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English translation
(19). 3104. Az-Zuhrī narrated from Anas who said: "Ḥudhaifah bin Al-Yamān came to 'Uthmān, at the time when the people of Ash-Shām and the people of Al-'Irāq were waging war to conquer Arminiyah and Adharbijān.
Hudhaifah saw their (the people of Ash-Shām and Al-'Irāq) different forms of recitation of the Qur'ān. So he said to 'Uthmān: 'O Commander of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book as the Jews and the Christians did before them.' So he ('Uthmān) sent a message to Hafṣah (saying): 'Send us the manuscripts so that we may copy them in the Muṣāḥif[1] then we shall return it to you.' So Hafṣah sent the manuscripts to 'Uthmān bin 'Affān. 'Uthmān then sent order for Zaid bin Thābit, Sa'eed bin Al-'Ās, 'Abdur-Raḥmān bin Al-Ḥārith bin Hishām, and 'Abdullāh bin Az-Zubair to copy the manuscripts in the Muṣāḥif. 'Uthmān said to the three Quraish men: 'In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thābit on any point in the (recitation dialect of the) Qur'ān, then write it in the dialect of Quraish for it was revealed in their tongue.' So when they had copied the manuscripts in the Muṣāḥif, 'Uthmān sent one Muṣhaf from those Muṣāḥif that they had copied to every province."
Az-Zuhri said: "Khārijah bin Zaid [bin Thābit] narrated to me that Zaid bin Thābit said: 'I missed an Āyah of Sūrat Al-Aḥzāb that I heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ reciting: Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allāh, of them, some have fulfilled their obligations, and
some of them are still waiting.[1] – so I searched for it and found it with Khuzaimah bin Thābit, or Abū Khuzaimah, so I put it in its Sūrah.”
Az-Zuhri said: “They differed then with At-Tābūt and At-Tābūh. The Quraish said: At-Tābūt while Zaid said: At-Tābūh. Their disagreement was brought to ‘Uthmān, so he said: ‘Write it as At-Tābūt, for it was revealed in the tongue of the Quraish.”
Az-Zuhri said: “‘Uбайдوللّٰه bin ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Utbah informed me that ‘Abdullāh bin Mas‘ūd disliked Zaid bin Thābit copying the Mušāhif, and he said: ‘O you Muslim people! Avoid copying the Mušhaf and recitation of this man. By Allāh! When I accepted Islam he was but in the loins of a disbelieving man’ – meaning Zaid bin Thābit – and it was regarding this that ‘Abdullāh bin Mas‘ūd said: ‘O people of Al-Iraq! Keep the Mušāhif that are with you, and conceal them. For indeed Allāh said: And whoever conceals something, he shall come with what he concealed on the Day of Judgement.[2] So meet Allāh with the Mušāhif.”
Az-Zuhri said: “It was conveyed to me that some men among the most virtuous of the Companions of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ disliked that view of Ibn Mas‘ūd.” (Ṣaḥīh)
[Abū 'Eisā said:] This Ḥadīth is Hasan Ṣaḥīḥ, it is the narration of Az-Zuhri, and we do not know of it except as his narration.
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Footnotes
1
[1] At-Tawbah 9:128, 129.
1
[1] Plural of Muṣhaf, a written copy of the Qur'ān.
1
[1] Al-Ahzāb 33:23.
2
[2] Āl Imrān 3:161.
Commentary
Abū Bakr ﷺ, during his caliphate, gathered together the pieces of the Qur'an written on different materials, and he assigned this task to Zaid bin Thābit ﷺ. 'Umar ﷺ also agreed to this. Zaid gathered the Verses of the whole Qur'an in the form of booklets, and each Sūrah was in a separate booklet; therefore this copy of the Qur'an consisted of tremendous number of booklets. In the reign of 'Uthmān ﷺ, the people began to differ in the issue of the recital dialect of the Qur'an, each group regarded its recital correct and the other's wrong. So the need of preparing an agreed and comprehensive copy of the Qur'an emerged; for which a standard copy of the Qur'an was prepared.
