Indexed OCR Text

18
Introduction
his rendition, Abu Musa Qalun (died 220 Hijrah) and Abu Sa'id Warsh
(died 197 Hijrah) are better known.
3. 'Abdullah al-Hisbi, better known as Ibn 'Amir (died 118 Hijrah).
He was fortunate to have seen Sayyidna Nu'man ibn Bashir and
Wathilah ibn Asqa' Jl , from among the Companions. He had
learnt the art of Qur'anic reading from Mughirah ibn Shihab
al-Makhzumi who was a disciple of Sayyidna 'Uthman as JI yo, . His
reading gained currency mostly in Syria, and more famous among
those who transmitted his rendition are Hisham and Dhakwan.
4. Abu 'Amr Zabban ibn al-'Ala (died 154 Hijrah). He has reported
his rendition from Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas and 'Ubayy ibn Ka'b 4 Jul
through Mujahid and Said ibn Jubayr. His reading became fairly
well-known in Basrah. Abu 'Umar al-Dawri (died 246 Hijrah) and Abu
Shu'ayb al-Susi (died 261 Hijrah) are among the more famous
transmitters of his rendition.
5. Hamzah ibn Habib al-Zayyat, ex-slave of 'Ikramah ibn Rabi'
al-Taymi (died 188 Hijrah). He is a disciple of Sulayman al-A'mash,
who was a disciple of Yahya ibn Waththab, who was a disciple of Zirr
ibn Hubaysh, and he had the benefit of learning from Sayyidna
'Uthman, 'Ali and 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud JI», . Among his
transmitters, Khalf ibn Hisham (died 188 Hijrah) and Khallad ibn
Khalid (died 220 Hijrah) are more famous.
6. 'Aşim ibn Abi al-Najud al-Asadiyy (died 127 Hijrah). Through
Zirr ibn Hubaysh, he is a disciple of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud JI)
and through Abu 'Abd al-Rahman Sulami and al-Asadiyy, he is a
disciple of Sayyidna 'Ali paulo,. More famous among the
transmitters of his rendition are Shu'bah ibn 'Ayyash (died 193
Hijrah) and Hafs ibn Sulayman (died 180 Hijrah). Generally, the
recitation of the Holy Qur'an these days is made following the
rendition of this very Hafs ibn Sulayman.
7. Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Hamzah al-Kisa'i (died 189 Hijrah).
Among his transmitters, Abu al-Harith Marwazi (died 240 Hijrah) and
Abu 'Umar al-Dawri (who is also a transmitter of Abu 'Amr) are better
known. The readings of the later three became more common in
Kufah.

19
Introduction
As it has been submitted earlier that several other readings, other
than these seven, are sound and have been reported in uninterrupted
succession. However, when the misunderstanding that sound readings
are limited to these seven started gaining currency, several scholars
(for example, 'Allamah Shadha'i and Abu Bakr ibn Mihran) collected,
instead of seven, ten readings in one book. Thereupon, the term,
"Al-qira'at al-'ashrah" or "Ten Readings" became famous. In these ten
readings, the readings by the following three were also included in
addition to those of the seven mentioned above:
1. Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Hadrami (died 205 Hijrah). His rendition
was famous mostly in Basrah.
2. Khalf ibn Hisham (died 205 Hijrah) who is also a transmitter of
the rendition of Hamzah. His rendition was common mostly in
Kufah.
3. Abu Ja'far Yazid ibn al-Qa'qa' (died 130 Hijrah). His rendition
found wider currency in Madinah al-Tayyibah.
4. Abu al-Faraj Shambudhi (died 388 Hijrah) who was a resident of
Baghdad.
Some scholars have counted Sulayman al-A'mash among the
fourteen qaris in place of Shambudhi. Out of these, the first ten
readings are credited with uninterrupted succession as vouched by
sound authority.
Other than these are Shadhdh or rare (Manahil al'Irfan with reference to
Munjid al-Muqri'in by ibn al-Jazri).
The Preservation of the Holy Qur'an
In the days of the Holy Prophet g
Since the noble Qur'an was not revealed all at once, on the
contrary, different verses from it used to have been revealed as and
when appropriate, therefore, it was not possible from the very
beginning to write and preserve it in a book form. So, during the initial
stage of Islam, major emphasis was laid on memory as a means of
preserving the noble Qur'an. When Wahy used to come in the very
beginning, the Holy Prophet & would tend to repeat its words
instantly so that they would be memorized well enough. Thereupon,
Allah Almighty directed him through the verses of Surah al-Qiyamah

20
Introduction
that he need not repeat words in a hurry immediately as Wahy came.
Allah Almighty would Himself endow him with a memory that he will
be unable to forget the words of the Wahy once its descention has been
completed. So it was that the moment the Qur'anic verses would come
to him, they would be committed to his memory the next moment.
Thus the blessed chest of the Holy Prophet @ , was the most protected
vault of the noble Qur'an, in which there was no chance of even some
common mistake, editing or alteration. Moreover, as a matter of addi-
tional precaution, he used to recite the Qur'an before angel Jibra'il Le
XJI every year during the month of Ramadan; and the year he left this
mortal world he completed a cumulative review of Qur'anic recita-
tion (daur) twice with Jibra'il ->JI que (Sahih al-Bukhari with Fath al-Bari, p. 36, v. 9).
Again, as it was, he would not restrict his teaching of the
Companions to just the meanings of the noble Qur'an, but had them
memorize its words as well. Then, the revered Companions were
themselves so enamoured with the desire to learn and remember the
noble Qur'an that everyone of them was anxious to get ahead of the
other. There were women who claimed no mahr (dower) from their
husband except that they would teach the Qur'an.
Hundreds of Companions, freeing themselves from all other con-
cerns, had devoted their whole lives for this purpose. Not only did they
memorize the Qur'an but also went on repeating it within their nightly
prayers. When someone migrated from Makkah al-Mukarramah
and came to Madinah al-Tayyibah, says Sayyidna 'Ubadah ibn Samit
the Holy Prophet i would entrust him to one of us Ansars, رضى الله عنه
so that he could teach Qur'an to the newcomer. The Mosque of the
Prophet was so filled with voices generated by learners and teachers of
the Qur'an that the Holy Prophet ay had to ask them to lower their
voices so that mistakes are not made (Manahil al-'Irfan, 1/234).
So, within a fairly short time, there was on hand a large group of
the noble Companions who had the glorious Qur'an all committed
flawlessly to their memory. Included in this group were, in addition to
the Four Guided Caliphs, persons like Sayyidna Talhah, Sayyidna
Sa'd, Sayyidna Ibn Mas'ud, Sayyidna Hudhayfah ibn Yaman,
Sayyidnā Salim Mowla abi Hudhayfah, Sayyidnā Abu Hurayrah,
Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas,

21
Introduction
Sayyidnā 'Amr ibn al-'Aş, Sayyidnā 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, Sayyidnā
Mu'āwiyah, Sayyidnā 'Abdullah ibn Zubayr, Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn
al-Şa'ib, Sayyidah 'A'ishah, Sayyidah Hafşah, Sayyidah Umm Salmah,
may peace be upon them all.
In short, memorization of the Qur'an was given more emphasis in
early Islam as this was the only protected and trust-worthy method
given the conditions of that time. The reason is that the number of
people who could read or write was very limited in those days. The
means of publishing books, such as the printing press, etc., were not
there. Therefore, in that situation, if writing was taken to be
sufficient, it would have neither been possible to spread out the Qur'an
on an extensive scale nor to protect it reliably. In its place, Allah
Almighty had blessed the people of Arabia with a memory of such
dimensions that thousands of poetic lines would normally rest in the
memory of one person after another. Ordinary, run-of-the-mill
villagers would remember by heart their genealogies and those of their
families, and unbelievably enough - even those of their horses!
Therefore, this power of memory was well utilized for the conservation
and protection of the noble Qur'an and it was through it that the
verses and chapters of the noble Qur'an reached all over into the far
corners of Arabia.
The writing of Wahy
Besides having the Qur'an committed to memory, the Holy Prophet
made special arrangements to have the Qur'an committed صلى الله عليه وسلم
to writing as well. Sayyidna Zayd ibn Thabit as Ul >, says: 'I used to
write down the words of Wahy for him. When Wahy came to him he felt
burning with heat and the drops of perspiration would start rolling
down on his body like pearls. When this state would go away from
him, I would present myself before him with a shoulder-bone or a piece
(of something else). He would go on dictating and I would go on
writing. When I would be finished with writing, the sheer weight of
copying the Qur'an would give me the feeling that my leg is going to
break and I would never be able to walk. In any case, when I would be
finished with writing, he would say: 'Read'. I would read it back to
him. If there was a shortcoming, he would have it corrected and then
let it be known to people (Majma' al-Zawaid with reference to Tabrani 1/156).

22
Introduction
Besides Sayyidna Zayd ibn Thabit us Ulu, , there were many
other Companions who carried out the duty of committing the Wahy to
writing. Some of those who can be specially mentioned, in addition to
the Four Guided Caliphs, are Sayyidna 'Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Sayyidna
Zubayr ibn 'Awwam, Sayyidna Mu'awiyah, Sayyidna Mughirah ibn
Shu'bah, Sayyidna Khalid ibn al-Walid, Sayyidna Thabit ibn al-Qays,
Sayyidnā Aban ibn Sa'id and others (Fath al-Bari, 9/18)
Sayyidna 'Uthman says that it was the blessed practice of the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that he, soon after the revelation of a certain
portion of the Qur'an, would pointedly instruct the scribe of the Way
to write it in such Surah after such and such verse ( for details see Fath
al-Bari, 9/18 and Zad al-Ma'ad 1/30).
Since paper was not available in Arabia during those days,
therefore, these Qur'anic verses were mostly written on stone slabs,
parchments, date branches, bamboo units. tree leaves and animal
bones. However, at times, paper pieces have also been used (Ibid., 9/11).
Thus, there existed, during the times of the Holy Prophet , a
copy of the noble Qur'an which he had arranged to be committed to
writing under his supervision. Although, it was not there as a formally
prepared book, but it certainly was there in the form of various units
of available writing materials. Along with it, it was also the practice of
some revered Companions that they would make copies of the Qur'anic
verses and keep them for personal recollection. This practice was
common since the very early period of Islam. Accordingly, much before
Sayyidna 'Umar Ul, embraced Islam, his sister and
brother-in-law had in their possession verses of the Qur'an which they
had written and kept in book form (Sirah ibn Hisham).
Preservation: In the period of Sayyidna Abu Bakr as dly>,
However, it was characteristic of all copies of the noble Qur'an
made during the days of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that they were
either written on different available writing surfaces, for instance, a
verse would appear on parchment, another on tree leaf and yet
another on a bone; or they were not complete copies. One Companion
would have only a single Surah in his record while someone else would
have five or ten Surahs and some others will have only a few verses.
Then there were Companions having in their possession explanatory
sentences as well along with the text of the verses.

23
Introduction
On these grounds, Sayyidna Abu Bakr &e Jn », , during his tenure
of Khilafah, thought it necessary to bring together all these scattered
units of the Qur'an and thus have them preserved. The motives and
the methods behind this great achievement of his have been explained
in detail by Sayyidna Zayd ibn Thabit . l ., when he says: "One
day, soon after the battle of Yamamah, Sayyidnā Abu Bakr sent a
message calling me in. When I reached him, Sayyidna 'Umar was
present there. Sayyidna Abu Bakr said to me: 'Umar has come just
now and he tells me that a large group of Huffaz (those who had
committed the Qur'an to memory) have met their death as martyrs in
the battle of Yamamah. If the Huffaz of the noble Qur'an continue to
meet their shahadah (martyrdom) in this manner, I am afraid a large
portion of the Qur'an may just go extinct. So, in my view, you should
begin the task of having the Qur'an collected together under your
order'. I said to 'Umar: 'How can we do what the Holy Prophet
himself did not do?' 'Umar replied: 'By God, this is for nothing but
good.' After that, this is what 'Umar continued telling me, until I too
started seeing the truth, and now, my view was the same as 'Umar's'.
After that Sayyidna Abu Bakr told me: 'You are young, and intelligent.
We have no doubts about you. You have been working as a scribe of
Wahy as well under the supervision of the Messenger of Allah , so
you search and collect the verses of the noble Qur'an'."
Sayyidnā Zayd ibn Thabit says: "By God, had these blessed people
commanded me to haul some mountain, that would have been much
less weightier than this duty of collecting the Qur'an. I said to them:
'How are you doing something that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did
not do?' Sayyidna Abu Bakr said: 'By God, this is good, nothing but
good.' After that, this is what Sayyidna Abu Bakr kept saying to me
again and again until Allah Almighty put my heart at rest for the
same view that was the view of Sayyidna Abu Bakr and 'Umar.
Consequently, I started searching for the Verses of the Qur'an and it
was from the branches of date palms, slabs of stones and hearts of
people that I finally collected the noble Qur'an." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab
Fada'il al-Qur'an)
At this point while we are dealing with the process of the collection
of the Qur'an, we should have a clear perception of the method used by

24
Introduction
Sayyidna Zayd ibn Thabit as JI , . As mentioned earlier, he was
himself a Hafiz of the Qur'an, therefore, he could have written down
the whole Qur'an from his memory. In addition to that, there were
hundreds of Huffaz (memorizers of the Qur'an: plural of Hafiz) present
at that time; the noble Qur'an could have still been written down by
entrusting the duty to a selected group from out of them.
Also, the copies of the noble Qur'an committed to writing during
the times of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم could have been used by
Sayyidna Zayd to make his copy of the Qur'an. But he, guided by his
caution and concern, did not limit himself to any one of the many
methods available. On the contrary, by using all these methods
simultaneously, he did not allow any verse to be included in his master
copy of the Qur'an unless he received written and verbal testimonies
proving its uninterrupted succession. In addition to that, the verses
that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had arranged to be written under
his supervision, were still preserved by the Companions. Sayyidna
Zayd collected them together so that the new copy be made from them.
Consequently, a public proclamation was made to the effect that
anyone possessing any number of written verses of the noble Qur'an
should bring them over to Sayyidna Zayd. When a written verse was
brought to him by someone, he used to verify its authenticity by the
following four methods:
(1) To begin with, he tested its reliability against his own memory.
(2) Then, Sayyidna 'Umar too was a Hafiz of Qur'an, and as proved
by reliable reports, Sayyidna Abu Bakr me dul », had assigned him too
to work with Sayyidna Zayd on this project. When someone came with
some verse, Sayyidna Zayd and Sayyidna 'Umar used to receive it
jointly (Fath al-Bari with reference to ibn Abi Dawud).
(3) No written verse was accepted until such time that two
trustworthy witnesses had testified to the fact that the particular
صلى الله عليه وسلم verse was written in the presence of the Holy Prophet
(al-Itqan, 1/10)
(4) After that, these verses in writing were collated with collections
that different Companions had prepared for themselves (al-Burhan fi 'Ulum
al-Qur'an, by Zarkashi, 1/238).
If this functional methodology behind the collection of the Qur'an

25
Introduction
during the period of Sayyidna Abu Bakr as Ul yo, is kept in mind, it
would become perfectly simple to understand what Sayyidna Zayd ibn
Thabit meant when he said: "I found the last verses of Surah
al-Bara'ah beginning with: ◌ْلَقَدُ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُم with Sayyidna Abu
Khudhaymah July», only. They were not found with anyone else
except him."
This never means that no person other than Sayyidna Abu
Khudhaymah Le Al +, remembered these verses, or somebody else did
not have these in the written form, or anyone other than him did not
know of their being part of the Qur'an. On the contrary, it means that
these verses were not found with anyone from among those who were
coming along with different verses written as dicated by the Holy
Prophet . Otherwise, as far as the fact of these verses being part of
the Qur'an is concerned, everyone knew it in an uninterrupted
succession. There were hundreds of Companions who remembered it
as well. Moreover, these were available in writing with Companions
who possessed complete collections of the Qur'anic verses. But, among
those written separately under the supervision of the Holy Prophet
this verse was found only with Sayyidna Abu Khudhaymah Le dl
and not with anyone else (al-Burhan, 1/234-45).
So, in every way possible, it was with great caution and concern
that Sayyidna Zayd ibn Thabit _ Jo, , by collecting the Qur'anic
verses, wrote them out in an organized form on pages of paper (al-Itqan,
1/60).
But, each Surah was written in separate folios, therefore, this copy
was composed of many folios. In the terminology of Qur'anic Studies,
this copy is called the "Umm" (literally, 'the mother', meaning 'the
original') and it had the following features:
1. In this copy, the Qur'anic verses were indeed arranged in
, صلى الله عليه وسلم accordance with the order identified by the Holy Prophet
but the Surahs were not so arranged, rather they were written
separately (Ibid).
2. Incorporated in this copy were all seven Huruf (versions) of the
Qur'an (which have been explained earlier). (Manhil al'Irfan, 1/246 and Tarikh
al-Qur'an by al-Kurdi, p. 28)

26
Introduction
3. Collected here were all verses the recitation of which has not
been abrogated.
4. The purpose of having this copy made in writing was to prepare.
an organized document with the collective endorsement of the whole
ummah, so that, reference can be made to it when needed.
These folios committed to writing on the orders of Sayyidna Abu
Bakr as JI yo, remained with him during his life-time. Then, they
remained with Sayyidna 'Umar Jl +, . After the martyrdom of
Sayyidna 'Umar, they were transferred to the custody of Umm
al-Mu'minin Sayyidah Hafşah Que A +, . After the death of Sayyidah
Hafsah LAN +, , Marwan ibn al-Hakam had these burnt since the
copies of Qur'an ordered by Sayyidna 'Uthman ac Algo, were ready at
that time, and a consensus of the ummah had already been reached to
the effect that following these copies of the Qur'an, in script and
arrangement of Surahs, was obligatory. Marwan ibn al-Hakam
thought it inadvisable to let any copy which was contrary to this script
and arrangement remain in existence (Fath al-Bari, 9/16).
Preservation: In the period of Sayyidna 'Uthman aedily,
When Sayyidna Uthman رضى الله عنه became Khalifah, Islam had
grown out of Arabia reaching into the far-flung areas of Byzantium
and Iran. As people from new areas embraced Islam, they would learn
the noble Qur'an from the Mujahidin of Islam or from the traders
because of whom they had found the blessing of Islam. On the other
side, you have already read that the noble Qur'an was revealed
incorporating seven versions with various readings, and different
-
Sahabah (Companions) had learnt it from the Holy Prophet & in
accordance with different readings, therefore, every Companion taught
Qur'an to his disciples in accordance with that particular reading
. صلى الله عليه وسلم which they had themselves learnt from the Holy Prophet
In this manner, this difference in readings reached far-out countries.
Until such time that people knew that the noble Qur'an has been re-
vealed incorporating seven Huruf (versions) no harm was done by this
difference. However, when this difference reached those far-out coun-
tries, and the fact that the noble Qur'an has been revealed
incorporating different readings was not fully publicised there,
disputes among people started showing up. Some people began to
insist on their reading as correct and that of others as incorrect. On

27
Introduction
the one hand, these disputes posed the danger that people would fall
into the grave error of declaring the readings of the noble Qur'an
which have followed in uninterrupted succession as incorrect. On the
other hand, there was no such standard copy available throughout the
Islamic world which could become the rallying authority for the entire
ummah, except, of course, the copy committed to writing by Sayyidna
Zayd ibn Thabit Le Ul _», which was there in Madinah. Since other
copies were written individually, and in them, there was no provision
to incorporate all the readings, therefore, the only reliable method to
resolve these disputes was that copies which incorporate all valid
readings be spread out all over the Islamic world, and then, by seeing
them it could be decided as to which reading is correct and which,
incorrect. Sayyidna 'Uthman Ul, accomplished this very
remarkable feat during the period of his Khilafah.
Details of this feat, as given in hadith narrations, inform us that
Sayyidna Hudhayfah ibn Yaman at Ulu, was engaged in jihad on the
Armenian-Azerbaijan front. There he noticed that differences were
rising among people about readings of the noble Qur'an. So, on his
return to Madinah, he went straight to Sayyidna 'Uthman Le Al ,
and once there, he pleaded: 'Ya Amir al-Mu'minin! Before this
Ummah falls a prey to differences in the Book of Allah like. the Jews
and Christians, you should do something about it.' Sayyidna 'Uthman
asked: 'What is the matter?' In reply, Sayyidna Hudhayfah said: 'I was
on a jihad mission fighting on the Armenian front. There I saw people
of Syria following the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka'b which would not be
familiar to the people of 'Iraq, and the people of Iran follow the reading
of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud which would not be familiar to the people of
Syria. As a result of this, they are charging each other of being kafirs.'
In fact, Sayyidna Uthman رضى الله عنه had himself sensed the danger
much earlier. He was told that there were cases right there in
Madinah al-Tayyibah itself where a teacher of the noble Qur'an would
teach the text to his disciples in accordance with one reading, and
another teacher would do so in accordance with another reading. In
this way, when the disciples of different teachers came together,
differences would crop up between them, and there were occasions
when this difference would extend to teachers, and they too, would
declare each other's reading to be incorrect. When Sayyidna

28
Introduction
Hudhayfah ibn Yaman as dlu», too invited his attention to this
danger, Sayyidna 'Uthman s diz», convened a meeting of some
highly-regarded Companions and sought their advice. He said: 'I have
been informed that there are people who say to each other things like -
"my reading is better than yours" - and this could touch the extreme
limits of kufr. So, what is your opinion in this connection?' The
Companions themselves asked Sayyidna 'Uthman at July) :'What are
your own thoughts on this subject?' Sayyidna 'Uthmane Jo, said: 'I
believe we should unite everyone on one Book so that we face no
difference or division.' The Companions, approving of this opinion,
. رضى الله عنه supported Sayyidna Uthman
Consequently, Sayyidna 'Uthman de Jul .», gathered people togeth-
er and delivered a sermon and in it he said: "You who live so close to
me in Madinah, if you can falsify each other and differ with each other
in respect of the readings of the noble Qur'an, it is quite obvious that
those who are far away from me will be indulging in falsification and
disputation on a much larger scale. Therefore, let everyone get
together and come up with a copy of the Qur'an following which
becomes obligatory for all."
With this in view, Sayyidna 'Uthman at Ulu+, sent a message to
Sayyidah Hafşah Que Jl yo, requesting her to let them have the blessed
folios of the Qur'anic text (prepared under the orders of Sayyidna Abu
Bakr as Al yo, which she had in her custody). He promised that these
will be returned to her after copies have been made. Sayyidah Hafsah
رضى الله sent these pages of the Qur'an to Sayyidna Uthman رضى الله عنها
a.c. He then formed a group of four Companions which was composed of
Sayyidnā Zayd ibn Thābit, Sayyidnā 'Abdullah ibn Zubayr, Sayyidna
Said ibn al-'As and Sayyidna 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Harith ibn Hisham
This group was entrusted with the duty of making . رضى الله عنهم أجمعين
several copies from the original copy of Sayyidna Abu Bakr's Qur'anic
folios and making sure that Surahs too are arranged in order. Out of
these four Companions, Sayyidna Zayd was an Ansari, while the rest
of the three were Qurayshis. Therefore, Sayyidna 'Uthman as Ul,
said to them: 'When you and Zayd differ in respect of any portion of
the Qur'an (that is, differ as to how a certain letter should be written)
you write it in the language of the Quraysh because the noble Qur'an
has been revealed in their very language."

29
Introduction
Basically, this duty was entrusted to only four distinguished
persons named above, but later on, other Companions were also
attached to help them out. (Fath al-Bari, pp. 13-15, v. 9)
They performed the following functions in connection with the
writing of the Qur'an:
1. In the copy prepared during the period of Sayyidna Abu Bakr
we All ) , Surahs were not placed in sequence, rather each Surah was
written separately. They wrote down all Surahs in their proper
sequence in a single copy. (Mustadrak, 2/229)
2. The verses of the noble Qur'an were written in a way so that all
readings backed by uninterrupted succession could be incorporated
within their script. Therefore, no dots or desinential marks were
placed on them so that the text could be recited in accordance with all
readings that are supported by uninterrupted succession. For
instance, they wrote bys in order that it could be read both Gaw and
64', because both readings are correct. (Manahil al- 'Irfan, 1/253-254)
3. Upto this time, there existed only one single copy of the noble
Qur'an - complete, authentically standard and collectively attested by
the whole ummah. These distinguished persons prepared more than
one copy of this newly organized Mushaf (copy of the Qur'an).
It is generally believed that Sayyidna 'Uthman yo, had
accomplished the preparation of five copies, but Abu Hatim Sijistani
says that a total of seven copies were prepared. Out of these one was
sent to Makkah al-Mukarramah, one to Syria, one to Yaman, one to
Bahrain, one to Başrah and one to Kufah, and one was preserved in
Madinah al-Tayyibah.
4. To accomplish the task cited above, these revered elders basical-
ly worked through the pages of the Qur'an which were written during
the times of Sayyidna Abu Bakr as JI », . But, along with it, as a mat-
ter of added precaution, they adopted exactly the same method that
was employed during the times of Sayyidna Abu Bakr e Jdl >, . Con-
sequently, assorted copies of texts committed into writing during the
days of the Holy Prophet & which were preserved by different Com-
panions were recalled once again, and it was, by yet another collation
with these, that the new copies were prepared. This time, a separately
written verse of Surah al-Ahzab, ◌ِمِنَ الُمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهُ عَلَيْه was

30
Introduction
found with Sayyidna Thabit al-Ansari As Algo, only. As we have ex-
plained earlier, it does not mean that nobody else remembered this
verse because Sayyidna Zayd Le Al _, has himself said: 'While writing
the copy of the Qur'an, I could not find the particular verse of Surah
al-Ahzab which I used to hear the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم recite.
This shows very clearly that the verse under reference was something
Sayyidna Zayd and other Companions remembered very well. On the
other hand, it also does not mean that this verse never existed in writ-
ing anywhere, because this verse was obviously there in the pages of
the Qur'an written during the times of Sayyidna Abu Bakr as Mla) .
Besides that, obviously enough, this verse was also included in the
copies of the noble Qur'an which were written and preserved by the
Companions on their own. But, like it was in the days of Sayyidna Abu
Bakr as ul >, , this time too, all those scattered documents, available
with the Companions in writing, were collected together, therefore,
Sayyidna Zayd as Ul , and others with him did not write down any
verse into these copies of the Qur'an until such time when they did
find it in those written documentations as well. As such, the fact was
that other verses were found written separately too with several Com-
panions, but this verse from Surah al-Ahzab was not found written
separately with anyone else except Sayyidna Khudhaymah ic al gos.
5. After having these several standard copies of the Qur'an
prepared, Sayyidna 'Uthman e July», had all copies personally kept by
different Companions burnt so that all copies of the Qur'an become
uniform in terms of the script, incorporation of accepted readings and
the order of chapters, leaving no room for any difference between
them.
The entire ummah acknowledged this achievement of Sayyidna
'Uthman us ulu», with admiration, and the Companions supported
him in this venture. The only exception is that of Sayyidna
'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud as Al ye, who was somewhat unhappy about it,
something that cannot be taken up here in its proper perspective.
Sayyidna 'Ali رضى الله عنه says:
"Say nothing about 'Uthman unless it be in his favour because, by
God, whatever he did in connection with copies of the Qur'an was done
in the presence of all of us, and with our advice and counsel." (Fath
al-Bari, 9/15)
-

31
Introduction
Steps Taken to Facilitate Recitation
After the afore-mentioned achievement of Sayyidna 'Uthman
Le ul gb), the ummah reached a consensus on the rule that it is not
permissible to write the text of the noble Qur'an using any method
other than the 'Uthmani Script. Consequently, all copies of the Qur'an
were, later on, written in accordance with this method, and the
Companions and their successors, may Allah be pleased with them all,
by bringing forth repeatedly, reproductions of the standard 'Uthmani
copies of the Qur'an, helped spread the noble Qur'an on a vast scale.
But, the copies of the noble Qur'an were still devoid of dots and
vowel points or desinential marks which made it difficult for non-
Arabs to recite them freely. As Islam spread out wide and deep in non-
Arab countries, the need to add dots and vowel points became acute, in
order that people may be able to recite them easily. Several steps were
taken to achieve this purpose. Their brief history is as follows:
Inclusion of Dots
The practice of placing dots over or under letters was just not there
among early Arabs, however, the readers were so used to this style
that they had practically no difficulty in reading dot-less writing to the
limit that they would easily distinguish between doubtful letters by
referring to the context. Specially, there was no possibility of any
doubt in the case of the noble Qur'an because its preservation did not
rest on writing, rather on the strength of memories, pursuant to
which, Sayyidna 'Uthmans JI yo, had assigned Qaris, accomplished
reciters of the Qur'an, along with its copies sent out to various parts of
the Muslim world so that they could teach how to read it.
There are different reports as to who first placed dots on the copy
of the noble Qur'an. Some reports say that this feat was first accom-
plished by Hadrat Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali رحمة الله عليه (al-Burhan, 1/250).
Some say he did this under the instructions of Sayyidna 'Ali , Als
... (Subh al-A'sha, 3/155). There are others who have said that Ziyad ibn Abi
Sufyan, the Governor of Kufah, asked him to do this. Then there is yet
· another report which credits Hajjaj ibn Yusuf with this feat who did it
with the help of Hasan al-Basri, Yahya ibn Ya'mur and Nasr ibn 'Asim
al-Laythi, may Allah's mercy be upon them all. (Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 1/63)

32
Introduction
Marks for correct reading
In the beginning, like dots, the Qur'an did not have any desinential
marks either. Here too, reports are at variance as to who placed
desinential marks first. Some say Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali did it first
while others claim that this was accomplished by Hajjaj ibn Yusuf
through Yahya ibn Ya'mur and Nasr ibn 'Asim al-Laythi. (Ibid)
Keeping in view all reports in this connection, it appears that
desinential marks were first invented by Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali, but
they were not like what they are today. Instead, placed there for
fathah was a dot (. ) over the letter, for kasrah a dot (_
under the
letter, for dammah a dot
·) in front of the letter; and there were
two dots ( .. or
or
for tanwin or nunnation. It was only
later that Khalil ibn Ahmad innovated the signs of hamzah (glottal
stop) and tashdid (doubling). (Subh al-A'sha, 3/160-161) After that, Hajjaj ibn
Yusuf requested Yahya ibn Ya'mur, Nasr ibn 'Asim al-Laythi and Ha-
san al-Basri, may Allah's mercy be upon them all, to simultaneously
place dots and desinential marks on the text of the noble Qur'an. On
this occasion, the present forms of desinential marks were chosen to
replace dots as expression of case signs. The purpose was to avoid
confusing them with dots intrinsically belonging to letters.
Aļzab or Manazil
It was the practice of Companions and their Successors that they
would complete the recital of the entire Qur'an once every week. For
this purpose, they had identified fixed portions for their daily recita-
tion which is known as 'hizb' or 'manzil'. Thus the entire Qur'an was
divided over seven 'ahzab' (plural of 'hizb') 'manazil' (plural of 'manzil').
(al-Burhan, 1/250)
Ajza' or Parts
Today, the Qur'an is divided over thirty 'ajz'a' (plural of 'juz') or
parts. This division in parts has nothing to do with the meaning of the
Qur'an. In fact, this division in thirty equal parts has been made to
serve as teaching aid for children as, it will be noticed, there are places
where the designated part ends with an unfinished statement. It is
difficult to say with certainty as to who brought about this division of

33
Introduction
the Qur'an in thirty parts. Some people believe that Sayyidna
'Uthman Uly, had arranged to have these written in thirty
different folio-units while their copies were being made, therefore, this
division dates back to his time for sure. But, this humble writer was
unable to find any proof of this position in the writings of earlier
scholars. However, 'Allamah Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi has written that
the thirty parts of the Qur'an have been known all along and they
customarily appear in copies of the Qur'an used in schools. (al-Burhan,
1/250; Manahil al-'Irfan, 1/402)
Akhmas and A'shar: The sets of Fives and Tens
Another sign used in Qur'anic copies of early centuries was that
they would write the word, khams ( } : five) or its abbreviation (¿)
after every five verses (on the margin); and the word, 'Ashr ( 4 : ten)
or its abbreviation (¿) after every ten verses. The former kind of signs
were called 'Akhmas' (a pentad or group of five) and the later, 'A'shar'
(a decade or group of ten). Consequent to another difference among
early scholars, these signs were considered permissible by some, and
reprehensible or makruh by others. Saying, with any degree of
certainty, as to who was the first to place the signs, is difficult indeed.
According to one view, Hajjaj ibn Yusuf was its inventor, while
another view credits this to an order of 'Abbasi Khalifah, al-Ma'mun
(al-Burhan, 1/251). But, these two views do not appear to be sound since the
idea of a'shar seems to be there during the times of the Companions.
For example, Masruq' a well-known Tabi'i, says that with Sayyidna
'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud as JUly», the placement of 'A'shar' markings in
the copy of the Qur'an was makruh. (Musannaf ibn Abi Shaybah, 2/497).
Ruku' or Section
Moreover, the signs of Akhmas and A'shar were abandoned later on
but, yet another sign which continues on even to this day is the sign of
ruku' or section. This has been determined in terms of the contents of
the noble Qur'an whereby a sign of ruku' (the letter ; on the margin) is
placed at the conclusion of a statement. Inspite of his efforts, this
humble writer was unable to locate anything authentic which would
tell us as to who originated the ruku', and in what period. However,
this much is almost certain that the purpose of this sign is to identify
an average portion of verses which could be recited in one raka'ah. It is
called 'ruku" so that ruku' (bending position) could be made in salah

34
Introduction
after reaching this point. There are 540 ruku'at in the whole Qur'an.
So, by reciting cne ruku' in every raka'ah of tarawih, it is possible to
complete the recital of the entire Qur'an on the night of the twenty
seventh (Fatawa 'Alamgiryah, Fasl al-Tarawih, 1/94).
Rumuz al-Awqaf: Stop Signs
Another useful step taken to facilitate recitation and phonetically
correct pronunciation (tilawah and tajwid) was to provide signs with
Qur'anic sentences which could tell the nature of making a stop
(breathing) there. These signs are known as the 'rumuz' (signs) or
'alamat (symbols) of awqaf (stops). Their purpose is to help a person
who does not know Arabic to stop at the correct spot during his
recitation, and thus, avoid causing a change in meaning by breaking
his breath at the wrong spot. Most of these signs were first invented
by 'Allamah Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad ibn Tayfur Sajawandi, may
Allah's mercy be upon him (Al-Nashr fi al-Qira'at al-'Ashr, 1/225). Details about
these signs are given below:
L : This letter Ta' is an abbreviated form of al-waqf al-mutlaq. It
means that the statement stands completed at this point. Therefore, it
is better to stop here.
a : This letter Jim is an abbreviation of al-waqf al-ja'iz and it
means that it is permissible to stop here.
; : This letter Za' is an abbreviation of al-waqf al-mujawwaz. It
means that making a stop here is correct all right, but the better
choice is not to make a stop here.
. : This letter Sad is an abbreviation of al-waqf al-murakhkhas.
It means that the statement has not yet been completed at this point
but, because the sentence has become long, here is the place to breathe
and stop rather than do it elsewhere (al-Mianh al-Fikriyyah, p. 63).
: This letter mim is an abbreviation of al-waqf al-lazim. It
means if a stop is not made here an outrageous distortion in the
meaning of the verse is possible. So, it is better to stop here. Some
phoneticians of the Qur'an have also called this al-waqf al-wajib or the
obligatory stop. But this is not 'wajib' of figh which brings sin if
abandoned. In fact, the purpose is to stress that making a stop here is
the most preferable of all stops (al-Nashr, 1/231).
Y : This letter la is an abbreviation of la taqif. It means 'do not

35
Introduction
stop here,' but it does not imply that making a stop here is
impermissible, because there are certain places bearing this sign
where making a stop brings no harm and making an initiation from
the following word is also permissible. Therefore, the correct meaning
of this sign is: If a stop is made here, it is better to go back and read
over again. Initiation from the next word is not approved (al-Nashr, 1/233).
As far as the origin of these signs is concerned, it stands proved
beyond doubt that they were invented by 'Allamah Sajawandi. In
addition to these, there are some other signs as well that appear in the
copies of the Qur'an, for instance:
: This ma' is an abbreviation of "mu'anaqh". This symbol is
inserted at a place where a single verse has two possible explanations.
According to one explanation, the stop will be made at one given place,
while according to another explanation, this will be at another place.
So, a stop can be made at either one of the two places, but once a stop
has been made at one place, it is not correct to stop at the other. For
instance, take the verse ◌ُذُلِكَ مَثَلُهُمْ فِى التَّوْرَائُِّ وَمَثَلَهُمْ فِى الْإِنْجِيْلِ أَحَزَرْعٍ اَخْرَجَ شَطاًه .If a stop
is made here at a,Jl , then it is not correct to stop at LAyl and should a
stop be made at الانجيل , then it is not correct to stop at التوراة . However, if
a stop is not made at both places, that will be correct. It is also known
as 'al-muqabalah'. It was, first of all, pointed out by Imam Abu al-Fadl
al-Razi (al-Nashr, 1/237 and al-Itqan, 1/88).
: This is a symbol for saktah. It means one should stop here
breaking the sound but not the breath. This is generally inserted at a
place where assimilated reading is likely to cause an erroneous
projection of meaning.
wis, : At this sign of waqfah, one must stop a little longer than
saktah (pause). But, breath should not break here too.
¿ : This letter qaf is an abbreviation of gila 'alaihi l'waqf. It
means that some phoneticans of the Qur'an identify a stop here while
others do not.
Jf : This word is 'qif which means 'stop' and it is inserted where
the reader may possibly think that a stop was not correct there,
Le : This is an abbreviation of al-waslu awla which means 'it is
better to recite in assimilated continuity'.

36
Introduction
J : This is an abbreviation of qad yusalu, that is, some stop
here, while others like to recite on in assimilated continuity.
This is marked at places where some: وقف النَّبِّى صلى الله عليه وسلم
hadith report proves that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم stopped here
while reciting.
The printing of the Holy Qur'an
Before the advent of the printing press, all copies of the Qur'an
were calligraphed by hand, and for this purpose, there always has
been, in every age, a large group of calligraphers whose sole purpose in
life was nothing else except the calligraphy of the Qur'an. The amount
of hard work put in by Muslims in writing the words of the Qur'an in
ever better styles, and the way they demonstrated their intense
emotional involvement with this great Book has a long and interesting
history of its own which would need a regular book. This is not the
appropriate place to go in such details.
With the invention of the printing press, the noble Qur'an was first
printed at Hamburg in 1113 Hijrah, a copy of which is still present in
Dar al-Kutub al-Misiiyyah. After that, several orientalists arranged
the publication of the copies of Qur'an but they were not received with
much approval in the Muslim world. After that, Mawlay 'Uthman was
the first person among Muslims who had one manuscript of the Qur'an
printed at St. Petersburg, a Russian city, in 1787 A.D. Similarly,
another manuscript was printed in Qazan also. In 1828 A.D., the
Qur'an was printed by lithography on stone slabs in the Iranian city of
Tehran. After that, printed copies of the Qur'an became common
throughout the world. (Tarikh al-Qur'an by al-Kurdi, p. 186, and 'Ulum al-Qur'an by Dr.
:
Subhi Saleh; Urdu Translation by Ghulam Ahmad Hariri, p. 142)
An introduction to the science of Tafsir
Now we can turn to the requisites of 'Ilm al-Tafsir or Exegesis. The
literal meaning of 'tafsir' in the Arabic language is 'to open' or to
explain, interpret or comment. Technically, the science of tafsir is a
branch of knowledge in which the meanings of the Qur'an are
explained and its injunctions and wisdoms are described openly and
clearly (al-Burhan). Addressing the Holy Prophet , the Glorious Qur'an
says:

37
Introduction
وَأَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ بِئْبِيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نِلَ إِلَيْهِمُ
We revealed the Qur'an to you so that you explain to the peo-
ple what has been sent down to them(16:44).
Once again, the Qur'an says:
لَقَدٌ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤُمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيُهِمْ رَسُوْلاً مِّنُ اَنْفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُوُّ عَلَيْهِمُ
آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيْهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَةَ
Surely, Allah did a great favour to Muslims when He sent a
Messenger to them from among them who would recite His
verses before them and purify them and teach them the Book
and the Wisdom (3:164).
Keeping this in view, it should be noted that the Holy Prophet
did not only teach the words of the Qur'an, but he also explained these
in details. This is why, on some occasions, the revered Companions
had to devote years together in learning a single Surah; details will,
inshallah, appear later on.
Until such time that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم graced this
mortal world with his presence, seeking the explanation of any verse
was not much of a problem. When the Companions faced any
difficulty, they would turn to him and get a satisfying answer. But,
later on after him, it became necessary that the tafsir of Qur'an be
preserved as a permanent branch of knowledge so that, along with the
words of the noble Qur'an, its correct meaning as well stands protected
and conserved for the Muslim ummah, and heretics and deviationists
find no room there for distortion of its meanings. So, with the grace
and tawfiq of Allah Almighty, this ummah accomplished this
wonderful mission with such effeciency that today we can say without
any fear of doubt or rejection that not only are the words of this last
Book of Allah protected but also stands protected even that correct
tafsir and explanation which has reached us through the Holy Prophet
and his Companions who were ever-prepared to sacrifice their lives
for him.
In what ways the Muslim ummah protected and preserved the 'ilm
(science) of tafsir? What exrteme hardships they faced in this pursuit?
How many stages did this struggle had to go through? All this has a
long and fascinating history which cannot be taken up in the present