The Qur'an and Its Study. Adnan Zarzour

is that it is not permissible for the Muslim nation to neglect the transmission of any part of the seven ḥarfs in which the Qur’an was revealed. Nor can they agree to discard anything of the Qur’an.

      The Prophet’s Companions were unanimous in writing ‘Uthmān’s copies from the master copy that was collated by Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, and to sending one copy to each province. They were also unanimous about abandoning all else. Scholars say that it was not up to the Prophet’s Companions to prevent the reading of parts of the seven ḥarfs nor could they be unanimous in leaving aside any part of the Qur’an.

      The majority of scholars in all generations agree that these copies included only what the written form used in them could accommodate of the seven ḥarfs. They, however, include the final reading the Prophet read out to Gabriel (peace be upon them both), incorporating it all, without leaving out a single letter.²⁵³

      This means that the Prophet’s Companions dropped certain aspects of these ḥarfs which the Prophet (peace be upon him) approved to be read by the weak, the elderly and the young. They did so, treating that approval as a temporary concession that was no longer needed, after all people became able, through training and education, to read the Qur’an in its original way. Moreover, it is impossible to include the various dialects in a unified written form.²⁵⁴

      It goes without saying that the concession given to those who could not read the Qur’an properly was only in the last, or seventh, type mentioned above, which is concerned with the differences in dialects.

      Al-Ṭabarī (died 310 AH/923 CE) maintains that the Qur’an was written in one ḥarf, which is the Qurayshi ḥarf. Hence, he says that the copies made by ‘Uthmān included only one of the seven ḥarfs. He added that the seven ḥarfs were used during the Prophet’s lifetime and the reigns of Abū Bakr and ‘Umar as well as the first part of ‘Uthmān’s reign. Then ‘Uthmān thought that it was better, to ensure the unity of the Muslim nation, that there should be only one ḥarf, and, hence, he made the copies in that ḥarf, which is the Qurayshī one.