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيَ تَرْمِيِم
Shaykh
Muhammad 'Alī Khalaf al-Hussainī
This mushaf, like Shaykh al-
بِجَارَةٍ مِّن ◌ِيلٍ ﴿ فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفِ مَّا گُولٍ
Mukhallalātī's , mushaf paid close
(١٠٦) سُورَةٌ قُريِشِ مَكَيَّة
وآياتها ٤ نزلتْ بَعد التينّ
attention to rasm Uthmānī. It also
adheres strictly to the rules of dabt
as found in classical books.62 When
we observe this mushaf, we find that
_ِّإ ◌ِلَفِ قُرَيْشٍ ﴾ إِلَفِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّنَآءِ
it adheres completely to the
principles of dabt as stated by Imam
al-Kharraz 4%, and the Madinah
٨٢٢
printed mushaf is almost exactly like
it. The signature of the committee that published this mushaf is dated the first of
Rabī' al-Thani, 1338 AH. The last page of the mushaf states that it was published
in 1342 AH. In my limited knowledge, this mushaf is the first mushaf that follows
the conventions of dabt described in the books of dabt in every detail.
.
Despite the amazing effort put forth by the committee that published the Amiri
mushaf, there were still some points of dabt that needed to be corrected. One of
the examples Shaykh 'Abd al-Fattah al-Qadi 4%, gives is the kasratain at the end of
Sūrah al-Fil. Instead of being marked with a small mim for iqlab, it is marked with
off set kasratain and there is a shaddah on the lam in the beginning of Surah al-
Quraish. This suggests that the last ayah of Surah al-Fil can be joined with Sūrah
61 A PDF of this mushaf can be viewed here mushafElMesaha : Free Download, Borrow,
and Streaming : Internet Archive
62 "Abd al-Fattah al-Qādī, Tārīkh al-Mushaf al-Sharif (Cairo: Al-Azhar, 2014-2015), 52.
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