Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … Hafiz Ibn Kathir rahimahullah said: This is among the virtues of the Commander of the Faithful, Sayyiduna Uthman ibn Affan radi Allahu anhu, that he united the people upon one recitation (qira’ah) of the Noble Qur’an, so that no discord would arise among them, whereas before him, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Umar radi Allahu anhuma had already taken measures for the preservation of the Qur’an. Thus, the four Imams and the four Caliphs were united upon the interests of the religion.

The following detailed narration from Sahih Bukhari makes the entire matter clear: It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas ibn Malik radi Allahu anhu, who said: “Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman came to Uthman while he was fighting the people of Sham in the conquest of Armenia and Azerbaijan along with the people of Iraq. Hudhayfah was alarmed by their differences in recitation, so Hudhayfah said to Uthman: ‘O Commander of the Faithful! Take hold of this Ummah before they differ regarding the Book as the Jews and Christians did.’ So Uthman sent a message to Hafsah: ‘Send us the manuscripts so that we may copy them into codices, then we will return them to you.’ Hafsah sent them to Uthman, and Uthman ordered Zayd ibn Thabit, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, Sa’id ibn al-‘As, and Abdur Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham to copy them into codices. Uthman said to the three Qurayshi men: ‘If you and Zayd ibn Thabit differ in anything of the Qur’an, then write it in the dialect of Quraysh, for it was revealed in their dialect.’ So they did so, until when they had copied the manuscripts into the codices, Uthman returned the manuscripts to Hafsah and sent a copy of what they had copied to every region, and ordered that all other Qur’anic materials, whether in manuscript or codex, be burned. Ibn Shihab said: Kharijah ibn Zayd ibn Thabit informed me, having heard Zayd ibn Thabit say: ‘I missed a verse from al-Ahzab when we were copying the codex. I used to hear the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam recite it. So we searched for it and found it with Khuzaymah ibn Thabit al-Ansari: {مِنْ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاہَدُوا اللّٰہَ عَلَیْہِ۔} so we included it in its surah in the codex.’”

Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman radi Allahu anhu came to Sayyiduna Uthman radi Allahu anhu at a time when he was engaged in battle, combining the people of Sham and Iraq to conquer Armenia and Azerbaijan. The difference in recitation between the people of Iraq and the people of Sham greatly disturbed Sayyiduna Hudhayfah, so he said to Sayyiduna Uthman: “O Commander of the Faithful! Take hold of this Ummah before they begin to differ in the Book as the Jews and Christians did.” Sayyiduna Uthman radi Allahu anhu sent a message to Sayyidah Hafsah radi Allahu anha, asking her to send him those manuscripts so that they could make copies and return them to her. Sayyidah Hafsah radi Allahu anha sent those manuscripts to Sayyiduna Uthman radi Allahu anhu, who then ordered Sayyiduna Zayd ibn Thabit radi Allahu anhu, Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr radi Allahu anhu, Sayyiduna Sa’id ibn al-‘As, and Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham to prepare copies of that codex. Sayyiduna Uthman radi Allahu anhu told the three Qurayshis: “If you and Zayd ibn Thabit radi Allahu anhu differ anywhere in the recitation of the Qur’an, then write it in the dialect of Quraysh, for the Noble Qur’an was revealed in the dialect of Quraysh.” Thus, they did so, until when the manuscripts had been copied into codices, Sayyiduna Uthman radi Allahu anhu returned the manuscripts to Sayyidah Hafsah radi Allahu anha and sent one copy of the copied codices to every region, and ordered that whatever Qur’an was in any other manuscript or codex be burned. Imam Zuhri said: Kharijah ibn Zayd ibn Thabit radi Allahu anhu narrated to me the statement of Sayyiduna Zayd ibn Thabit radi Allahu anhu, that when copying the codices, he could not find one verse from Surah al-Ahzab, although he had heard the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam recite it. When they searched for it, they found it with Sayyiduna Khuzaymah ibn Thabit al-Ansari radi Allahu anhu, and it was this verse: {مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوْا مَا عَاہَدُوا اللّٰہَ عَلَیْہ … } (Surah al-Ahzab: 23), so they included this verse in its surah in the codex.

For the ease of the Arabs, the Noble Qur’an was revealed upon seven recitations (qira’at), but later, due to the presence of non-Arabs, this very concession and ease became a cause of severe discord. Thus, Sayyiduna Uthman radi Allahu anhu did a great favor to the Muslim Ummah by uniting the people upon one recitation.