The Chaliphate - Muir - The Search For Mecca

2IO 'OTHM/VN [chap. XXIX.
A.H. 30-54. b\- the enemies of 'Othman. First was the recension of
the Kor'an. The Mush'ni armies spread over such vast
Recension of
Kor'an, arcas and, as well as the converted peoples, were so widely
^?'^""" separated one from another, that differences were arising in
the recitation of the sacred text, as it had been settled in
the previous reign. Al-Basra followed the reading of Abu
Musa; Al-Kufa was guided by the authority of Ibn Mas'iid
;
and the text of Hims differed from that in use even at
Damascus. Hodheifa, during his long campaign in Persia
and Azerbijan, having witnessed the variations in different
provinces, returned to Al-Kufa gravely impressed with the
urgent need of revision. Ibn Mas'ud was highly incensed
with the slight thus put upon the authority of his text.
lUit Hodheifa, supported by the Governor, urged 'Othman
to restore the unity of the divine word, " before that
believers begin to differ in their scripture, even as the
Jews and Christians."^ The Caliph, advised by the leading
Companions at Medina, called for copies of the manuscripts
in use throughout the Empire. He then appointed a
syndicate of experts from amongst Koreish, to collate
these with the sacred originals still in the keeping of
Hafsa. Under their supervision the variations were
reconciled, and an authoritative exemplar written out,
of which duplicates were deposited at Mecca, Medina,
Al-Kufa, and Damascus. Copies were multiplied over the
empire ; former manuscripts called in and committed to the
flames ; and the standard text brought into exclusive use.
The action of 'Othman was received at the moment, as it
deserved, with general consent, excepting at Al-Kofa. There
Ibn Mas'ud, who prided himself on his faultless recitation
of the oracle, pure as it fell from the Prophet's lips, was
much displeased ; and the charge of sacrilege in having
burned copies of the divine Word was readily seized on
by the factious Citizens. By and by, the cry was spread
abroad ; and, taken up with avidity by the enemies of
'Othman, we find it^ ages afterwards still eagerly urged
1
[Referring apparently (not to the originals, but) to the translations
of the Bible in the various languages of the countries into which
Christianity spread. The Kor'an was held too sacred to be translated,
and was only (as still) read in its original Arabic, whatever the language
of the people. 3rd Ed.]