Nakala nyingi za awali za Qur'ani, zikiwa kamili au katika vipande vikubwa, ambazo bado zinapatikana kwetu sasa, si za kabla ya karne ya pili baada ya Hijra. Nakala ya mapema zaidi, ambayo ilionyeshwa katika Jumba la Makumbusho la Uingereza wakati wa Tamasha la Ulimwengu wa Kiislamu la 1976, ilianzia mwishoni mwa karne ya pili. [Lings, M. na Y. H. Safadi: The Qur'an, London, 1976, Na. 1A. Angalia pia sahani ya 6] Hata hivyo, pia kuna vipande kadhaa vya pekee vya papirasi za Qur'ani vinavyopatikana, ambavyo vinaanzia karne ya kwanza. [Grohmann, A.: Die Entstehung des Koran und die altesten Koran-Handschriften', katika: Bustan, 1961, uk. 33-8.] Kuna nakala ya Qur'ani katika Maktaba ya Taifa ya Misri, iliyoandikwa kwenye ngozi ya swala, ambayo imepigwa tarehe kuwa mwaka 68 Hijra (688 B.K.), yaani miaka 58 baada ya kufa kwa Mtume ﷺ.

Most of the early original Qur'an manuscripts, complete or in sizeable fragments, that are still available to us now, are not earlier than the second century after the Hijra. The earliest copy, which was exhibited in the British Museum during the 1976 World of Islam Festival, dated from the late second century. [Lings, M. and Y. H. Safadi: The Qur'an, London, 1976, No. 1A. See also plate 6] However, there are also a number of odd fragments of Qur'anic papyri available, which date from the first century. [Grohmann, A.: Die Entstehung des Koran und die altesten Koran-Handschriften', in: Bustan, 1961, pp. 33-8.]There is a copy of the Qur'an in the Egyptian National Library on parchment made from gazelle skin, which has been dated 68 Hijra (688 A.D.), i.e. 58 years after the Prophet's death.

Haijulikani hasa ni nakala ngapi za Qur'ani zilizotengenezwa wakati wa 'Uthman, lakini Suyuti [Makhdum, 1.:

It is not known exactly how many copies of the Qur'an were made at the time of 'Uthman, but Suyuti [Makhdum, 1.:

Tarikh al-mushaf al-'Uthmani fi Tashqand, Tashkent 1391/1971 p. 17] inasema: 'Zile zinazojulikana ni tano'. Hii pengine haihusu nakala ambayo 'Uthman aliihifadhi kwa ajili yake mwenyewe. Miji ya Makka, Damasko, Kufa, Basra na Madina kila mmoja ulipokea nakala. [GdQ, 111. 6, Maelezo 1.]Kuna marejeo kadhaa katika fasihi ya zamani ya Kiarabu kuhusu mada hii ambayo, pamoja na taarifa za hivi karibuni zilizopo, yanaweza kufupishwa kama ifuatavyo:

Tarikh al-mushaf al-'Uthmani fi Tashqand, Tashkent 1391/1971 p. 17] says: 'The well-known ones are five'. This probably excludes the copy that 'Uthman kept for himself. The cities of Makka, Damascus, Kufa, Basra and Madina each received a copy. ' [GdQ, 111. 6, Note 1.]There are a number of references in the older Arabic literature on this topic which together with latest information available may be summarised as follows:

Al-Kindi (aliyefariki takriban mwaka 236/850) aliandika katika karne ya tatu ya Hijria kwamba nakala tatu kati ya nne zilizoandaliwa kwa ajili ya 'Uthman ziliteketezwa kwa moto na vita, wakati nakala iliyotumwa Damascus bado ilikuwa ikihifadhiwa wakati wake huko Malatja. [GdQ. 111, 6. Maelezo 1.] Ibn Batuta (779/1377) anasema kwamba aliona nakala au kurasa kutoka kwenye nakala za Qur'an zilizoandaliwa chini ya 'Uthman huko Granada, Marakesh, Basra na miji mingine. [Salih, op. cit., uk. 87.] Ibn Kathir (aliyefariki 774/1372) anaeleza kwamba aliona nakala ya Qur'an inayohusishwa na 'Uthman, ambayo ililetwa Damascus mwaka 518 Hijria kutoka Tiberias (Palestina). Alisema ilikuwa "kubwa sana, imeandikwa kwa maandishi mazuri, wazi na imara kwa wino imara, katika ngozi, nadhani, iliyotengenezwa kwa ngozi ya ngamia". [Salih, op. cit., uk. 88.] Baadhi wanaamini kwamba nakala hiyo baadaye ilipelekwa Leningrad na kutoka huko hadi Uingereza. Baada ya hapo hakuna kinachojulikana kuhusu nakala hiyo.

Al-Kindi (d. around 236/850) wrote in the early third century that three out of four of the copies prepared for 'Uthman were destroyed in fire and war, while the copy sent to Damascus was still kept at his time at Malatja. [GdQ. 111, 6. Note 1.] Ibn Batuta (779/1377) says he has seen copies or sheets from the copies of the Qur'an prepared under 'Uthman in Granada, Marakesh, Basra and other cities. [Salih, op. cit., p.87.] Ibn Kathir (d. 774/1372) relates that he has seen a copy of the Qur'an attributed to 'Uthman, which was brought to Damascus in the year 518 Hijra from Tiberias (Palestine). He said it was 'very large, in beautiful clear strong writing with strong ink, in parchment, I think, made of camel skin'. [Salih, op. cit., p.88.] Some believe that the copy later on went to Leningrad and from there to England. After that nothing is known about it.

Wengine wanaamini kwamba mushafu huu ulibaki katika msikiti wa Damascus, ambako ulionekana mara ya mwisho kabla ya moto mwaka 1310 AH/1892 CE.' [Salih, op. cit., uk. 89; Muir, katika 'The Mameluke Dynasties', pia anaandika kwamba muswada huu uliteketezwa Damascus mwaka 1893; angalia Abbott, op. cit., uk. 51.]

Others hold that this mushaf remained in the mosque of Damascus, where it was last seen before the fire in the year 1310/1892.' [Salih, op. cit., p.89; Muir, in 'The Mameluke Dynasties' also writes that this manuscript was burnt in Damascus in 1893; see Abbott, op. cit., p.51.]

Kuna nakala ya Qur'ani ya zamani inayohifadhiwa katika msikiti wa al-Hussain huko Cairo. Maandishi yake ni ya mtindo wa kale, ingawa ni Ki6, na inawezekana sana kwamba ilinakiliwa kutoka kwenye Mushafu ya 'Uthman. [Kamal, op. cit., p.56.]

There is a copy of an old Qur'an kept in the mosque of al-Hussain in Cairo. Its script is of the old style, although Ki6, and it is quite possible that it was copied from the Mushaf of 'Uthman. [Kamal, op. cit., p.56.]

Ibn Jubair (d. 614/1217) aliona hati hiyo katika msikiti wa Madina mwaka 580/1184. Wengine wanasema ilibaki Madina hadi Waturuki walipoichukua kutoka huko mwaka 1334/1915. Imesimuliwa kwamba nakala hii iliondolewa na mamlaka za Kituruki na kupelekwa Istanbul, kutoka huko ikafika Berlin wakati wa Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia. Mkataba wa Versailles, uliohitimisha Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia, unaishia na kifungu kifuatacho:

Ibn Jubair (d. 614/1217) saw the manuscript in the mosque of Madina in the year 580/1184. Some say it remained in Madlna until the Turks took it from there in 1334/1915. It has been reported that this copy was removed by the Turkish authorities to Istanbul, from where it came to Berlin during World War I. The Treaty of Versailles, which concluded World War I, contains the following clause:

Kifungu cha 246: Ndani ya miezi sita tangu Mkataba huu uanze kutumika, Ujerumani itamrudishia Mfalme Wake Mtukufu, Mfalme wa Hejaz, Qur'ani ya asili ya Khalifa Uthman, ambayo iliondolewa Madina na mamlaka za Kituruki na inasemekana ilikabidhiwa kwa aliyekuwa Mfalme William II." [Israel, Fred L. (mh.): Major Peace Treaties of Modern History, New York, Chelsea House Pub., Vol. ll, uk. 1418.] Hati hiyo baadaye ilifika Istanbul, lakini si Madina. [Taarifa hiyo hiyo kuhusu nakala hii ilichapishwa katika jarida la Cairo mwaka 1938 (Makhdum, op. cit., uk. 19). Cha kushangaza, kitabu maarufu Geschichte des Qorans, sehemu yake ya tatu ilichapishwa Ujerumani mwaka 1938, yaani baada ya Mkataba wa Versailles, na ingawa kinajadili kwa kina Qur'ani ya 'Uthmani na hati za kale, hakitaji tukio hili hata kidogo. Pia, mwandishi wa kitabu History of the Mushaf of 'Uthman huko Tashkent anaonyesha kwamba hajui la kufanya na rejeleo hili.]

'Article 246: Within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, Germany will restore to His Majesty, King of Hedjaz, the original Koran of Caliph Othman, which was removed from Medina by the Turkish authorities and is stated to have been presented to the ex-Emperor William II." [Israel, Fred L. (ed.): Major Peace Treaties of Modern History, New York, Chelsea House Pub., Vol. ll, p.l418.] The manuscript then reached Istanbul, but not Madina. [The same information about this copy was published in a Cairo magazine in 1938 (Makhdum, op. cit., p.l9). Surprisingly the standard book Geschichre des Qorans, the third part of which was published in Germany in 1938, i.e. well after the Treaty of Versailles, although discussing the 'Uthmanic Qur'an and old manuscripts in detail, makes no reference whatsoever to this event. Also, the writer of the History of the Mushaf of ' Uthman in Tashkent, indicates that he does not know what to make of this reference.]

Jina hili ndilo lililopewa nakala ambayo 'Uthmani aliihifadhi mwenyewe, na inasemekana aliuawa akiwa anaisoma. [Ibn Said: al-Tabaqatal-kubra, Cairo, n.d., Vol. 111, (1). pp. 51-2.] Kwa mujibu wa baadhi ya wasimuliaji, Bani Umayya waliipeleka Andalusia, kutoka hapo ikafika Fas (Morocco), na kwa mujibu wa Ibn Batuta ilikuwepo huko katika karne ya nane baada ya Hijra, na kulikuwa na athari za damu juu yake. Kutoka Morocco, huenda ikaelekea Samarkand.

This is the name used for the copy which 'Uthman kept himself, and it is said he was killed while reading it. [Ibn Said: al- Tabaqatal-kubra, Cairo, n.d., Vol. 111, (1). pp. 51-2.] According to some the Umayyads took it to Andalusia, from where it came to Fas (Morocco) and according to Ibn Batuta it was there in the eighth century after the Hijra, and there were traces of blood on it. From Morocco, it might have found its way to Samarkand.

[Makhdum, op. cit., uk. 22ff.] Hii ni nakala ambayo sasa imehifadhiwa mjini Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Huenda ni hati ya Imam, au mojawapo ya nakala nyingine zilizotengenezwa wakati wa 'Uthman.

[Makhdum, op. cit., p.22ff.] This is the copy now kept in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). It may be the Imam manuscript or one of the other copies made at the time of 'Uthman.

Ilifika Samarkand mwaka 890 Hijria (1485) na ikabaki huko hadi 1868. Kisha ikachukuliwa hadi St. Petersburg na Warusi mwaka 1869. Ikabaki huko hadi 1917. Mwanaoriyentalisti mmoja wa Kirusi alitoa maelezo ya kina kuhusu nakala hiyo, akisema kwamba kurasa nyingi zilikuwa zimeharibika na zingine zilikosekana. Nakala ya picha (facsimile) ya mushafu huu, takriban nakala 50, ilitengenezwa na S. Pisareff mwaka 1905. Nakala moja ilitumwa kwa Sultani wa Dola ya Kiothmani 'Abdul Hamid, kwa Shah wa Iran, kwa Amiri wa Bukhara, kwa Afghanistan, kwa Fas, na kwa baadhi ya watu mashuhuri wa Kiislamu. Nakala moja sasa iko katika Maktaba ya Chuo Kikuu cha Columbia (Marekani). [The Muslim World, Vol. 30 (1940), kur. 357-8.] Hati hiyo baadaye ilirejeshwa mahali pake pa awali na ikafika Tashkent mwaka 1924, ambako imebaki tangu hapo.

It came to Samarkand in 890 Hijra (1485) and remained there till 1868. Then it was taken to St. Petersburg by the Russians in 1869. It remained there till 1917. A Russian orientalist gave a detailed description of it, saying that many pages were damaged and some were missing. A facsimile, some 50 copies, of this mushaf was produced by S. Pisareff in 1905. A copy was sent to the Ottoman Sultan 'Abdul Hamid, to the Shah of Iran, to the Amir of Bukhara, to Afghanistan, to Fas and some important Muslim personalities. One copy is now in the Columbia University Library (U.S.A.). [The Muslim World, Vol . 30 ( 1940), pp.357-8.] The manuscript was afterwards returned to its former place and reached Tashkent in 1924, where it has remained since.

Inadaiwa kwamba mamlaka za Kisovieti zimetengeneza nakala nyingine, ambazo huwasilishwa mara kwa mara kwa viongozi wa nchi za Kiislamu wanaotembelea na kwa watu wengine mashuhuri. Mnamo mwaka 1980, nakala za picha za nakala hiyo ya mfano zilitengenezwa nchini Marekani, zikiwa na utangulizi wa kurasa mbili wa M. Hamidullah.

Apparently the Soviet authorities have made further copies, which are presented from time to time to visiting Muslim heads of state and other important personalities. In 1980, photocopies of such a facsimile were produced in the United States, with a two-page foreword by M. Hamidullah.

Mwandishi wa Historia ya Msahafu wa 'Uthmān huko Tashkent anatoa sababu kadhaa za uhalisia wa hati hiyo. Bila kuhesabu ripoti mbalimbali za kihistoria zinazopendekeza hili, sababu hizo ni kama ifuatavyo: