Page 121 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

'UTHMAN'S MUSI:IAF 101

MUJ~qfs of
Sura: Mushcf qf Present-Day
'Uthmdn, !t1ffa Malik'sMUJ~aj
verse Madinah MUj~qf
andBasra
5 9:107 I J.1.;.:;\ J..uI J l.b,..-oI J.1.;.:;\ J..ul i.b,..-oI J.1.;.:;\ J..u\ I J.1.;.:;1 J..uI J
\.b,..-o l.b,..-o
6 18:36 4.:.-1~ 0J.:>:-Y 64~1~::'.1;'-\> ~1~0J.:>:-Y 4.:.-1~ 0J.:>:-Y
i.,u:.. i.,u:.. i.,u:.. L,l..ic-
7 26:217 f-rJI ~J5jJ ..r.rJl~J5p f-rJl~J5p f-rJI ~J5jJ
r-:>)I l'"i"")1 l'"i"")1 l'"i"")1
8 40:26 J~0iJI ,f.;YI J ~ 0i J ,f.;YI J ~ 01 J ,f.;YI J ~ 0! JI
,WI,f.;YI ,WI ,WI ,WI
9 42:30 ~L..,>~,j" ~L'.~,j" ~L..,>~,j" ~L..,>~,j"
10 43:71 65 ~ L. 4.,!J ~ L. 4.,!J ~ L. 4.,!J ~ L. 4.,!J
cr"'\tl cr"'\tl cr"'\tl cr"'Y\
11 57:24 ~I ~...u10l' ¥1~1...u10l' ~1~...u10l' ~1~...u10l'
¥I ¥I ¥I
12 91:15 ~jl>.; 'iJ ~ jl>.;)L,; ~jl>.;'iJ ~ jl>.; 'i J

From this chart we note that Malik's Mushaf remains identical to the
Mushaf of Madinah until sura 41; from sura 42 onwards, his Mushaf is in
perfectharmonywith the Mushafsof 'Uthman, Kufa and Basra, While acting
as one of the twelve committee members who scribed 'Uthman's Mushaf,
Malik was simultaneously writing this Mushaf for his own personal use.
Judging from the above list we can infer that he was first put to work with
the group that eventuallyprepared the Mushaf of Madinah. Having finished
five-sixth of that Mushaf, he then switched to the group which was preparing
the Mushafs for Kufa and Basra; thus the final one-sixth agrees with the
latter.
This provides us with a measure of insight into the preparation of the
official copies: it was a team effort where some dictated, and others wrote.
The more exciting point, in my opinion, isthe initiative and resourcefulness
of individuals who penned their own copies. We do not know exactly how

64 See Ibn Mujahid, Kitab as-Sab'a, p. 390. Ibn Kathir, Nafi', and Ibn 'Amir read:
(4- I~) as found in the Mushafs of Makkah, Madinah and Syria. While Abu 'AIm,
'Asim,Hamza and al-Kasa'i read: (4.:.- i~) as found in the Mushafs of Basra and Kufa.
65 In this entry there seems to be an error. The list (as originally provided by ad-
Danr to show the differences between the Mushafs of Malik and Madinah) includes
this verse as well, but does not show any discrepancy between the two. Having kept
the text as printed, I must conclude nevertheless that the wording in Malik's Mushaf
should be~.