The Uthmanic codex is the only edition of the Quran compiled by the third Rashidun caliph Uthman ibn Affan. He ordered it to be copied and the copies sent to Islamic countries, after the death of Muhammad. The Quran was collected in a single book by order of the first caliph Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, and when the caliphate was handed over to Uthman ibn Affan, the Islamic conquests expanded and the companions spread in the conquered countries, teaching people the Quran and how to read its different readings. When the Companion Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman noticed that Muslims differed in reading and some of this difference was tinged with melody, he told the Caliph about it, and Uthman ordered that the Quran be collected in one way. He sent Hafsa bint Umar to allow him to use the copy of the Quran in her possession to use it as a reference, and Uthman ordered several copies of the Quran to unify the reading and ordered them to be distributed to the Muslim countries, and ordered the destruction of anything that contradicts that Quran.The Qurans that Uthman burned after copying the Quran IslamWeb Fatwa Center published on October 4, 2008 Archived 2017-09-08 at Wayback Machine.
Uthman ibn Affan formed a committee to write the Quran: Zayd ibn Thabit, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, Sa'id ibn al-'As, and 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham, then he gave Zayd ibn Thabit and the three Qurayshis the Quran that had been with Hafsa bint 'Umar, and he ordered them to copy the Quran from it, and he said: "If you and Zayd ibn Thabit disagree on something in the Quran, write it in the Quraysh tongue, for it was revealed in their tongue."Marqaat al-Mufaqifah Sharh Mashkat al-Misbahih Hadith No. 2221 Islamic Library accessed August 28, 2015 Archived 2017-10-02 at Wayback Machine. The collection and copying of the Quran began in late 24 AH and early 25 AH, and historians have not dated how long it took the committee to write the Quran.Uthman's Quran: Description, History, Was it written by Uthman's own hand, Does it exist now, Awad Ahmed Al-Nashiri Al-Shehri Page 5
Uthman's Quran preserved for Muslims the order of the surahs and verses as they are now.Muslims are still reaping the fruits of Uthman's compilation of the Quran IslamWeb Fatwa Center accessed April 6, 2004 Archived 2016-03-05 at Wayback Machine.
Historical background
Collecting the Quran during Muhammad's era
Muhammad had taken several revelation writers, namely: The Four Rashidun Caliphs, Zayd ibn Thabit, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Muadh ibn Jabal, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, and other companions.Codification of the Quran Majmaah University by Maha bint Abdulrahman Al-Lifan. Archived 2018-12-12 at Wayback Machine If he received a revelation, he ordered one of them to write it down. They did not have writing tools at that time, so they wrote on aspen, thin stones, and wood. Uthman ibn Affan narrated that when Muhammad received something from the Quran, he would call some of those who used to write it down and say: "Put this in the Surah in which such and such is mentioned."Al-Hakim's Al-Mustadrak Al-Sahihen, Part 2, page 221 One of the most important things that characterized the collection of the Quran during Muhammad's reign was that it was written by the Ahruf, and that it was arranged in order of verses, while the surahs were arranged differently. It was not compiled in a single book, but was dispersed in scrolls and bones, in which Zayd ibn Thabit says: "The Prophet died and the Quran was not compiled into anything."The Collection of the Holy Quran during the Reign of the Rashidun Caliphs, Fahd bin Abdul Rahman al-Rumi (1424 AH-2003), page 10
Collecting the Quran during Abu Bakr's reign
Muhammad died with the Quran not compiled into a single written Quran, but scattered in verbal memories, tablets, and other means of writing. After Abu Bakr al-Siddiq assumed the caliphate, there were a number of reasons and motivations that prompted the Companions to collect the Quran in scrolls. One of the most important reasons was the Battle of al-Yamama, in which a large number of Companions were killed, including a large number of readers by memory. This prompted Umar ibn al-Khattab to go to Abu Bakr and ask him to speed up the collection and codification of the Quran so that it would not disappear with the death of its preservers. This is what Abu Bakr al-Siddiq did after initially hesitating to do something that Muhammad did not do.Collecting the Qur'an during Abu Bakr's reign IslamWeb Articles accessed August 26, 2015 Archived 2017-07-20 at Wayback Machine
The narrations indicate that the first of the companions who ordered the collection of the Quran was Abu Bakr al-Siddiq on the advice of Umar ibn al-Khattab and that the person who carried out the collection was Zayd ibn Thabit. Al-Bukhari narrated from Zayd that he said: "Abu Bakr got the news of the killing of the people of Yamama, and Umar was there. So Abu Bakr said: 'Umar came to me and said that on the day of Yamama, the killing of the people had become rampant, and I am afraid that the killing of the readers will become rampant, and a lot of the Quran will be lost unless you collect it, and I think you should collect the Quran'. So Abu Bakr said: ' How can I do something that the Prophet himself didn't do!'. Umar said: 'I swear by Allah, it is good'. While Umar kept discussing it with me until Allah clarified the matter to me, and I saw what Umar saw. Zayd said: 'Umar is sitting there, not speaking'. Abu Bakr said: 'You are a young and wise man, you used to write revelations for Muhammad, so track down the Quran and collect it'. I swear by Allah, that if he had asked me to move a mountain, it would not have been heavier than what he ordered me to do about collecting the Quran. So I said: 'How you want to do something that the prophet didn't do!'. Abu Bakr said, 'By Allah, it is good', and I kept discussing it with him until Allah cleared my chest to what Allah cleared the chest of Abu Bakr and Umar to. So I got up and tracked down the Quran, collecting it from the sheets, scrolls, and the memories of men. The papers in which the Quran was collected were with Abu Bakr until his death, then with Umar until his death, then with Hafsa bint Umar."Sahih al-Bukhari, Chapter on Collecting the Quran, Hadith No. 4701
Before Abu Bakr al-Siddiq gathered the Quran, the companions had books in which they wrote the Quran or some of it, but these books were individual efforts that did not receive the precision of research and investigation that the Quran of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq received. Zayd then proceeded to collect the Quran and was supervised and assisted by Abu Bakr, Umar, and other Companions. Urwa ibn al-Zubayr narrated: "When the readers were killed on that day, Abu Bakr feared that the Quran would be lost, so he said to Umar ibn al-Khattab and Zayd ibn Thabit: Sit at the door of the mosque and whoever comes to you with two witnesses to something from the Book of Allah, write it down."The Holy Quran Network for Sunnah and its Sciences accessed August 26, 2015 Archived 2011-06-24 at Wayback Machine
Al-Bukhari and Al-Tirmidhi reported that Abu Bakr al-Siddiq paired Zayd ibn Thabit with three others from Quraysh, who were: Sa'id ibn Abi al-'As, Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith and Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr. When they collected the Quran. Abu Bakr took it and had it until he died, then Umar had it until he died, then Hafsa bint Umar had it. When Uthman's caliphate came, people differed in reading. Al-Suyuti said: "Abu Bakr al-Siddiq was the first to compile the Quran in a book."Doubts about the collection and writing of the Quran Viewed on August 26, 2015 Archived 2017-09-05 at Wayback Machine.
Origin of the codex
Motivation Caliph Uthman ibn Affan's compilation of the Quran was the second compilation during the reign of the Rashidun caliphs. When the Islamic conquests expanded, the Companions spread out in the conquered countries, teaching the Quran and the religious sciences to the people. Each Companion taught his students the way he had received it. In Iraq, the codex of Ibn Mas'ud was already popular whereas in the Levant, the codex of Ubayy ibn Ka'b was already popular.Fath al-Bari Commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari Part 9 Page 18 Ibn al-Jazari narrated: "We are certain that many of the companions were reading what was contrary to the Uthman's Quran before the consensus on the Quran. By adding one or more words, replacing one word with another, and omitting some words, as proven in the two Sahihs and others. And now we forbidding people from reciting it in prayer.Munajid al-Muqririn and Murshid al-Talibin, Ibn al-Jarzi, page 21
When the Muslim army set out to conquer Armenia and Azerbaijan, the soldiers were from Iraq and the Levant and there was a lot of discord and conflict between them. Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman saw that they differed in reading and some of it was tinged with melody with each of them familiar with his reading, accustomed to it and believing it to be the correct one and all others are misguided, even blaspheming each other. This frightened Hudhayfah and he said, "By God, I will ride to the Caliph". Uthman had seen a similar situation in Medina, where a teacher would teach a reading and another teacher would teach another reading, so the boys would meet and some of them would deny the other's reading and he said: "I have you who differ in it, and you read it with tune, and those who are further away from me are more different and more melodic. Gather together, companions of Muhammad, and choose a direction for the people".Al-Tabari's Jama al-Bayan on the interpretation of the Quran, Hadith Encyclopedia accessed August 30, 2015 Archived 2016-03-05 at Wayback Machine. When Huzaifa came to Uthman and told him what had happened, Uthman's expectations were realized. Al-Bukhari narrated on the authority of Anas bin Malik that he said: "Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman came to Uthman and was conquering Armenia and Azerbaijan with the people of Iraq, Hudhayfah was dismayed by their difference in reading. He said to Uthman: 'Save this nation before they differ in the Book by the difference between the Jews and Christians'. Uthman sent a message to Hafsa saying "send us the manuscripts of the Qur'an so that we may compile the Qur'anic materials in perfect copies and return the manuscripts to you". So Hafsa sent it to Uthman".Sahih al-Bukhari, Chapter on Collecting the Qur'an, Hadith No. 4987 (Sunnah.com) https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4987#:~:text=Save%20this%20nation%20before%20they,Hafsa%20sent%20it%20to%20%60Uthman.
Ibn Atiyyah al-Andalusi mentioned that the books collected during the reign of Abu Bakr remained with him, then with Umar ibn al-Khattab after him, and then with Hafsa, his daughter, during the caliphate of Uthman. In the meantime, books written about the companions spread across the horizon, such as Abdullah ibn Masud's Quran, the Sham Quran, Ubayy ibn Ka'b's Quran, and so on. When Hudhayfah returned from the Armenian invasion, Uthman was deputized to compile the Quran according to the seven letters of the Quran.Collecting the Qur'an during the reign of the Rashidun Caliphs, page 20
Collection