The Glorious Qur'an from past to today

Dr. Halit İmam

(Translated from Turkish by Ali Fahd)

The Qur’an is, without a doubt, the world’s most popular book to read and learn. The Quran is also the most researched and studied book. Some people study this book to find out its meanings, while others undertake studies solely to malign or misrepresent it. Indeed, this is a dichotomy that will last for a long time. How did this critical book come to us?

The meaning of the Qur’an and its revelation

The name “Qur’an” comes from the Arabic word قراءة(qira’a), which means “to read.” Terminologically, the Qur’an is defined as Allah’s word revealed to Prophet Muhammad, transmitted by Tawatur, penned in the Mushafs, and read as worship. The divine words of Allah, as seen in the Zabur, Torah, and Bible, were also revealed to the Prophet through both the Qur’an and in the form of Hadeeth Qudsi. There is a big difference, though. The wording and meaning of the Qur’an come from Allah through a clear revelation, but for the Hadeeth Qudsi, the wordings are from the Prophet.

The Qur’an’s revelation process, which took place between 610 and 633, can be separated into two phases. The situations in which Muslims lived were reflected in the verses revealed in both periods. First, the verses revealed in Mecca do not usually have anything to do with Sharia laws. Rather issues of faith, belief, and the history of the prophets are found in this period. The reason for this is that Allah wished to rectify the belief of the Muslims in this period. When we look at the verses revealed in the second phase, i.e. in Medina, it is seen that it consists of many legal matters, including inheritance, economy, social life, jihad, morality, marriage, rulings on orphans.

Arabic was the language of the Quran’s revelation. However, Arabic indeed has a variety of dialects, just like any other foreign language does. During the time of revelation, the Qur’an was revealed in an Adnani Quraysh dialect that was widely spoken at the time. This is the dialect of Arabic spoken by the Prophet. This dialect is better than other dialects because it is pure, clear, and well-articulated. 

The Compilation and Standardization of the Qur’an

The process of compiling and standardising the Qur’an is critical to figuring out how it got to us in the first place. Although all of the Qur’an’s verses were preserved throughout the Prophet’s lifetime, they were not collated into a single book in his presence. During the first caliph Abu-rule Bakr’s reign, per Umar’s recommendations, all verses preserved from the time of Prophet Muhammad were collated on the condition that two witnesses were present.  Zayd Ibn Thabit, one of the Prophet’s most prominent scribes, chaired a committee that produced the first copy of the Quran and sent it to Abu-Bakr. Verses previously memorised and scribbled on animal skins, stones, palm branches, shoulder blades, and leaves were collected and written in a single manuscript.  When Abu-Bakr died, this copy was given to Umar. When Umar died, it was given to his daughter Hafsa, the Prophet’s wife. 

Hudhayfah, who fought alongside Muslims from Damascus and Iraq in the conquest of Armenia and Azerbaijan, quickly appeared before the third Caliph Uthman upon his return from the mission and informed him of the discrepancies in the recitation of Muslims from various places. As a result, he recommended that Uthman make duplicate copies of the Qur’an. The caliph demanded Hafsa’s copy and established a commission headed by Zayd Ibn Thabit. He instructed them to duplicate the Qur’an. The caliph distributed the five or seven replicated copies to the various towns. Additionally, Uthman commanded that all other copies be destroyed in order to avoid any misunderstanding caused by the Qur’an’s various recitations by Muslims living in various places. As a result, personal copies that contained unusual recitations that did not conform to the consensus copies or contained certain expository statements were also destroyed.

Preservation and transmission of the Qur’an

As a result, the number of memorisers, reciters, and narrators of Qur’an recitations grew in various towns. These individuals had a critical part in the transmission of the Qur’an to us. Additionally, calligraphers have worked tirelessly to duplicate and document the Qur’an. These individuals took up writing the Quran and assisting individuals in obtaining their own personal copy. Human efforts such as calligraphy, memorisation, recitation, and worship, together with divine intervention, have resulted in the Qur’an becoming the only holy book that has endured to the present day while retaining its originality. Additionally, efforts involving punctuation and diacritics were conducted to make the Qur’an easier to read. This suggests that throughout the period of the Companions, the Qur’an had neither punctuations nor diacritics.

As a result of all these efforts, the Qur’an we read from the first period to the present has always been the same, even though there are many different types of Muslims in every country where Muslims live.

“It is certainly we who have revealed the Qur’an, and it is certainly we who will preserve it. (Al-Hijr 9)”

Today, cities like Madinah, Cairo, Istanbul, Lahore, Putrajaya and Kano produce hundreds of copies of the Qur’an every day. However, it is intriguing that the initial printings were not done by Muslims but by European orientalists. Thus, during the reign of  Sultan Abdulhamid II, there was a dire need for a Muslim press that would produce accurate Mushafs in an abundant supply. Caliph Abdulhamid assigned Osman Efendi, a palace chief, to see to the printing of the Qur’an.

So, where are the oldest Mushafs written before the Quran was published today?

Although their dates vary, the oldest mushafs are found in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Among these places are the following:

·       Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul

·       Egyptian National Library

·       Museum of Samarkand in Uzbekistan

·       London Museum in England

·       Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA

Conclusion

In summary, the word of Allah, which goes thus; “It is certainly we who have revealed the Qur’an, and it is certainly we who will preserve it”,has made the Qur’an to be taken under serious protection by all Muslims, starting from its first addressees, so that it will not be tampered with like the previous books. The Qur’an has been the only holy book that has survived to the present day while preserving its originality. In our time, the most incredible service to the Qur’an will be by transmitting it to future generations, learning, memorising, understanding and living by its teachings. May Allah make us all among those who read, understand and live by the Qur’an.  

    With greetings and prayers…