Hazrat Uthman Did not Delete Any Part of the Manuscript while compiling the Quran
Main Points discussed in part 7
Why and how was the Quran compiled into one Mushaf during the caliphate of Hazrat Uthman bin Affan?
Hazrat Uthman compiled the Quran into one Mushaf in complete agreement with the Companions
No Sahabi disagreed with Hazrat Uthman’s opinion in terms of compiling the Quran
Hazrat Mawla Ali himself praised the act of Hazrat Uthman about the compilation of the Quran and warned the people against uttering any bad words for him
……………….
By Kamaal Mustafa Azhari for New Age Islam
(Translated from Urdu by New Age Islam)
11 Jun 2021
Suspicion No. 6: Did Hazrat Uthman Ghani delete some Surahs (of the Mushaf or codex of Hazrat Ali in particular) during the compilation of the Qur'an?
In the previous part of the article, we explained that why and how the Quran was collected in the times of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq. In this part, by the grace of God Almighty, we will shed light on the following points and present the befitting reply to remove the tricks of the sceptics:
· Why and how was the Quran compiled into one Mushaf during the caliphate of Hazrat Uthman bin Affan?
· Did Hazrat Uthman compile the Quran into one Mushaf of his own free will or with the advice and consensus of the Companions?
· Did anyone disagree with his opinion in this matter?
· What was the position of Hazrat Mawla Ali himself on this act?
Now let's explain each point in detail.
1. Why and how was the Quran compiled into one Mushaf during the caliphate of Hazrat Uthman bin Affan?
Hazrat Uthman compiled the collected scriptures of the Quran [in the form of a book] so that people would not fall prey to differences in the Holy Qur'an due to differences in recitation.
Imam Bukhari reports that it has been narrated by Hazrat Anas bin Malik: Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman came to `Uthman at the time when the people of Sham and the people of Iraq were waging war to conquer Armenia and Azerbaijan. Hudhaifa was afraid of their (the people of Sham and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Qur'an, so he said to `Uthman, "O chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book (Qur'an) as Jews and the Christians did before." So `Uthman sent a message to Hafsa saying, "Send us the manuscripts (saheefe which were collected by Hazrat Zaid on the command of Hazrat Abu Bakr) of the complete Qur'an so that we may compile the Quranic materials in perfect copies (i.e. in the form of a book) and return the manuscripts to you."
Hazrat Hafsa sent these manuscripts to `Uthman. `Uthman then ordered Zaid bin Thabit, `Abdullah bin Zubair, Sa`id bin Al-As and `Abdur Rahman bin Harith bin Hisham to rewrite the manuscripts in perfect copies. `Uthman said to the three Quraishi men, "In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thabit on any point in the Qur'an, then write it in the dialect of Quraish, because the Qur'an was revealed in their tongue." They did so, and when they had written many copies, `Uthman returned the original manuscripts to Hafsa. `Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied and ordered that all the other Qur'anic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt. (Sahih Bukhari, the Virtues of the Quran, Chapter: The Collection of the Quran, Hadith 4987)
2. Did Hazrat Uthman compile the Quran into one Mushaf of his own free will or with the advice and consensus of the Companions?
This glorious act was not done by Hazrat Uthman alone, but also with the advice and consideration of the elite group of Companions who were scribes [kuttab] and memorizers [huffaz] of the Quran.
Imam Qurtubi writes in his book of commentary,
In the matter of compiling the Qur'an, Hazrat Uthman gathered the Muhajireen, the Ansar and great Sahabah and consulted with them. All of them agreed on the famous recitation which was proved by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and left out anything else. They declared the opinion of Hazrat Uthman correct and fully agreed with him in this matter. (Tafsir al-Qurtubi: 1/52)
For this purpose, Hazrat Uthman had gathered twelve Companions from Quraysh and Ansar, as it is narrated on the authority of Muhammad bin Sirin that “Uthman bin Affan gathered twelve men from the Quraish and the Ansar, and among them were Ubay bin Ka’b, Zaid bin Thabit, Saeed bin Al-Aas, ” [Al-Masahif by Ibn Abi Dawud: 105]. Besides, Katheer b. Aflah, Malik b. Abi Amir, Anas b. Malik and Abdullah b. Abbas were also there to support them in this process.
Along with a large number of companions, Hazrat Uthman Ghani himself made great efforts in compiling the Qur'an, so how can it be that he deleted some Surahs? And then the question is if some sceptics think that he deleted some surahs, then why was the deletion of only these Surahs, why not that of others?
3. Did anyone disagree with the opinion of Hazrat Uthman in the matter of compiling the Quran?
How could it be that Hazrat Uthman Ghani deleted and the Companions remained silent while they had been reciting the Holy Qur'an for the last three eras?!!
How could it be that Hazrat Uthman deleted some verses from the Mushaf of Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Ubi and neither of them disagreed or raised their voice?!!
Musab ibn Sa'd said:
When Hazrat Uthman ordered the burning of the manuscripts, I found a large number of people present there and he (by his good deeds) surprised everyone but none of them denied it. (Al-Tarikh al-Kabir: 7/350)
4. What was the position of Hazrat Mawla Ali himself about the compilation of the Quran by Hazrat Uthman?
Suwaid bin Ghafla Al-Ja’fi, 80 A.H. states: “By God, I will not tell you anything but what I heard from Ali bin Abi Talib said, “Oh people, do not go to extremes in regards to Uthman, and do not say anything but good about the manuscripts and the burning of the manuscripts. By God, what he [Uthman] did about the manuscripts (masahif) of the Qur’an was an act done on behalf of all of us”. (Al-Masahif, Ibn Abi Dawud: p.96 / Kanzul Ummal: 2/583 / Jamu’l Jawami’: 16/717)
Hazrat Ali further said, “By God, If I had held this position, I would have done what Uthman did”. (Al-Masahif, Ibn Abi Dawud: p.96)
Hazrat Ali himself paid homage to this glorious matter and warned the people against uttering any bad words about Hazrat Uthman.
If any surahs or verses of the manuscript (Mushaf) of Hazrat Ali had been taken out or deleted by Hazrat Uthman, Hazrat Ali would not have expressed his agreement and happiness and would not have warned the transgressors or the people against uttering any bad words about Hazrat Uthman.
If any action of Hazrat Uthman in terms of compilation of the Quran had been wrong, Hazrat Ali would have corrected it during his caliphate. But why did he not do so? On the contrary, he said, “By God, If I had held this position [of Uthman], I would have done what Uthman did”.
The consensus of the Companions and the sayings of Hazrat Ali himself serve as clear evidence to disprove the suspicion that Hazrat Uthman compiled the Mushaf based on his will and against the agreement of the Companions. Rather they prove that whatever Hazrat Uthman did in terms of compiling the Quran was an act approved by all the great Companions [Sahaba] of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and therefore all verses including the Jihad-verses mentioned in the present Quran are verses of the Quran which are free from distortion and change and protected under the divine permission of protection. (May Allah be pleased with all the Sahaba)
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Related Article:
Removing Doubts Concerning Verses of Jihad in Quran: Is Jizya in Islam an act of oppression? Part 2
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