lecture 3 february 3 2013 divine revelation: a study of the qur’anic sciences qur'anic...

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Lecture 3

February 3 2013

DIVINE REVELATION: A STUDY OF THE QUR’ANIC SCIENCES

Qur'anic Sciences - DKI

2Qur'anic Sciences - DKI

Chapters 2.1-3.1

PRESERVATION AND TRANSMISSION OF THE QUR’AN

Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 3

The books of the previous nations were preserved through writing. That is why they are known as Ahl al-Kitāb

The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص described his own followers, however, as an unlettered nation (qawmun ummīyyun) (Bukhārī)

Allah has told the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص: “I have sent you a book that cannot be washed away by water” (Muslim) This means that the mode of this book’s preservation will

not be writing The Quran is preserved primarily through oral tradition

ORAL PRESERVATION


1. In previous nations, piety was linked with literacy because to access the holy books, one had to be literate. For the Muslims, however, closeness to Allah is more easily attainable

2. Through oral preservation, Allah took the power to change the book away from the scholars (as the Rabbis of the Jews had done, for example)

3. Oral preservation allowed for quick distribution of the Quran in unlettered Arabian society.

ADVANTAGES OF ORAL PRESERVATION


Preservation by the Prophet (S)

CِهC ِب Fَل FَجIْعF Cَت ِل FَكF اَن FَسC ِل CِهC ِب Iْك Rِّر FَحU ُت Fاَل UِهF آَن IِّرUُق Fَو UِهFْع Iْم Fَج Fا Iَن Fْي َعFَل aَّنC ِإ

UِهF آَن IِّرUُق IْعC aِب اُت Fَف UاُهF Iَن ْأ FِّرFُق CَذFا ِإ Fَف UِهF Fاَن Fْي ِب Fا Iَن Fْي َعFَل aَّنC ِإ aَّمU ُث

Reciting to Jibrīl (A) every Ramaḍān, and twice in the last Ramaḍān

Preservation of the meaning through practice in daily life

STAGE 1: DURING LIFE OF PROPHET ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص


Preservation by the CompanionsMemorization is linked with social rank

Leader of prayer is the one that knows most Quran Some sahabiyat considered teaching of Quran a suffi cient

dowryPreservation of the meaning through practice

Ibn Umar spends six years memorizing Ṣūrat BaqarahCulture of frequent recitation

Recitation in masjid was so loud that Prophet (S) told people to quiet down for fear of mistakes

When a person migrated to Madīnah, the Prophet paired him up with an Anṣārī who would be charged with teaching him Quran

STAGE 1: DURING LIFE OF PROPHET ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص


Abu Bakr Umar Uthman Ali Talhah Sa’ad Abdullah ibn Mas’ud Huzayfah bin Yaman Salim Maula Abi Huzayfah Abu Hurayrah Abdullah bin Umar Abdullah bin Abbas Amr bin ‘Aas Mu’awiyah Abdullah bin Zubayr Abdullah bin Sa’ib

Aishah Hafsa Umm Salamah Umm Warqah Ubayy bin Ka’b Mu’az bin Jabal Abu Halimah Zayd bin Thabit Abu Darda Mujamma bin Jariyah Muslimah bin mUkhallad Anas bin Malik Aqabah bin Amir Tamim Darami Abu Musa Ash’ari Abu Zayd

THE HUFFAZ OF THE SAHABAH (PARTIAL LIST)


Zayd b. Thābit narrates in Ṭabarānī and Majma al-Zawā`id:

I used to write down the words of the revelation to the Prophet (S). When revelation would come to him, he would feel intense heat, and beads of perspiration would drop from his head like pearls. When this state would cease, I would bring a piece of leather or a shoulder-bone of an animal and write what the Prophet (S) dictated (while supporting the writing utensil on my thigh).

As I would write, the weight would become so heavy that I thought it would break my thigh, to the extent that I told myself that I would never walk again.

Then the Prophet (S) would have me read back what I had written, and if there were shortcomings in the writing, the Prophet (S) would rectify them. Then I would be permitted to present the new revelation to the people.

HOW NEWLY REVEALED AYAT WERE WRITTEN DOWN


Some Companions had their own copies of the Quran which contained whichever verses they had heard, often alongside explanatory notes of the verses.

Materials Used for Recording: Stone tablets ; Leather parchment; Date branches; Bamboo;

Tree leaves; Animal bones; Paper (relatively rare)

Uthmān reports: Soon after revelation, the Prophet (S) would instruct the writer to place the newly-revealed verse next to another verse in a specific Ṣūrah.

INSCRIPTION


Zayd bin ThabitAbu BakrUmarUthmanAliUbayy bin Ka’bZubayr bin AwwamMu’awiyahKhalid bin WalidMughirah bin Shu’bahThabit bin QaysAban bin Sa’idKhalid bin Sa’id

Hanzalah ibn ur Rab’IMu’qib bin Abi FatimahAbdullah bin RawahahAmir bin FuhayrahAmr bin Al ‘Aas

These are the more well-known scribes; the actual number has been counted up to 40

SCRIBES OF REVELATION


Many Ḥuff āẓ are martyred in the Battle of Yamāmah, leading to a fear that the Quran might be forgotten. Umar proposes to Abu Bakr that the Quran must be compiled in writing.

Abu Bakr: “How can I do that which Allah's Prophet had not done?”Umar: “By Allah, there is nothing but good in this task.”Abu Bakr: “Umar kept trying to persuade me until Allah opened my chest, and I adopted the same opinion as Umar.“

Abu Bakr appoints Zayd b. Thābit as the head of the project. Initially, Zayd has the same reservations as Abu Bakr had, but both Abu Bakr and Umar eventually convince him of the need.

STAGE 2: ABU BAKR (R)


"You (Zayd) are a wise, young man, and we have no lack of trust in you. Furthermore, you used to write Revelation for the Messenger of Allah.” ~ Abu Bakr

He entered the service of the Prophet as a teenagerHe would learn foreign languages upon the Prophet’s

orders in very short periods of timeHe was one of the foremost Scribes of the RevelationHe was present during al-arḍat al-akhīrah (the last

readings of Jibril (A) to the Prophet (S)

ZAYD BIN THABIT


Create one written copy of the Quran which would belong to the Islamic State

Compile this copy by gathering all the verses of the Quran, which were scattered around Madīnah among the Companions

Preserve the Seven Aḥruf in the process of compilation

Assure an untouchable standard of authenticity

“By Allah, had Abu Bakr ordered me to move a mountain, it would have been a lighter burden for me.” ~ Zayd b. Thābit

ZAYD’S TASK


“So I started locating Quranic material and collecting it from parchments, animal bones, date palms, leaves, and from the memories of men.” ~Zayd b. Thābit

Each verse must be authenticated by a:1. Verbal testimonial that corresponds with the

memory of Zayd as well as his committee of Ḥuff āẓ, who collectively knew all the Aḥruf.

2. Written testimonial accompanied by two witnesses that saw the manuscript being written in the presence of the Prophet (S).

ZAYD’S STANDARDS


“I found with Ibn Khuzaymah two verses of Ṣūrat at-Tawba which I had not found with anyone else (the final two verses).”

- Zayd bin Thabit

Question: If Zayd admits that he found these verses with only one person, does this mean that the verses are deficient in authenticity?Answer: No. The verses indeed met Zayd’s standards of authenticity. His claim “which I had not found with anyone else” refers to his diffi culty in finding a written copy of the verses. Otherwise, the verses were well-known in the memories of the Companions.

SURAT AL-TAWBAH


The manuscript was unbound, consisting of 114 loose sheets (one per Ṣūrah)

Ṣūrahs were not arranged in orders, but the verses in each Ṣūrah were in order

At points of diff erence between Aḥruf, each variation was listed

It was written in Hijazi script

Abu Bakr Umar Hafsah Marwan bin Hakam (burnt)

ZAYD’S ACCOMPLISHMENT: ‘AL-UMM’


STAGE 3: UTHMAN

Expansion of the Islamic Empire I – Prophet (S) II – Abu Bakr (R) III – Umar (R) IV – Uthmān (R)

• During the time of Uthmān (R), Islam spread very far, but the Quran was still permitted to be recited in all the Aḥruf.

• Quranic education was not centralized.• Syrians followed Ubayy

b. Ka;b• Kūfans followed

Abdullāh b. Mas’ūd.

• Differences in recitation was causing great confusion everywhere.• Even in Madīnah, fights

broke out occasionally over differences in recitation.


While stationed on the Azerbaijani front, Hudhayfah b. Yamān observes people accusing each other of Takfīr due to confusion between recitations.

In a meeting with the senior Ṣaḥābah, Uthmān decides to compile a standardized Muṣḥaf. The Companions agree by ijmā

Zayd b. Thābit is again commissioned to head the project Along with Abdullah bin Zubayr, Sa’id bin al-As, and Abdul-

Rahman bin Harith (all three were Qurayshis) “If you differ with Zayd regarding any dialect of the Qur’an,

then write it in the dialect of the Quraysh, for the Qur’an was revealed in this dialect.” – Uthman (R)

UTHMAN’S DECISION


1. Zayd compiled it from scratch to reaffi rm the authenticity

2. It was written according to the Qurayshī dialect, in such a way that as many other dialects were preserved as possible

3. It was bound, with the Ṣūrahs placed in order4. Seven copies were made

1. Makkah2. Syria3. Yemen4. Bahrain5. Baṣra6. Kūfah7. Madīnah

5. All other manuscripts were burnt because burning was considered a respectful method of destroying

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE UTHMANI MANUSCRIPT


Dots (I’Jam) Early Arabs considered the need to use dots on letters

insulting. Later, they were added for the convenience of non-Arabs

Who was the first to use dots? Many opinions Abul Aswad Du’ili Sayyidina Ali (R) Ziyad bin Abi Sufyan Abdul Malik bin Marwan Hajjaj bin Yusuf and Hasan Al-Basri

One opinion says that the concept of dots did not exist before the Quran at all, but this is a weak opinion

Whoever placed dots in the Quran was not their inventor

STEPS TAKEN TO FACILITATE RECITATION OF THE QUR’AN


Diacritical Marks (Tashkil) Fatha, Kasra, Damma Who put marks first?

Abul Aswad Du’ili – different than today (in dot form) Under Hajjaj bin Yusuf – current form

Manzil/Hizb Division of Qur’an into seven parts (complete entire Qur’an

in 1 week) Aws bin Huzayfah asked companions regarding Hizb:

1: first 3 surahs, 2: next five, 3: next seven, 4: next nine, 5: next eleven, 6: next thirteen, 7: from Surah Qaf until end of Qur’an

Thirty Ajza (Juz) Originator not known Purpose to assist children in memorization, and to complete

easily in Tarawih prayer Not arranged by meaning



Ruku Originator unknown Purpose was to tech amount that can be recited in 1 rak’ah 540 Rukus in Qur’an – 1 Ruku per Rak’ah of Tarawih will allow the

hafiz to finish them entirely on 27 th night of Ramadan Fifteen-line Mushaf

Contains fifteen lines per page Each page ends at the end of an āyah Each Juz has exactly twenty pages

One page per Rukᶜah of Tarāwīḥ will allow one to finish the Quran in 30 nights

Four pages read after each daily prayer will allow one to finish the Quran in a month

Rumūz al-Awqāf Markings that signify places to pause and continue one’s

recitation They were invented by Allamah Abu Abdillāh Muḥammad bin

Tayfūr al-Sajāwandī



Historically, all Muṣḥafs were transcribed by hand by masters of the science of Khaṭṭāṭ (calligraphy)

1113 AH – The fi rst Muṣḥaf was printed by non-Muslims in Hamburg, Germany, a copy of which is preserved in Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣrīyyah

1787 CE – The fi rst Muṣḥaf to be printed by a Muslim was completed in St. Petersburg, Russia by Mawlā/Mawlay Uthmān

1828 CE – The Quran was printed on stone slabs using lithography in Tehran, Iran

Current day – printing press

PRINTING OF THE MUSHAF


Review Chapters 2 and 3 in Course ManualRead ahead to Chapter 4

Recommended supplementary reading:An Approach to the Qur’anic Sciences

By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Uthmani

Questions?

ASSIGNMENTS & QUESTIONS

lecture 3 february 3 2013 divine revelation: a study of the qur’anic sciences qur'anic...

Documents

life of prophet slide

quran quranic sciences

quran slide

books preservation

prophet s reciting

prophet s dictated

rama n preservation

sufficient dowry preservation