Читать книгу Ulum al Qur'an - Ahmad Von Denffer - Страница 9

Оглавление

The revelation contained in the Qur’ān has been transmitted to us by numerous persons in two ways: orally and in written form.

MEMORISATION AND ORAL TRANSMISSION

Memorisation by the Prophet

Oral transmission of the revelation was based on ḥifẓ or memorisation and the Prophet Muḥammad himself was the first to commit a revelation to memory after the Angel Gabriel had brought it to him:

‘Move not thy tongue concerning the (Qur’ān) to make haste therewith. It is for Us to collect it and promulgate it; but when We have promulgated it, follow thou its recital’ (75: 16-19).

‘ … an apostle from God, rehearsing scriptures, kept pure and holy .. .’ (98: 2).

Memorisation by the Companions

The Prophet then declared the revelation and instructed his Companions to memorise it. The case of Ibn Mas‘ūd, who was the first man to publicly recite the Qur’ān in Makka, shows that even in the very early phase of the Islamic umma recital of the revelation from memory was practised by the Companions:

‘… the first man to speak the Qur’ān loudly in Makka after the apostle was ‘Abdullāh bin Mas’ūd. The Prophet’s Companions came together and mentioned that the Quraish had never heard the Qur’ān distinctly read to them… When (Ibn Mas’ūd) arrived at the maqām, he read “In the name of God the Compassionate the Merciful”, raising his voice as he did so. “The Compassionate who taught the Qur’ān…” (55: 1) …They got up and began to hit him in the face; but he continued to read so far as God willed that he should read .. .’¹

It is also reported that Abū Bakr used to recite the Qur’ān publicly in front of his house in Makka.²

The Prophet encourages Memorisation

There are numerous ahādīth, giving account of various efforts made and measures taken by the Prophet to ensure that the revelation was preserved in the memory of his Companions. The following is perhaps the most clear:

‘Narrated ‘Uthmān bin ‘Affān: ‘The Prophet said: “The most superior among you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur’ān and teach it”.’³

It is also well known that the recital ofthe Qur’ān during the daily prayers is required and hence many Companions heard repeatedly passages from the revelation, memorised them and used them in prayer.

The Prophet also listened to the recitation of the Qur’ān by the Companions:

‘Narrated ‘Abdullāh (b. Mas‘ud): ‘Allah’s Apostle said to me: “Recite (of the Qur’ān) for me”. I said: “Shall I recite it to you although it had been revealed to you?!” He said: “I like to hear (the Qur’ān) from others”. So I recited Sūrat-an-Nisā’ till I reached: “How (will it be) then when We bring from each nation a witness and We bring you (O Muḥammad) as a witness against these people?” (4:41). Then he said: “Stop!” Behold, his eyes were shedding tears then.’⁴

The Prophet sent Teachers

The Prophet sent teachers to communities in other places so that they might receive instruction in Islam and the Qur’ān.

The case of Muṣ‘ab bin ‘Umair illustrates that this was so even before the hijra:

‘When these men (of the first pledge of ‘Aqaba) left (for Madina) the apostle sent with them Muṣ‘ab bin ‘Umair … and instructed him to read the Qur’ān to them and to teach them Islam and to give them instruction about religion. In Madina Mus‘ab was called “the reader”.’⁵

Another well-known case concerns Mu‘ādh bin Jabal who was sent to Yemen to instruct the people there.

Qur’ān Readers among the Companions

Suyūtī’⁶ mentions more than twenty well-known persons who memorised the revelation, among them were Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, Ibn Mas‘ūd, Abū Huraira, ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Abbās, ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Amr bin al-‘Ās, ‘Ā’isha, Ḥafṣa, and Umm Salama.

From among these, the Prophet himself recommended especially the following:

‘Narrated Masrūq: ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Amr mentioned ‘Abdullāh bin Mas‘ūd and said: I shall ever love that man for I heard the Prophet saying: Take (learn) the Qur’ān from four: ‘Abdullāh bin Mas‘ūd, Sālim, Mu‘ādh and Ubay bin Ka‘b’.⁷

Another ḥadīth informs us about those Companions who had memorised the Qur’ān in its entirety and gone over it with the Prophet before his death:

‘Narrated Qatāda: I asked Anas bin Mālik: Who collected the Qur’ān at the time of the Prophet? He replied, Four, all of whom were from the Anṣār: Ubay bin Ka‘b, Mu‘ādh bin Jabal, Zaid bin Thābit and Abū Zaid.’⁸

The fact that some of the earliest historical reports make special mention in the accounts of the battles that were fought, of Muslims killed who knew (something of) the Qur’ān by heart, gives a clear indication that memorisation of the revelation was considered important and widely practised from the earliest times.⁹

The Qur’ān Memorised in the Prophet’s Lifetime

It is therefore certain that the Qur’ān had been memorised by the Companions of the Prophet during his lifetime. This tradition continued among the Companions after the Prophet’s death and, later, among the tābi‘ūn and all generations of Muslims that have followed, until today.

TRANSMISSION OF THE WRITTEN TEXT

The Written Text at the Time of the Prophet Muḥammad

What is meant by Jam‘ al-Qur’ān?

The general meaning of jam‘ al-qur’ān is to ‘bring together the Qur’ān’. This was done and has to be understood in two ways:

— Bringing together the Qur’ān orally, or in one’s mind (ḥifẓ).

— Bringing together the Qur’ān in written form, or on sheets, or in a book.

Jam‘al-qur’ān therefore, in the classical literature, has various meanings:

— To learn the Qur’ān by heart.

— To write down every revelation.

— To bring together those materials upon which the Qur’ān has been written.

— To bring together the reports of people who have memorised the Qur’ān.

— To bring together all such sources, both oral and written.

How was the Qur’ān Collected?

In Suyūtī’s itqān it is said that the Qur’ān had been written down in its entirety in the time of the Prophet but had not been brought together in one single place, and that therefore these written records or documents had not been arranged in order.¹⁰

However, this statement does not preclude that the ordering of the Qur’ān and the arrangement of the sūras, was fixed by the Prophet himself and safeguarded through oral transmission.

Stages of Collection

As far as the written text is concerned, one may distinguish three stages:

1. In the time of the Prophet:

— in the hearts of men (memorisation).

— on writing materials.

2. In the time of Abū Bakr.

3. In the time of ‘Uthmān.

Why was no Book left by the Prophet?

The Prophet Muḥammad did not present to his Companions the revelation collected and arranged in a single written volume. There are a number of good reasons for this:

— Because the revelation did not come down in one piece, but at intervals and was received continuously until the end of the Prophet’s life.

— Because some verses were abrogated in the course of revelation, and therefore flexibility needed to be maintained.

— The āyāt and sūras were not always revealed in their final order, but were arranged later.

— The Prophet lived only nine days after the last revelation and was severely ill.

— There was no dispute or friction about the Qur’ān during the time of the Prophet, as developed afterwards when he, as the final authority, was no longer available.

Writing down the Revelation

While writing was not widespread among the people in Arabia at the time of the Prophet there were persons of whom it is reported that they did write. It is said for example of Waraqa, Khadīja’s cousin, that he had been converted to Christianity in the pre-Islamic period ‘and used to write Arabic and write of the Gospel in Arabic as much as Allah wished him to write’.¹¹

The Prophet himself did much to encourage the Muslims to learn to write. It is related that some of the Quraish, who were taken prisoners at the battle of Badr, regained their freedom after they had taught some of the Muslims the art of writing.¹²

Did the Prophet himself write?

Although it is not clear whether the Prophet Muḥammad knew how to write, there is unanimous agreement among scholars that Muḥammad himself did not write down the revelation. The Qur’ān clearly states:

‘And thou (O Muḥammad) wast not a reader of any scripture before it, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand, for then might those have doubted who follow falsehood’ (29: 48).

The Qur’ān also refers to Muḥammad on several occasions as the ‘unlettered prophet’ which some scholars have interpreted in the sense that he did not read or write:

‘Those who follow the apostle, the unlettered prophet… ’ (8: 157).

His community too has been described as ‘unlettered’:

‘It is he who has sent amongst the unlettered an apostle from among themselves … ’ (62: 2).

The Qur’ān written during the Prophet’s Lifetime

There is no doubt that the Qur’ān was not only transmitted orally by many Muslims who had learned parts or the whole of it, but that it was also written down during the lifetime of the Prophet.

The well-known report about ‘Umar’s conversion shows that large passages of the revelation had already been written down even at a very early time, in Makka, long before the hijra, when the Prophet was still in the house of Arqam. ‘Umar had set out to kill the Prophet Muḥammad, when somebody informed him that Islam had already spread into his own family and pointed out to him that his brother-in-law, his nephew and his sister had all become Muslims. ‘Umar went to the house of his sister and found her together with her husband and another Muslim. A dispute arose and ‘Umar violently attacked both his brother-in-law and his own sister. ‘When he did that they said to him “Yes, we are Muslims and we believe in God and His apostle and you can do what you like”.’ When ‘Umar saw the blood on his sister, he was sorry for what he had done and turned back and said to his sister, ‘Give me this sheet which I heard you reading just now so that I may see just what it is which Muḥammad has brought’, for ‘Umar could write. When he said that, his sister replied that she was afraid to trust him with it. ‘Do not be afraid’, he said and he swore by his gods that he would return it when he had read it. When he said that, she had hopes that he would become a Muslim and said to him, ‘My brother, you are unclean in your polytheism and only the clean may touch it’. So ‘Umar rose and washed himself and she gave him the page in which was Ṭāhā and when he had read the beginning he said ‘How fine and noble is this speech …’¹³

The Qur’ān Dictated by the Prophet

The Qur’ān was not only written down by those Companions who did so on their own initiative. Indeed, the Prophet, when a revelation came, called for the scribe and dictated to him. The Prophet while in Madina had several such scribes,¹⁴ among whom Zaid bin Thābit was very prominent.

Narrated al-Barā’: There was revealed ‘Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah’ (4: 95). The Prophet said: ‘Call Zaid for me and let him bring the board, the ink pot and the scapula bone (or the scapula bone and the ink pot).’ Then he said: ‘Write: Not equal are those believers…’¹⁵

It is also reported that material upon which the revelation had been written down was kept in the house of the Prophet.¹⁶

Written during the Prophet’s Lifetime

Another report informs us that when people came to Madina to learn about Islam, they were provided with ‘copies of the chapters of the Qur’ān, to read and learn them by heart’.¹⁷

Further evidence for the existence of the Qur’ān as a written document during the lifetime of the Prophet comes from the following account:

‘Abd Allāh b. Abū Bakr b. Ḥazm reported: The book written by the apostle of Allah for ‘Amr b. Ḥazm contained also this that no man should touch the Qur’ān without ablution.¹⁸

The book, which Allah’s messenger wrote for ‘Amr b. Ḥazm that no one should touch the Qur’ān except the purified one, Mālik said: And no one should carry the muṣḥaf by its strap, nor on a pillow, unless he is clean. And even if this be allowed to carry it in its cover, it is not disliked, if there is not in the two hands which carry it, something polluting the muṣḥaf, but it is disliked for the one who carries it, and he is not clean, in honour to the Qur’ān and respect to it.

Mālik said: The best I heard about this is the verse ‘None shall touch it but those who are clean’ (56: 79).¹⁹

The commentary to the muwaṭṭa’ explains that the book referred to as written by the Prophet (which means of course written upon his instruction) was sent with some Muslims for instruction in Islam of the people of Yemen.²⁰

In fact the Qur’ānic verse 56: 79, read in context, clearly explains that the Qur’ān is available to those who receive instruction by revelation, in the form of a book or a piece of writing:

‘ … this is indeed a Qur’ān most honourable, in a book (kitāb) well guarded, which none shall touch but those who are clean: a revelation from the Lord of the worlds’ (56: 77-80).

The same fact, i. e. that the Qur’ān did exist as a written document in the lifetime of the Prophet is proved by the following aḥādīth:

From Ibn ‘Umar: … ‘The messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: “Do not take the Qur’ān on a journey with you, for I am afraid lest it should fall into the hands of the enemy”’.²¹

The correctness of the assumption that the reference is to a written document is supported by one of the transmitters:

Ayyūb (i.e. one of the narrators in the chain of transmission of this report) said: The enemy may seize it and may quarrel with you over it.²²

Furthermore, the chapter-heading used by Bukhārī for the section, (which usually contains additional information) explains:

‘Ibn ‘Umar said: No doubt the Prophet and his Companions travelled in the land of the enemy and they knew the Qur’ān then.’²³

Collection of Revelation during the Prophet’s Lifetime

During his last pilgrimage, at the sermon which he gave to the large gathering of Muslims, the Prophet said: ‘I have left with you something which if you will hold fast to it you will never fall into error – a plain indication, the book of God and the practice of his prophet… ’²⁴

This advice from the Prophet to the Muslims implies that the revelation was available as kitāb (writing) before his death, for otherwise he would have referred to it in some other term.

From other reports also, we can conclude that the Prophet himself took care of the actual arrangement of the revelation, when it was written down.

Zaid is reported to have said:

‘We used to compile the Qur’ān from small scraps in the presence of the Apostle.’²⁵

‘Uthmān said, that in later days, the Prophet ‘used to, when something was revealed to him, call someone from among those who used to write for him and said: Place these āyāt in the sūra, in which this and this is mentioned, and when (only) one āya was revealed to him, he said: Place this āya in the sūra in which this and this is mentioned’.²⁶

This indicates that not only was the revelation written down during the lifetime of the Prophet, but that he himself gave instructions for the arrangement of the material. According to some other reports, it is also clear, that this proper arrangement and order of the āyāt was well known to the Companions of the Prophet, and they were not prepared to tamper with it.

‘Narrated Ibn Az-Zubair: I said to ‘Uthman “This verse which is in Sūra al-Baqara: ‘those of you who die and leave wives behind … without turning them out’ has been abrogated by another verse. Why then do you write it in the Qur’ān?” ‘Uthman said: Leave it (where it is) O son of my brother, for I will not shift anything of it (i.e. the Qur’ān) from its original position.’²⁷

Similarly quite a number of reports mention the various sūras by their names or beginnings. Two examples may suffice to make this point:

Narrated Abū Huraira: The Prophet used to recite the following in the Fajr prayer of Friday: Alif Lām Mīm Tanzīl (Sajda) (32) and Hal-atā ‘ala-l-Insāni (al-dahr) (76).²⁸

Abū Huraira said: God’s messenger recited in both rak’at of the dawn prayer: “Say O unbelievers (99) and Say, He is God, one God (112)”.’²⁹

The order and arrangement was of course well known to the Muslims due to the daily recitation of the Qur’ān in the prayers at the mosque of the Prophet and at other places. Finally there are three aḥādīth in Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, informing us that the Angel Gabriel used to recite the Qur’ān with the Prophet once a year, but he recited it twice with him in the year he died. The Prophet used to stay in i‘tikāf for ten days every year (in the month of Ramaḍān), but in the year of his death, he stayed in i‘tikāf for twenty days.³⁰

We can therefore distinguish the following measures which ensured the collection of the revelation in writing during the lifetime of the Prophet:

— Revelation used to be written down even in the very early days of the Prophet’s call.

— In Madina, the Prophet had several persons who wrote down revelation when it was revealed.

— The Prophet himself instructed his scribes as to where the different revealed verses should be placed, and thus determined the order and arrangement.

— This order and arrangement was well known to the Muslims and strictly observed by them.

— The Angel Gabriel went through all the revelation with Muḥammad each year in Ramaḍān, and went through it twice in the year the Prophet died.

— There are numerous reports about the existence of the written Qur’ān – in the form of a book or piece of writing (kitāb) during the lifetime of the Prophet.

What did the Prophet leave behind?

The way the material of revelation was left by the Prophet at his death was the most suitable for the Companions in that:

— All parts of the revelation were available both in written form and memorised by the Companions.

— All pieces were available on loose writing material, making it easy to arrange them in the proper order.

— The order already fixed of the āyāt within the sūras, in the written form, as well as in the memory of the Companions, and of the sūras in the memory of the Companions.

What arrangement could have been better than to have everything to hand in written form, as well as memorised by the Muslims, and to have the order and arrangement already determined, partially in the written form and completely in the memories of the people?

It is for these reasons that a later scholar, al-Hārith al-Muḥāsibī in his book kitāb fahm al-Sunan, summarised the first phase of the written collection of the Qur’ānic material in the following words:

‘Writing of the Qur’ān was no novelty, for the Prophet used to order that it be written down, but it was in separate pieces, on scraps of leather, shoulder blades and palm risp, and when (Abū Bakr) al-Ṣiddīq ordered that it be copied from the (various) places to a common place, which was in the shape of sheets, these (materials) were found in the house of the Prophet in which the Qur’ān was spread out, and he gathered it all together and tied it with a string so that nothing of it was lost.’³¹

It is obvious that the history of the Qur’ānic text (Textgeschichte) cannot be compared with that of other Holy Scriptures. While the books of the Old and New Testaments, for example, were written, edited and compiled over long periods, sometimes centuries, the text of the Qur’ān, once revelation had ceased, has remained the same to this day.

Ṣuḥuf and Muṣḥaf

Both words are derived from the same root Ṣaḥafa ‘to write’. The word ṣuḥuf also occurs in the Qur’ān (87: 19) meaning scripture or written sheets.

Ṣuḥuf (e.g. ṣaḥīfa) means loose pieces of writing material, such as paper, skin, papyrus, etc.

Muṣḥaf (pl. maṣāḥif) means the collected ṣuḥuf, brought together into a fixed order, such as between two covers, into a volume.

In the history of the written text of the Qur’ān, ṣuḥuf stands for the sheets on which the Qur’ān was collected in the time of Abū Bakr. In these ṣuḥuf the order of the āyāt within each sūra was fixed, but the sheets with the sūras on them were still in a loose arrangement, i.e. not bound into a volume.

Muṣḥaf in the present context means the sheets on which the Qur’ān was collected in the time of ‘Uthmān. Here both the order of the āyāt within each sūra as well as the order of the sheets were fixed.

Today we also call any copy of the Qur’ān, which has both order of āyāt and sūras fixed, a muṣḥaf.

How the Ṣuḥuf were made

Tradition informs us that at the Battle of Yamāma (11/633), in the time of Abū Bakr, a number of Muslims, who had memorised the Qur’ān were killed. Hence it was feared that unless a written copy of the Qur’ān were prepared, a large part of the revelation might be lost.

The following is the account in the Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī:

Narrated Zaid bin Thābit Al-Anṣārī, one of the scribes of the Revelation: Abū Bakr sent for me after the casualties among the warriors (of the battle) of Yamāma (where a great number of Qurrā were killed). ‘Umar was present with Abū Bakr who said: “Umar has come to me and said, the People have suffered heavy casualties on the day of (the battle of) Yamāma, and I am afraid that there will be some casualties among the Qurrā (those who know the Qur’ān by heart) at other places, whereby a large part of the Qur’ān may be lost, unless you collect it. And I am of the opinion that you should collect the Qur’ān.’ Abū Bakr added, ‘I said to ‘Umar, “How can I do something which Allah’s Apostle has not done?” ‘Umar said (to me) “By Allah, it is (really) a good thing”. So ‘Umar kept on pressing trying to persuade me to accept his proposal, till Allah opened my bosom for it and I had the same opinion as ‘Umar’. (Zaid bin Thābit added:) ‘Umar was sitting with him (Abū Bakr) and was not speaking. Abū Bakr said (to me), ‘You are a wise young man and we do not suspect you (of telling lies or of forgetfulness); and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah’s Apostle. Therefore, look for the Qur’ān and collect it (in one manuscript)’. By Allah, if he (Abū Bakr) had ordered me to shift one of the mountains (from its place) it would not have been harder for me than what he had ordered me concerning the collection of the Qur’ān. I said to both of them, ‘How dare you do a thing which the Prophet has not done?’ Abū Bakr said, ‘By Allah, it is (really) a good thing. So I kept on arguing with him about it till Allah opened my bosom for that which He had opened the bosoms of Abū Bakr and ‘Umar. So I started locating the Qur’ānic material and collecting it from parchments, scapula, leafstalks of date palms and from the memories of men (who knew it by heart). I found with Khuzaima two verses of Sūra at-Tauba which I had not found with anybody else (and they were):

‘Verily there has come to you an Apostle (Muḥammad) from among yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty. He (Muḥammad) is ardently anxious over you (to be rightly guided)’ (9: 128).

The manuscript on which the Qur’ān was collected, remained with Abū Bakr till Allah took him unto Him, and then with ‘Umar till Allah took him unto Him, and finally it remained with Ḥafṣa, ‘Umar’s daughter.³²

Here we can distinguish the following steps, which led to the preparation of the ṣuḥuf:

— Zaid was instructed by Abū Bakr to collect the Qur’ān.

— Zaid collected it from various written materials and the memories of people.

— The sheets thus prepared were kept with Abū Bakr, then ‘Umar, then Ḥafṣa.

THE MAṢĀḤIF OF THE COMPANIONS

There are numerous indications in the literature of ḥadīth that several of the Companions of the Prophet had prepared their own written collections of the revelations.³³ The best-known among these are from Ibn Mas‘ūd, Ubay bin Ka‘b and Zaid bin Thābit.³⁴

A list of Companions of whom it is related that had their own written collections included the following: Ibn Mas‘ūd, Ubay bin Ka‘b, ‘Ali, Ibn ‘Abbās, Abū Mūsā, Ḥafṣa, Anas bin Mālik, ‘Umar, Zaid bin Thābit, Ibn Al-Zubair, ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr, ‘Ā’isha, Sālim, Umm Salama, ‘Ubaid bin ‘Umar.³⁵

It is also known that ‘Ā’isha and Ḥafṣa had their own scripts written after the Prophet had died.³⁶

The following is a very brief description of some of the maṣāḥif, which are attributed to the Companions of the Prophet. All the information is based on classical sources.³⁷

The Muṣḥaf of Ibn Mas‘ūd (d. 33/653)

He wrote a Muṣḥaf, in which sūras 1, 113 and 114 were not included. Ibn al-Nadīm,³⁸ however, said he had seen a copy of the Qur’ān from Ibn Mas‘ūd which did not contain al-fātiḥa (Sūra 1). The arrangement of the sūras differed from the ‘Uthmānic text. The following is the order attributed to Ibn Mas‘ūd’s copy:³⁹

2, 4, 3, 7, 6, 5, 10, 9, 16, 11, 12, 17, 21, 23, 26, 37, 33, 28, 24, 8, 19, 29, 30, 36, 25, 22, 13, 34, 35, 14, 38, 47, 31, 35, 40, 43, 41, 46, 45, 44, 48, 57, 59, 32, 50, 65, 49, 67, 64, 63, 62, 61, 72, 71, 58, 60, 66, 55, 53, 51, 52, 54, 69, 56, 68, 79, 70, 73, 74, 83, 80, 76, 75, 77, 78, 81, 82, 88, 87, 92, 89, 85, 84, 96, 90, 93, 94, 86, 100, 107, 101, 98, 91, 95, 104, 105, 106, 102, 97, 110, 108, 109, 111, 112.

This list is obviously incomplete. It contains only 106 sūras and not 110, as Ibn Nadīm wrote.

In Sūra al-baqara, which I take as an example, there are a total of 101 variants. Most of them concern spelling, some also choice of words (synonyms), use of particles, etc.

Examples:

Pronunciation:
2:70	Ibn Mas‘ūd reads	al-baqira
	in place of	al-baqara
Spelling:
2:19	He reads	kulla mā
	in place of	kullamā
Synonyms:
2:68	He reads	sal (seek, beseech)
	in place of	ud‘u (beseech)

Assuming that all these are reliable reports, the copy of Ibn Mas‘ūd would then have been prepared for his personal use and written before all 114 sūras were revealed.

Nadīm, who lived in the tenth century (4th century Hijra) also added: ‘I have seen a number of Qur’ānic manuscripts, which the transcribers recorded as manuscripts of Ibn Mas‘ūd. No two of the Qur’ānic copies were in agreement and most of them were on badly effaced parchment …’⁴⁰

This note indicates that the question of authentic manuscripts of Ibn Mas‘ūd needs to be treated with some caution.

The Muṣḥaf of Ubay bin Ka‘b (d. 29H/649)

He wrote a muṣḥaf, in which two ‘additional sūras and another ‘additional āya’ were reportedly found.⁴¹

The order of the sūras is again different from ‘Uthmān as well as Ibn Mas‘ūd.

The following is the order of sūras in the copy attributed to Ubay b. Ka‘b:⁴²

1, 2, 4, 3, 6, 7, 5, 10, 8, 9, 11, 19, 26, 22, 12, 18, 16, 33, 17, 39, 45, 20, 21, 24, 23, 40, 13, 28, 27, 37, 38, 36, 15, 42, 30, 43, 41, 14, 35, 48, 47, 57, 52, 25, 32, 71, 46, 50, 55, 56, 72, 53, 68, 69, 59, 60, 77, 78, 76, 75, 81, 79, 80, 83, 84, 95, 96, 49, 63, 62, 66, 89, 67, 92, 82,91, 85, 86, 87, 88, 74?, 98?, 61, 93, 94, 101, 102, 65?, 104, 99, 100, 105, ?, 108, 97, 109, 110, 111, 106, 112, 113, 114.

Again, as in the case of Ibn Mas‘ūd above this list is incomplete and does not contain all 114 suras of the Qur’ān.

Ubay has a total of 93 variants in Sūra al-baqara.⁴³ Very often, his readings are similar to those of Ibn Mas‘ūd. For example, he reads al-baqara in 2: 70 as al-baqira. So does Ibn Mas‘ūd.

The Muṣḥaf of Ibn ‘Abbās (d. 68H/687)

Ibn ‘Abbās also wrote a muṣḥaf, which according to the Itqān⁴⁴ also included the two additional sūras which Ubay had. Again his arrangement of the sūras differed from the other copies. In Sūra al-baqara, he has a total of 21 variants, some of them identical with Ibn Mas‘ūd and Ubay as well as other Companions.

Some other Companions

According to the Itqān⁴⁵ the muṣḥaf of Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘ari (d.44H/664) contained the same material as Ubay had.

There is only one variant reported from him in Sūra al-baqara, namely that he read Ibraham in place of Ibrahim.

Ḥafṣa (d. 45H/665) had three variants in the same sūra, and Anas b. Mālik (d. 91H/709) had five.

Examples:

To further illustrate, here are a number of examples. They have been taken, as far as possible, from well-known sūras. While perhaps better examples exist to illustrate the points under discussion, they might not be understood as easily by readers less familiar with the Qur’ānic text.

Difference in vowelling:

Ibn ‘Abbās⁴⁶ is reported to have read in Sūra 111: 4:

ḥāmilatun al-ḥaṭab, in place of

ḥammālata-l-ḥaṭab

which could not be distinguished on the basis of the early written text, which omitted both ḥaraka and alif. The actual text must have looked something like this:

Difference in spelling:

Ibn ‘Abbās⁴⁷ reportedly wrote in Sūra 1: 6 as well as all other places the word al-ṣirāṭ as al-sirāṭ.

Some variants attributed to Ibn Mas‘ūd:⁴⁸

1. in Sūra al-fātiḥa:

2. in Sūra al-baqara:

Variants on Sūra Al-Ikhlāṣ (112)

Verse	Ibn Mas‘ūd⁴⁹	‘Ubaid⁵⁰	‘Umar⁵¹	normal reading by
112: 1	qul	qul	qul	‘Ali, Ibn ‘Abbās,
	omitted	omitted	omitted	Abū Mūsā, Ḥafṣa,
	al-wāḥid, in place			Anas b. Mālik,
	of al-aḥad			Zaid b. Thābit,
	Ibn Al-Zubair,
	Ibn ‘Amr.
112: 2	omitted
112: 3	lam yulad wa lam			‘Ā’isha, Sālim,
	yulid, in place of			Umm Salama,
	lam yalid wa lam			‘Ubaid b. ‘Umar.
	yūlad

Even today the variants and synonyms are found in such copies of the text as are attributed to the Companions and are of some value to us in the sense that they may have served as an early rudimentary form of tafsīr. For example, according to some reports the word ‘salāt al-wuṣtā’ (middle prayer) were read and written by Ḥafṣa,⁵² Ubay⁵³ and Ibn ‘Abbās⁵⁴ as ‘salat al-‘aṣr’ (i.e. afternoon prayer).

As long as the ṣaḥāba wrote their own copies for personal use only, there was nothing wrong, if they did not strictly adhere to the order of sūras which was the order of the Qur’ān. Later on, when ‘Uthmān’s copy became the standard version, the Companions adopted the order of this copy including Ibn Mas‘ūd who perhaps differed most.⁵⁵

There were also, as indicated, some variant readings in these copies,⁵⁶ when some words were pronounced and spelt in slightly different ways, etc. However, it should be noted that variant readings are usually reported by a single person only, and occasionally by perhaps two or three while the version called the ‘Uthmānic text is mutawātir, i.e. transmitted by numerous people and is without doubt authentic.

THE MUṢḤAF OF ‘UTHMĀN

During the time of ‘Uthman differences in reading the Qur’ān became obvious, and after consultation with the Companions, ‘Uthmān had a standard copy prepared from the ṣuḥuf of Abū Bakr that were kept with Ḥafṣa at that time.

The following is the report transmitted in the Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī:

Narrated Anas bin Mālik: Hudhaifa bin Al-Yamān came to ‘Uthmān at the time when the people of Shām and the people of Iraq were waging war to conquer Armīnya and Ādharbījān. Hudhaifa was afraid of their (the people of Shām and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Qur’ān, so he said to ‘Uthmān, ‘O chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book (Qur’ān), as Jews and the Christians did before’. So ‘Uthmān sent a message to Ḥafṣa saying, ‘Send us the manuscripts of the Qur’ān so that we may compile the Qur’ānic materials in perfect copies and return the manuscripts to you’. Ḥafṣa sent it to ‘Uthmān. ‘Uthmān then ordered Zaid bin Thābit, ‘Abdullah bin Az-Zubair, Sa‘id bin Al-‘Āṣ and ‘Abdur Rahmān bin Hārith bin Hishām to rewrite the manuscripts in perfect copies. ‘Uthmān said to the three Quraishī men, ‘In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thābit on any point in the Qur’ān, then write it in the dialect of Quraish as the Qur’ān was revealed in their tongue’. They did so, and when they had written many copies, ‘Uthmān returned the original manuscripts to Ḥafṣa. ‘Uthmān sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Qur’ānic materials whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt. Zaid bin Thābit added, ‘A verse from Sūra al-Aḥzāb was missed by me when we copied the Qur’ān and I used to hear Allah’s Apostle reciting it. So we searched for it and found it with Khuzaima bin Thābit AI-Anṣārī’. (That verse was): ‘Among the Believers are men who have been true in their convenant with Allah’ (33: 23).⁵⁷

Подняться наверх