‘Alī Supports ‘Uthmān’s Action
Those who circulate such claims do not seem to realise that ‘Ali himself disapproved of these fabrications. Far be it from him to approve them! Indeed, they ultimately undermine his standing, take a contrary view to his, and contradict him, Islam and the Qur’an. Suwayd ibn Ghaflah al-Ju‘afī said: ‘I heard ‘Alī ibn Abi Ṭālib as he said: People, fear God and beware of exaggerations against ‘Uthmān, saying that he burnt Qur’anic collections. By God, he burnt nothing without many of us, the Prophet’s Companions, being present.’ ‘Umar ibn Sa‘īd quotes ‘Ali as saying: ‘Had I been the ruler at the time of ‘Uthmān, I would have done the same with the Qur’anic collections.’ In another version reported by Suwayd: ‘I heard ‘Alī saying: “May God bestow His mercy on ‘Uthmān. Had I been given the authority ‘Uthmān had, I would have done with the Qur’anic collections exactly as he did.”’146
Ibn Abī Dāwūd relates, with a sound chain of transmission, a statement by Mus‘ab ibn Sa‘d: ‘I saw the people gathered when ‘Uthmān burnt Qur’anic collections and they were pleased.’ He added: ‘None of them objected.’147 He is also quoted to have said: ‘I heard some of Muhammad’s Companions saying: “He has done well.”’ He also said: ‘I have not seen anyone criticising his action.’ Both these statements are reported with authentic chains of transmission.148
The Distortion Allegation Undermines ‘Alī’s Integrity
What is clear is that the reasons behind ‘Uthmān’s action were valid and well recognised. Furthermore, such action could not have been done secretly, behind closed doors. It was rather done in the full knowledge of the Prophet’s Companions and in consultation with them. Had ‘Alī been aware of any omission in the Qur’an, he would certainly have made his objection clear. He would never have kept quiet, even though he was in the ranks of the opposition to the Caliph, as some reports allege. But even if he did keep quiet at the time – and far be it from him to do so – he would not have continued to do so during his own reign as Caliph ruling over the entire Muslim community. His rule lasted four years and nine months,149 and he could not have given priority to fighting political opponents over putting the Qur’an back to its correct form or fighting those who accepted its alteration and distortion. In fact, he read it exactly as ‘Uthmān put it when he led the Muslim community in prayer. This means that the fourth Caliph, ‘Alī, endorsed the work of the third Caliph, ‘Uthmān, and the way it was written and read, as did all the Prophet’s Companions (may God be pleased with them all).
The Qur’an of ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī
We must indeed consider ‘Alī as a participant in documenting the ‘Uthmāni copy of the Qur’an. The numbering of the verses of the Qur’an in the copies used throughout the world follows the Kufi way, which was learnt from ‘Alī, the Caliph who lived among them.150 Perhaps they took this from his recitation as he stopped at the endings of the verses, or from the way he taught them. We have no doubt that they took it from him because the person who reported this was Abū ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī who was sent by ‘Uthmān to Kufah with a copy of the Qur’an so as to teach them how to read it. Al-Sulamī followed ‘Alī’s reading in Kufah and stopped at the verse endings. It is our duty, then, to attribute ‘Uthmān’s muṣḥaf (i.e. written copy of the Qur’an) to both ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī together; we should indeed say it is the Qur’an of them both.
In my book, Al-Ḥākim al-Jushamī wa Minhājuh fī al-Tafsīr, I mentioned that al-Ḥākim al-Jushamī quotes Imām al-Hādī Yaḥya ibn al-Ḥusayn (died 298 AH/911 CE) as saying that he ‘found ‘Alī’s own copy of the Qur’an kept by an old lady that belonged to al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī’s household, and it was identical to the ones all people read’.151
I subsequently found this report in some Zaydī sources. Imām al-Hādī attributes this report to his grandfather, Imām al-Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm al-Rassī (169–246 AH, 786–860 CE).
It states that the old lady was al-Ḥasan ibn Zayd ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib’s daughter. Imām al-Qāsim read this copy and found it ‘exactly as the copies all people have, with no single letter added or deleted, except that in the verse that says, “Fight those of the unbelievers who are near you” (9: 123), whereby the word “kill” replaces “fight”. I also read in it the last two surahs’.152
In the fifth introduction to his commentary on the Qur’an, Shams al-Dīn al-Aṣfahānī said: ‘Throughout his reign, ‘Alī used to read ‘Uthmān’s musḥaf considering it the one to be followed.’153
When we take into consideration the work undertaken by Abu Bakr and ‘Umar in collating the Qur’an, we conclude that ‘Ali and ‘Uthmān’s muṣḥaf is in fact that of all the four rightly-guided Caliphs and all Muslims throughout all generations.
When Imām ‘Abdullāh ibn Ḥabīb, better known as Abū ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, went to Kufah taking one of the ‘Uthmāni copies of the Qur’an, he settled there. He continued to teach the Qur’an in its great mosque for forty years, until he died in 74 AH/694 CE. Whilst most reports say he learnt the Qur’an from both ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī, others suggest that he learnt the Qur’an from ‘Uthmān but read it out in ‘Ali’s presence. May God bestow His Mercy on al-Sulamī who said: ‘I have never seen a female’s son who read God’s book better than ‘Alī.’ He also said: ‘I never saw anyone reading the Qur’an better than ‘Alī.’ When ‘Alī arrived in Kufah in year 36 AH/657 CE, al-Sulami remained close to him. He joined his army and fought at ‘Alī’s side in the Battle of Ṣiffīn. Ibn Mujāhid quotes al-Sulamī as saying: ‘I read the Qur’an to ‘Alī many times, and I held the muṣḥaf and he read it out to me. I taught al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn (‘Alī’s sons) the Qur’an and they read it to me.’ For this reason, Muhammad ibn Ḥabīb, the author of al-Muḥabbar, describes al-Sulamī as the teacher of al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn. Al-Sulamī used to instruct his students in the number of verses within each surah.154 The people of Kufah followed his system which he learnt from ‘Alī.155 God’s word will always come true. He says: ‘It is We Ourselves Who have bestowed this reminder from on High, and it is We Who shall preserve it intact’ (15: 9); and whoever differs with this is himself the liar.
5.7 Finally, we may say that there is no doubt that those who allege that the Qur’an was subjected to alteration, omission or addition forsake the ranks of Muslims and believers and join those in error, falsehood and disbelief. This is because they disbelieve God’s guarantee that He will keep His Book safe from any kind of change. Moreover, according to some scholars, the Qur’anic statement, ‘This is a Book, with verses which have been perfected,’ means that ‘people are unable to add to these verses, omit anything from them or match them with anything similar’.156
6. The ‘Uthmāni Character Design of the Qur’anic Writing.
The Arabic term rasm means the way letters of the alphabet are written; the phrase rasm ‘Uthmānī means the writing of the Qur’an in the way that was done during the third rightly-guided Caliph ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān (may God be