Babu wani abu da aka rubuta daga Annabi (r) da ke nuna cewa rubutun da aka yi amfani da shi wajen kwafin Alkur'ani a zamanin Khalifa 'Uthman an tsayar da shi. Khalifa 'Uthman ya umarci marubuta da su rubuta shi bisa yaren Kuraishawa idan wani sabani ya taso game da rubutun kalma. Saboda haka, lokacin da Zaid ibn Thabit ya saba wa sauran marubuta uku na Kuraishawa game da kalmar taaboot, Zaid ya so ya rubuta تابوة (taabooh), sai 'Uthman ya ce: "Ku rubuta تابوت (taaboot), domin lalle an saukar da Alkur'ani bisa yaren Kuraishawa."

There is nothing recorded from the Prophet (r) to indicate that the script used to copy the Qur’aan during Caliph ‘Uthmaan’s era was fixed. Caliph ‘Uthmaan told the scribes to write it according to the Qurayshee dialect if any difference arose in spelling. Hence, when Zayd ibn Thaabit differed with the other three Qurayshee scribes over the word taaboot, and Zayd wanted to write it تابوة (taabooh), ‘Uthmaan said, “Write it تابوت) taaboot), for verily, the Qur’aan was revealed according to the Qurayshee dialect.” 11

Duk da haka, mafi yawan malamai sun ga cewa ya fi kyau a kiyaye rubutun asali na Alkur'ani, domin a kare shi daga canje-canjen da za su iya faruwa sakamakon sauyin ka'idojin rubutu a tsawon lokaci. Haka kuma ka'idojin nan sun bambanta daga ƙasa zuwa ƙasa, wanda hakan zai iya kai ga rarrabuwa da rikici kan ainihin rubutun Alkur'ani. Saboda haka, lokacin da aka tambayi Imam Malik ko za a iya rubuta Alkur'ani bisa ƙa'idojin rubutu na zamaninsa, sai ya ce: "A'a, sai dai a rubuta shi kamar yadda aka fara rubuta shi."12

However, the majority of scholars considered it preferable that the original spelling be maintained in order to protect the Qur’aan from changes which might result from the evolution of writing rules with the passage of time. These rules also vary from country to country, which could have led to disunity and discord over the very text of the Qur’aan. Hence, when Imaam Maalik was asked whether the Qur’aan could be written according to the dictation rules of his time, he replied, “No, it should only be written according to the way that it was originally written.”12

Wasu malamai, irin su Qaadee al-Baaqillaanee (ya rasu a shekara ta 1013 CE/403 AH) da Ibn Khaldoon (ya rasu a shekara ta 1405 CE/808 AH), sun ga cewa halal ne a rubuta Alkur'ani bisa ka'idojin Larabci na yau da kullum, wanda Mus-hafin 'Uthmaaniyya ya ɗan bambanta da shi. Al-Baaqillaanee ya bayar da hujjar cewa duk wanda ya dage a kan rubuta Alkur'ani bisa wani takamaiman tsarin alamomin rubutu, yana bukatar hujja daga Alkur'ani da Sunna, kuma babu irin wannan hujja. Ya kuma ambata cewa wasu daga cikin fitattun sahabbai suna da mus-hafai wadanda suka bambanta da tsarin rubutun da aka yi amfani da shi a Mus-hafin 'Uthmaaniyya.13 Ibn Khaldoon (ya rasu a shekara ta 1406 CE/808 AH) ya bayar da hujjar cewa sahabbai sun rubuta Mus-hafin 'Uthmaaniyya a lokacin da ka'idojin rubutun Larabci ba su kai ga zama daidaitattu ba, don haka babu bukatar a manne da rubutunsu inda ya bambanta da abin da ya zama ma'aunin da aka karɓa. Al-'Izz ibn 'Abdis-Salaam (ya rasu a shekara ta 1282 CE/660 AH) ya tsaya a kan cewa wajibi ne a rubuta mus-hafin da talakawa ke karatu bisa Larabci na yau da kullum, domin kare jahilai daga faɗawa cikin kuskuren karatu da ke canza ma'ana. Masu ganin halaccin wannan canji sun nuna cewa abin da mutane ke karantawa a yau, suna kiransa Mus-hafin 'Uthmaaniyya, ya bambanta sosai da yadda Mus-hafin 'Uthmaaniyya yake a asali. Dukkan canje-canjen an yi su ne domin manufa guda: sauƙaƙa wa Musulmi talaka karatun Alkur'ani cikin sauƙi da daidai.14 Masu kare Mus-hafin 'Uthmaaniyya sun nuna cewa sahabbai sun rubuta shi ta hanyar da za ta ɗauki mafi yawan karatun ingantattu daban-daban, kuma rubuta shi bisa Larabci na zamani na yau da kullum zai sa wasu daga cikin karatun daban-daban su zama ba za a iya daidaita su da rubutun ba.

Other scholars, such as Qaadee al-Baaqillaanee (died 1013 CE/403 AH) and Ibn Khaldoon (died 1405 CE/808 AH), considered it permissible to write the Qur’aan according to the rules of standard Arabic, from which the ‘Uthmaanee Mus-haf differs slightly. Al-Baaqillaanee argued that for someone to insist upon writing the Qur’aan according to a specific set of written symbols requires a proof from the Qur’aan and Sunnah, and there is no such proof. He also mentioned that some of the prominent sahaabah had mus-hafs which differed from the writing system employed in the ‘Uthmaanee Mus-haf.13 Ibn Khaldoon (died 1406 CE/808 AH) argued that the sahaabah wrote the ‘Uthmaanee Mus-haf at a time when the rules of Arabic writing had not yet been standardized, therefore there is no need to stick to their writing where it differs from what became the accepted norm. Al- ‘Izz ibn ‘Abdis-Salaam (died 1282 CE/660 AH) held the position that it was obligatory to write the mus-haf which ordinary people read according to standard Arabic in order to protect the ignorant from falling into errors of recitation that change the meaning. Those who see the permissibility of this change point out that what people are reading today and calling the ‘Uthmaanee Mus-haf is really quite different from the way the ‘Uthmaanee Mus-haf originally looked. The changes were all made for one purpose: to make it easier for the average Muslim to recite the Qur’aan easily and correctly.14 The defenders of the ‘Uthmaanee Mus-haf point out that the sahaabah wrote it in such a way as to accomodate the greatest number of variant authentic recitations, and that writing it according to modern standard Arabic would make some of the variants impossible to reconcile with the script.

Rubuce-rubucen Alkur'ani na zamanin 'Uthman an rubuta su ba tare da shakl ba (tashkeel, wato fat-ha, kasra da damma) don nuna baƙaƙe, kuma ba tare da digo ba (nuqat) don bambance harufan da suka yi kama da juna (misali Seen da Sheen, Saad da Daad, da sauransu). Ayoyin ba su da lamba, haka kuma babu alamomin rubutu da ke nuna tsayawa ko ƙarshen aya. Ga misali na wasu ayoyin Alkur'ani da aka rubuta a wancan zamani:

The Qur’aanic texts of ‘Uthmaan’s era were written without dashes (tashkeel, i.e. fat-hah, kasrah and dammah) to indicate the vowels and without dots (nuqat) to distinguish between look-alike letters (e.g. Seen and Sheen, Saad and Daad, etc.) The verses were not numbered, nor were there any punctuation signs to indicate pauses or even the ending of verses. The following is an example of some Qur’aanic verses written during that era:

Hoto da za a ƙara

Image to be added

Duk Musulmai Balarabe masu iya karatu a waɗancan zamanai suna da ƙwarewa ta asali a cikin harshen da ta ba su damar karanta rubuce-rubuce irin wannan sauƙaƙan tsari ba tare da wata wahala ba. Sai dai, a lokacin da wadanda ba Balarabe ba suka fara karɓar Musulunci suka koyi Larabci, sai kurakurai a karatun Alƙur'ani suka fara bayyana, saboda rashin saninsu da harshen. Wannan ya zama abin lura musamman a lardin Iraƙi. Har ma an ruwaito cewa wani masanin nahawu, Abul-Aswad ad-Du'alee (d. 638 CE), ya taba jin wani yana karanta kalmar "rasooluh" a cikin ayar da ke biye kamar "rasoolih."

All the literate Arab Muslims of those days possessed a natural grasp of the language which enabled them to read texts written in this simple form without any difficulty. However, when non-Arabs began to accept Islaam and learn Arabic, errors in the recitation of the Qur’aan began to appear, due to their unfamiliarity with the language. This became especially noticeable in the province of Iraq. In fact, it is reported that once the grammarian, Abul-Aswad ad-Du’alee (d. 638 CE), heard someone recite the phrase “rasooluh” in the following verse as “rasoolih.”

Wannan ɗan canji kaɗan a karatun harafin kasra maimakon damma, wanda ba a iya bambance shi a rubutun ba, ya sa ayar ta zama tana nufin wani abu daban: "Lallai Allah ya ’yanci (daga kowane alkawari) ga mushrikai da Manzonsa." Ziyad, gwamnan Basra, ya taɓa roƙon Abul-Aswad ad-Du’ali da ya ƙirƙiro wasu alamomi da talakawa za su iya karanta Alƙur’ani da su cikin sauƙi. Ad-Du’ali ya jinkirta amsa buƙatar gwamnan saboda tsoron kawo wata bidi’a da ba ta cikin Musulunci. Sai dai wannan kuskuren karatu ya girgiza shi har ya kai ga cewa, ba da daɗewa ba bayan wannan lamari, ya ƙirƙiro saitin alamomi na farko don nuna harakar rubutun Larabci. An nuna fat-ha (gajeriyar harakar "a") da wani ɗigo a sama da farkon harafin, kasra (gajeriyar harakar "i") an nuna ta da wani ɗigo a ƙasa da farkon harafin, sannan damma (gajeriyar harakar "u") an nuna ta da wani ɗigo a ƙarshen harafin, tsakaninsa da harafin da ke biye da shi idan an haɗa su. Sukun (wanda ke nuna ƙarshen sashen kalma a kan baƙi) an wakilta shi da ɗigo biyu. Ga misalin rubutu daga wancan zamani:

This minute change in recitation of a kasrah instead of a dammah, which could not be distinguished in the written text caused the verse to mean instead: “Verily Allaah is free from (any obligation) to the idolaters and His messenger.” Ziyaad, the governor of al-Basrah, had previously requested ad-Du’alee to develop some signs by which the masses could more easily read the Qur’aan. Ad-Du’alee had delayed responding to the governor’s request for fear of introducing an un-Islamic innovation. However, this recitational error shook him to such a degree that shortly after that incident, he developed the first set of marks to indicate the vowelling of the Arabic text.16 The fat-hah (the short vowel “a”) was indicated by a dot above the beginning of the letter, kasrah (the short vowel “i”) was indicated by a dot below the beginning of the letter, and dammah (the short vowel “u”) was indicated by a dot at the end of the letter, between it and the following letter if they were joined. Sukoon (indicating the end of a syllable on a consonant) was represented by two dots.17 An example of a text from that period follows:

Hoto da za a ƙara

Image to be added

Daga baya, an ƙara digo don bambance haruffan da suka yi kama da juna, kuma alamomin ɗigon ƙwayar murya (harakat) sun samo asali ne daga haruffan da suke da alaƙa da su. Misali, fat-hah ya samo asali ne daga alif kuma ya zama layi madaidaici a saman harafin; kasrah ya samo asali ne daga yaa’ kuma ya zama layi a ƙasan harafin; sannan dammah ya samo asali ne daga waaw kuma ya zama ƙaramar waaw da ake rubutawa kusa da ƙarshen harafin.

Later on, dots were added to distinguish between look-alike letters, and vowel signs evolved from the letters related to them. For example, fat-hah evolved from the alif and became a straight line above the letter; the kasrah evolved from the yaa’ and became a line below the letter; and dammah evolved from the waaw and became a tiny waaw written near the end of the letter.