Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir
To the Questions of the Visitors of his Facebook Page "Fiqhi"
Answer to Question
The Difference Between the Transmission of the Recitation of Quranic Verses and the Transmission of the Written Orthography (Rasm) of Allah’s Verses
To: Bakr Al-Shami
Question:
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings,
Could you please explain this Hadith to me, as I find it problematic? Even after reviewing the sayings of the scholars, the issue persists:
Ibn Shihab said: Kharijah bin Zaid bin Thabit informed me that he heard Zaid bin Thabit say: "I missed a verse from Al-Ahzab when we were copying the Mus-haf, which I used to hear the Messenger of Allah (saw) recite. So we searched for it and found it with Khuzaimah bin Thabit al-Ansari:
مِنْ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ
'Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah.' (QS. Al-Ahzab [33]: 23)."
I still do not understand how the Sahaba accepted it from him even though he was just one person and did not reach the level of mutawatir (mass-transmission). Even if we accept that his testimony equals two, it is still the same, as it did not reach the level of mutawatir?!!
May Allah bless you, our Sheikh.
Answer:
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings,
It seems that the matter has become confused for you between the transmission of the recitation of Quranic verses to us from the Messenger of Allah (saw) and the transmission of the written orthography (rasm) of Allah’s verses as they were written in the presence of the Messenger (saw).
As for the transmission of the recitation of the verses, it is through mutawatir transmission by the masses of the Sahaba (ra) from the Messenger of Allah (saw), until it reached us as mutawatir and is preserved until the Day of Judgment by the protection and success granted by Allah, Who said:
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
"Indeed, it is We who sent down the message [i.e., the Quran], and indeed, We will be its guardian." (QS. Al-Hijr [15]: 9)
As for the transmission of the rasm (written orthography) of the verses, the Sahaba did not accept to write the verses from their memory; rather, they wanted to collect the actual writing that was recorded in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (saw). It would have been sufficient for them to collect the written sheets (suhuf) present with the Sahaba, but (ra) they obliged themselves to have two witnesses for every sheet to testify that it was written in the presence of the Messenger (saw), as an added precaution. This was a success granted by Allah the Almighty to preserve His Noble Book, to which falsehood cannot come:
لَا يَأْتِيهِ الْبَاطِلُ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِ تَنْزِيلٌ مِنْ حَكِيمٍ حَمِيدٍ
"Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from a [Lord who is] Wise and Praiseworthy." (QS. Fussilat [41]: 42)
This is the matter, and here is the explanation:
First: Regarding the Compilation of the Quran:
We have explained the topic of the compilation of the Noble Quran in the book The Islamic Personality, Volume 1, in the chapter "Compilation of the Quran," and we did the same in the book Taysir al-Wusul ila al-Usul under the titles "The Revelation of the Quran and its Writing" and "Compilation of the Quran." The questioner can refer to these two books to understand the details of the issue and the detailed evidences for it... I will quote for you some of what appeared in our books to help you understand the issue correctly, by the will of Allah:
1- I quote for you from my book Taysir al-Wusul ila al-Usul, the chapter on the compilation of the Quran:
"...Due to the Wars of Apostasy, Abu Bakr (ra) feared that a large number of the huffaz (memorisers) of the Noble Quran—those who memorised its verses arranged in their Surahs—would be martyred. So he ordered the collection of the written verses of each Surah in one place, arranged as the Messenger (saw) had approved. Thus, the pieces on which the verses of each Surah were written were collected and arranged in sequence after it was verified that this writing was done in the presence of the Messenger (saw). They used to demand the testimony of two of the Sahaba for every written scrap, testifying that it was written in the presence of the Messenger (saw). They were not satisfied with the writing matching what was memorised, even though every verse was memorised by a mutawatir group of Sahaba. Therefore, when they found that the end of Surah At-Tawbah was 'written with Khuzaimah alone' and no one except Khuzaimah (ra) testified to its writing in the presence of the Messenger (saw), they stopped collecting it until they established proof that the Messenger of Allah (saw) had accepted the testimony of Khuzaimah as equal to two just Muslims. At that point, they collected that written scrap that Khuzaimah testified to, even though they memorised that verse with certainty. This was only an increase in verification from them (ra), because they wanted to collect the sheets written in the presence of the Messenger (saw) and not to write them from their memory.
Therefore, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq’s compilation was a collection of the scraps on which the verses were written and arranging them into their Surahs as the Messenger (saw) had approved—i.e., placing the scraps on which the verses of each Surah were written one after another in one place for all the Surahs of the Quran." (End quote)
2- And I quote for you from The Islamic Personality, Volume 1, regarding the period after Abu Bakr’s collection of the scraps:
"...Accordingly, Abu Bakr's order for the compilation of the Quran was not an order to write it in one Mus-haf (book), but rather an order to collect the sheets that were written in the presence of the Messenger (saw) together in one place and to ensure that they were the very same ones, supported by the testimony of two witnesses... These sheets remained preserved with Abu Bakr during his life, then with Umar during his life, then with Hafsah bint Umar, the Mother of the Believers, according to Umar’s will...
This was regarding Abu Bakr’s compilation. As for Uthman’s compilation, in the third or second year of Uthman’s caliphate—i.e., in the year 25 AH—Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman came to Uthman in Madinah. He had been campaigning with the people of Sham in the conquest of Armenia and Azerbaijan alongside the people of Iraq. Hudhayfah was alarmed by their differences in the recitation of the Quran... so he rode to Uthman. Ibn Shihab narrated that Anas bin Malik told him: 'Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman came to Uthman... and he was alarmed by their differences in recitation. Hudhayfah said to Uthman: O Ameer of the Believers, save this Ummah before they differ concerning the Book as the Jews and Christians differed.' So Uthman sent word to Hafsah: 'Send us the sheets so that we may copy them into Mus-hafs and then return them to you.' Hafsah sent them to Uthman, and he ordered Zaid bin Thabit, Abdullah bin al-Zubayr, Sa'id bin al-Aas, and Abdur-Rahman bin al-Harith bin Hisham, and they copied them into Mus-hafs... When they had copied the sheets into Mus-hafs, Uthman returned the sheets to Hafsah. He sent a copy of what they had copied to every region and ordered that any other Quranic material in any sheet or Mus-haf be burned. The number of copies made was seven; seven Mus-hafs were written for Makkah, Sham, Yemen, Bahrain, Basra, Kufa, and one was kept in Madinah.
Based on this, Uthman's work was not a compilation of the Quran, but rather a copying and transmission of the exact thing transmitted from the Messenger of Allah (saw) as it was. He did nothing except copy seven copies from the version preserved with Hafsah, the Mother of the Believers, and united the people on this script (khatt) alone, forbidding any other script or spelling. The matter settled on this version in terms of script and spelling, which is the very same script and spelling in which the sheets were written in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (saw) when the revelation descended, and it is the very same version that Abu Bakr had collected. Then the Muslims began to copy from these versions and no other, and only Uthman’s Mus-haf remained with its rasm. When printing presses were found, the Mus-haf began to be printed from this version with the same script and spelling...)"
3- As you can see, the issue was not the transmission of the recitation of the Quran, for this was transmitted by groups of Sahaba from the Messenger (saw) in a mutawatir and definitive transmission. Rather, it was the transmission of what was written in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (saw)... Therefore, this rasm (orthography) upon which the Mus-haf is based is a tawqifi (divinely fixed) orthography that must be adhered to exclusively. It is forbidden to write the Mus-haf in any other script; it is absolutely not permissible to deviate from it... However, the obligation to follow the Uthmanic rasm for the Quran is specific to writing the entire Mus-haf. As for writing the Quran as a citation, or writing it on a board for teaching, or other such instances written outside of Mus-hafs, it is permissible to write it in another spelling method. For example, you might write:
الرِّبَوا
As it appears in the Mus-haf, but for teaching on a board, you write it as:
الربا
Because the approval from the Messenger and the consensus of the Sahaba occurred for the Mus-haf specifically and nothing else. No analogy (qiyas) can be made to it because it is a tawqifi matter without a specified legal reason ('illah), so analogy does not enter into it.
Second: Regarding the Hadith you are asking about, which was narrated by Al-Bukhari as follows:
(4604 - Musa narrated to us, Ibrahim narrated to us, Ibn Shihab narrated to us that Anas bin Malik narrated to him that Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman came to Uthman... and he was alarmed by their differences in recitation... so Uthman sent to Hafsah... and he ordered Zaid bin Thabit, Abdullah bin al-Zubayr, Sa'id bin al-Aas, and Abdur-Rahman bin al-Harith bin Hisham, and they copied them into Mus-hafs...
Ibn Shihab said: And Kharijah bin Zaid bin Thabit informed me that he heard Zaid bin Thabit say: "I missed a verse from Al-Ahzab when we were copying the Mus-haf, which I used to hear the Messenger of Allah (saw) recite. So we searched for it and found it with Khuzaimah bin Thabit al-Ansari:
مِنْ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ
'Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah.' (QS. Al-Ahzab [33]: 23),
So we attached it to its Surah in the Mus-haf.")
It is clear from the Hadith that it speaks of the incident of copying the Mus-hafs during the era of Uthman (ra), where he tasked Zaid bin Thabit along with three others to copy the Mus-hafs from the scraps collected during the era of Abu Bakr, which were in Hafsah’s house. Meaning, the Hadith is about copying from what was written in the presence of the Messenger (saw) and not about the transmission of the recitation. It is about copying what was written in the scraps that were written in the presence of the Messenger (saw) so that the Quran would be written in the Mus-hafs with the same orthography (rasm) written in the presence of the Messenger (saw). This does not necessarily require tawatur; rather, a Sahih (authentic) report is sufficient. However, (ra) they obliged themselves to have two witnesses for the writing as a matter of increased caution and care... As for the recitation of the Quranic verses, they were transmitted, as we said, by groups of Sahaba from the Messenger of Allah (saw).
Thus, the answer to your question has become clear, by the will of Allah, Who preserved His Book:
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
"Indeed, it is We who sent down the message [i.e., the Quran], and indeed, We will be its guardian." (QS. Al-Hijr [15]: 9)
Third: Two matters remain that need clarification:
First: What are the verses that were only found written with Khuzaimah... Second: Were they with Khuzaimah or with Abu Khuzaimah...
To answer that, we say, and with Allah is the success:
1- Regarding the first matter concerning the verses, Al-Bukhari recorded two narrations under number 4311 and number 4604 as follows:
The first: (4311 - Abu al-Yaman narrated to us, Shu'ayb informed us from al-Zuhri who said: Ibn al-Sabbaq informed me that Zaid bin Thabit al-Ansari (ra), who was among those who wrote the Revelation, said: "Abu Bakr sent for me after the slaughter of the people of Yamama, and Umar was with him... Abu Bakr said: 'You are a wise young man, we do not suspect you, and you used to write the Revelation for the Messenger of Allah (saw). So track down the Quran and collect it...' So I stood up and tracked the Quran, collecting it from scraps, shoulder blades, palm stalks, and the hearts of men, until I found two verses from Surah At-Tawbah with Khuzaimah al-Ansari, I did not find them with anyone else:
لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم
'There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you' until their end...")
As per the text of the Hadith, it was during the era of Abu Bakr (ra), and it is clear that the written scrap they found with Khuzaimah contained the last two verses of Surah At-Tawbah.
The second: (4604 - Musa narrated to us... Ibn Shihab informed me that Kharijah bin Zaid bin Thabit heard Zaid bin Thabit say: "I missed a verse from Al-Ahzab when we were copying the Mus-haf... so we searched for it and found it with Khuzaimah bin Thabit al-Ansari:
مِنْ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ
'Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah.' (QS. Al-Ahzab [33]: 23), so we attached it to its Surah in the Mus-haf.")
As per the text of the Hadith, it was during the era of Uthman (ra), and it is clear that the written scrap they found with Khuzaimah was for the verse of Al-Ahzab.
By looking closely at the two Hadiths (4311) and (4604), both of which were narrated by Al-Bukhari—meaning their chains of narration are authentic—the following becomes clear:
a- At the outset, we clarify that the two Hadiths are not about the tawatur (mass-transmission) of the verses. In both narrations, the subject is the writing and not the tawatur of memorisation, for every verse was memorised by a group of Sahaba from the Messenger (saw). Rather, the Sahaba wanted to transmit the exact same thing written in the presence of the Messenger (saw) because they did not want people to write from their memory, which might result in different characters/letters; instead, they wanted to write the verse with the same orthography (rasm) written in the presence of the Messenger (saw), as an added precaution and by the success granted by Allah the Almighty, Who said: "Indeed, it is We who sent down the message [i.e., the Quran], and indeed, We will be its guardian." Therefore, the Shari'ah rule was derived that it is impermissible to print the Mus-haf except according to the Mus-haf of Uthman (ra).
b- The collection of the written scraps was during the era of Abu Bakr, as stated in the authentic evidences. Similarly, requiring two witnesses for every written scrap is also correct... As for the era of Uthman (ra), what occurred was the copying of Mus-hafs from the scraps collected during Abu Bakr’s era, which at the time of copying were with Hafsah (ra). Uthman requested them and tasked Zaid and the three with him to copy a number of Mus-hafs from those scraps...
There is no room here, i.e., in Uthman’s era, for "missing" a written scrap; rather, this would occur during the collection of scraps that happened in Abu Bakr’s era. Meaning, it is the scrap on which the last two verses of At-Tawbah were written:
لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ * فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَقُلْ حَسْبِيَ اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ
"There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful. But if they turn away, [O Muhammad], say, 'Sufficient for me is Allah; there is no deity except Him. On Him I have relied, and He is the Lord of the Great Throne.'" (QS. At-Tawbah [9]: 128-129)
It is not possible for the scrap to be missing at the time of copying in Uthman’s era because the collection of scraps was in Abu Bakr’s era and not in Uthman’s era, where only copying took place... Therefore, the end of Bukhari’s Hadith no. 4604 is rejected dirayatan (based on critical analysis of the text content), which is: ("...I missed a verse from Al-Ahzab when we were copying the Mus-haf... so we searched for it and found it with Khuzaimah bin Thabit al-Ansari... so we attached it to its Surah in the Mus-haf.")
2- Regarding the second matter, which is: was the Sahabi with whom Zaid found the two verses of At-Tawbah written, and did not find them written with anyone else, Khuzaimah or Abu Khuzaimah? The answer is as follows:
- Al-Bukhari recorded two narrations: (4311) and (4603)...
As for narration no. 4311 mentioned earlier, it states: ["...until I found two verses from Surah At-Tawbah with Khuzaimah al-Ansari, I did not find them with anyone else: 'There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves...'"]
- In Hadith no. 4603, the text is: ["...until I found the end of Surah At-Tawbah with Abu Khuzaimah al-Ansari, I did not find it with anyone else: 'There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves...' until the end of Bara'ah (At-Tawbah)."]
By looking closely and reflecting upon what came in the two Hadiths, it becomes clear that the Sahabi's name is Khuzaimah bin Thabit al-Ansari and not Abu Khuzaimah. The evidence for this is that Abu Bakr (ra) stipulated that two witnesses must testify for the said scrap that it was written in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (saw). Zaid had secured two witnesses for every written verse he adopted except for the last two verses of At-Tawbah; he did not find them written on a scrap except with Khuzaimah in one narration, and with Abu Khuzaimah in another narration. The result was the adoption of the scrap, and therefore, the one with whom the scrap was found must have his testimony count as the testimony of two, otherwise the scrap would not have been adopted according to the condition set by Abu Bakr (ra).
What is authentic from the Messenger of Allah (saw) is that the one whose testimony equals two is Khuzaimah bin Thabit al-Ansari. It is as if that Hadith was for this very case, i.e., the case of collecting the written scraps. Glory be to Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise, the Preserver of His Book in recitation and orthography. The Hadith of Khuzaimah is as follows:
Ahmad recorded in his Musnad and Abu Dawud in his Sunan, and the wording is Ahmad's: (Abu al-Yaman narrated to us, Shu'ayb narrated to us from al-Zuhri, Umarah bin Khuzaimah al-Ansari narrated to me that his uncle narrated to him, and he was among the companions of the Prophet (saw), that the Prophet (saw) bought a horse from a Bedouin... the Bedouin said: 'Bring a witness to testify that I sold it to you.' Whoever among the Muslims came said to the Bedouin: 'Woe to you! The Prophet (saw) only says the truth,' until Khuzaimah came... the Bedouin said: 'Bring a witness to testify that I sold it to you.' Khuzaimah said: 'I testify that you sold it to him.' The Prophet (saw) turned to Khuzaimah and said: 'By what do you testify?' He said: 'By believing you, O Messenger of Allah.' So the Prophet (saw) made the testimony of Khuzaimah equal to the testimony of two men.") Al-Hakim also recorded it in Al-Mustadrak 'ala al-Sahihayn and said: "...This Hadith has an authentic chain of narration... though they (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it."
All of this proves that the Sahabi with whom that written scrap of the two verses of At-Tawbah was found, and not found with anyone else, was Khuzaimah and not Abu Khuzaimah, because the verse was adopted based on its carrier’s testimony being equal to two, and this applies to Khuzaimah and not to Abu Khuzaimah... It seems the name was confused by the narrators between Khuzaimah and Abu Khuzaimah, which happens sometimes... In any case, it is Khuzaimah bin Thabit al-Ansari as we explained above.
Thus, the answer has fully addressed your question... and also the answer to the two matters above... and Allah is Most Knowledgeable and Most Wise.
Your brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
12 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1441 AH Corresponding to 09/11/2019 CE
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