JAM' AL-QUR'AN:

THE CODIFICATION OF THE QUR'AN TEXT

CONTENTS

 
Introduction                                                       3
    Photocopy: As-Suyuti's "Al-Itqan Fii Ulum al-Qur'an"


Sources and References                                            11
    Photocopy: Qur'an manuscripts in the early al-Ma'il script


1. THE INITIAL COLLECTION OF THE QUR'AN TEXT.
    The Qur'an's Development During Muhammad's Lifetime           17
    The First Collection of the Qur'an Under Abu Bakr             21
    Perspectives on the Initial Collection of the Qur'an          27
    The Missing Verses Found with Abu Khuzaimah                   31
    Photocopy: A contrast in early Qur'an styles in Kufic script


2. THE UTHMANIC RECENSION OF THE QUR'AN.
    Did Abu Bakr's Codex have Official Status?                    39
    Uthman's Order to Burn the Other Codices                      42
    The Revision of Zaid's Codex of the Qur'an                    51
    The Qur'an Text as Standardised by Uthman                     55
    Photocopy: Early Qur'an manuscripts written in Kufic script


3. THE CODICES OF IBN MAS'UD AND UBAYY IBN KA'B.
    Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: An Authority on the Qur'an Text          60
    Ibn Mas'ud's Reaction to Uthman's Decree                      62
    The Variant Readings in Ibn Mas'ud's Codex                    67
    Ubayy ibn Ka'b: Master of the Qur'an Reciters                 72
    Photocopy: Pages in traditional Kufic script from early Qur'ans


4. THE MISSING PASSAGES OF THE QUR'AN.
    The Mushaf: An Incomplete Record of the Qur'an Text           79
    Al-Naskh wa Al-Mansukh: The Doctrine of Abrogation            82
    The Missing Verse on the Insatiable Greed of Man              89
    Umar and the Verses of Stoning for Adultery                   91
    Photocopy: Qur'an texts in contrasting Kufic and Mashq scripts


5. SAB'AT-I-AHRUF: THE SEVEN DIFFERENT READINGS.
    The Sab'at-i-Ahruf in the Hadith Literature                  101
    The Period of Ikhtiyar: The "Choice" of Readings             107
    Ibn Mujahid's Final Definition of the Seven Ahruf            113
    Reflections on the Unification of the Qur'an Text            115
    Photocopy: Different styles in Ninth Century Kufic Qur'an texts


6. THE COMPILATION OF THE QUR'AN IN PERSPECTIVE.
    The Qur'an's Testimony to its own Compilation                123
    A "Master Copy of the Qur'an" in the Masjid an-Nabi?         129
    A review of the History of the Qur'an Text                   134
    Photocopy: Contrasting pages from the Samarqand Kufic Qur'an


7. THE EARLY SURVIVING QUR'AN MANUSCRIPTS.
    The Initial Development of the Written Text                  140
    Kufic, Mashq, and the Other Early Qur'anic Scripts           143
    A Study of the Topkapi and Samarqand Codices                 146
    Photocopy: Further pages from the Samarqand Kufic codex

Books by John Gilchrist