The Qur’an An Abiding Wonder
The Preservation of the Qur’an
~ 133 ~
different accents and pronunciation. Hence the
variations in the recitation of the Qur’an. The result
was that the Qur’an, too, began to be written
according to varying pronunciations. Ibn Qutayba
writes that the Bani Huzayl tribe used to pronounce
‘hatta’ as ‘atta’. Since Ibn Masood belonged to this
tribe, its members saw no reason to deviate from
this pronunciation. Such differences in recitation
came to be reflected in the transcription of the
Qur’an, this being only one of many such examples.
Given this state of affairs, Uthman, as advised by
Huzayfa ibn Yaman, had copies made of the
volume prepared by Abu Bakr, then sent one copy
each to all cities. This task was again entrusted to
Zayd ibn Thabit Ansari, who was provided with
eleven people to assist him. As per the order of the
third caliph, the committee wrote down the Qur’an
in accordance with the spelling of the Quraysh, so
that it should conform to the accent
(lehja)
of the
Prophet of Islam. Caliph Uthman subsequently
ordered that all other copies of the Qur’an, which
people had written on their own, should be handed
over to the government. These were all then burnt
by his order.
