Page 202 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

182 THE HISTORY OF THE QUR'ANIC TEXT

Despite all these copies originating from A, we fmd that M is not entitled
to use the copy of R or N, or of H or L. Instead he must limit himself to the
copies of G,M, or A;attempting to break out of this restriction will bring
disgrace. Additionally, after scribing a copy for himself he must go through
the original text and make corrections as necessary, and should he decide
to use it without the benefit of a thorough revision then he must make this
clear, or else risk soiling his name.

ii. Glosses: the Addition of External Material

Students possessing their own copies would occasionally add material to
the fixed text to clarify an obscure word, provide fresh evidence not quoted
by the original author, or some such thing. Because these extra items were
marked off by a completely different isndd, or at the least the inserter's name,
there was no danger of spoilingthe text. A very clear instance appears in one
of my works," wherein the copyist added two lines before completing the
sentence. Other examples include the insertion of two lines into al-Muhabbar
(~\) by Abu Sa'ld,39 and extra material supplied byal-Firabri in the $al}'if;
of al-Bukharl;40 in both cases the new isniid is readily discernible.
Running contrary to the example of first and second century Christian
scribes who altered their texts if they believed themselves inspired," or to
Jewish scribes who inserted changes in the interest of doctrine," interpol-
ations were never tolerated in the Islamic framework; every instance of
personal commentary required the student's signature and perhaps even
a fresh isndd. Adherence to these rules insured that such glosses did not
invalidate the text since the source of the new material was always made
clear.

iii. Establishing Authorship

When confronted with a manuscript, the fingers that scribed it now long
deceased, how do we establish that the contents really do belong to the
supposed author?Just as an elaborate system of checks must validate each
hadith, so the same roughly applies to every compilation of hadiihs. Figure
12.5 shows a manuscript's title page; a summarised translation reads:

38 Al-A'zami, Studies in Early Hadith Literature, appendix 4.
39 Ibn I:Iablb, al-Muhabbar, p. 122.
40 Al-Bukhari, !ia&z&, i:407; ii: 107. For other examples see Abu Dawild, Sunan, ~adlth
no. 2386; Muslim, !ia&T~, ~alat:63, p. 304.
41 P.W Comfort, Early Manuscripts & Modern Translations if the New Testament, p. 6.
42 Ernst Wurthwein, The Text if the Old Testament, 2nd Edition, WB. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995, p. 17.