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head a committee of four Qur’aanic scholars who would take on the task of
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making the official copies.
When the copies were completed, the original was returned to Hafsah. A
total of seven copies were made and one was sent to Makkah, another to Syria,
one to Basrah, one to Koofah, one to Yemen, one to Bahrayn, and one was kept in
the capital, Madeenah. 83 Apparently, different copies were written by different
members of the committee. 84 Caliph ‘Uthmaan sent an official reciter of the
Qur’aan with each copy in order to clear up any problems which might later
arise. 85 He also ordered that all other copies of the Qur’aan be destroyed, as
people had made notes on their personal copies and some copies were
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incomplete. All new copies were then made from the official copy, called Mus-
haf ‘Uthmaan. In that way the Qur’aan was saved from any kind of change or
loss. This process was completed in the year 646 CE, two years after ‘Uthmaan
became the new Caliph.

Where are the original Mus-hafs Now?

The Madeenan Mus-haf was kept in the Prophet’s Mosque. A reference to it
appears in contemporary accounts of a fire in the Mosque in 654 AH which
caused extensive damage. The mus-haf was, however, saved. Some reports
suggest that it was transferred to Istanbul by the Turks during World War I, but it
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is now lost.
The Syrian mus-haf was kept in the Jaami‘ Masjid in Damascus. Ibn Katheer
(d. 774 AH) mentioned seeing it, as did Ibn Batootah (d. 779 AH) and Ibn Jazaree
(d. 833 CE/1430 AH). It was kept locked up, but was brought out for public
viewing after Jumu‘ah prayers. A fire in 1892 CE/1310 AH destroyed the masjid,
and the mus-haf perished with it. A handwritten copy of it made shortly before its
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destruction was also transferred to Istanbul during WWI.

82
See Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 6, pp. 478-9, no. 510 and Saheeh Sunan at-Tirmithee, vol. 3, pp. 59-
60, no. 2480.
83
Al-Itqaan, vol. 1, p. 172.
84
Ma‘ al-Masaahif, p. 99.
85
Ibid. pp. 97-8.
86
Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 6, pp. 478-9, no. 510.
87
Ma‘ al-Masaahif, p. 113.
88
Ma‘ al-Masaahif, p. 113

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