Page 154 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

134 THE HISTORY OF THE QUR'ANIC TEXT

company unscathed. Referring to the concordance of the Qjir'an we note
that I}L; occurs 331 times, while Ijl5" occurs 267 times: a combined total
of 598 words. Recall that 'Ubaidullah added two extra alifiin each of these,
amounting to approximately 1,200 extra letters. The figure of two thousand
(as mentioned in the narration) was probably a rough guess.
Ibn Abi Dawud's narrative bears a defective and weak isniid,18 giving
scholars enough cause to reject it. But even if it were genuine, what 'Ubaid-
ullah wasguilty of tamperingwith his own copy so as to bring it in accordance
with the prevalent spelling conventions, nothing more. For another example
we turn to the Mushaf copied by Ibn al-Bawwab in 391 A.H.llOOO C.E.,
which I have compared against the Mushaf printed in Madinah in 1407
A.H.l1987 C.E.
Mu!~aj ofIbn Mushqf ofMadina'"
al-Baunodb
\"""}.""'-!i \"""P"-<i
r+J.~ ~ -
.
.w,
~ . ~
.;:..>L..JJ;, ~

The very beginning of Sura al-Baqara alone provides these four instances.
The custom for most printed Mushafs now is to adhere faithfully to the
'Uthmani spelling system; the word .:ilL. (miilik) for instance is written .:lL
(malik) followingthe 'Uthmani orthography, though a tiny alifisplaced after
the mimto clarify the pronunciation for the contemporary reader. Similarly
a few verses still spell JL; as Ji,20 indicating that this abbreviation was valid
in 'Uthman's time and that he allowed the inclusion of both.
Modern publishers, by basing their copies on the official'Uthmani ortho-
graphy, have provided us with a rich reference point for the spelling con-
ventions of Islam's first century. And it is indeed the best option for every
publisher, given the benefits of mass printing and the (roughly)standardised
nature of modern education. The reluctance to deviate from 'Uthman's
orthography isnothing new however.Imam Malik (d. 179A.H.) was solicited
over twelve centuries ago for his legal opinion (isP )on whether one should
copy the Mushaf afresh by utilisingthe latest spellingconventions; he resisted
the idea, approving it only for school children. Elsewhere ad-Dani (d. 444

18 The chain of witnesses who were involved in transmitting the event; see Chapter
12 for a detailed discussion of the isndd system in general.
19 These words, in the printed Mushaf, all contain a tiny alifto aid the pronunciation.
20 See for example Qur'an 23:112, 23:114 and 43:24.