The Alleged Narration of Othman Changing the Manuscripts

(English isn't my first language so i might make grammatical mistakes)

Introduction:

There are several narrations found within the hadith literature that seems to give the premise that Othman Bin ‘Affan changed the manuscripts, today we shall test the merits of such narrations.

Note: as usual, the sources that are in the footnotes are original Arabic sources, I translated it, then provided entail response

Narration #1:
(Abū ʿubaid: Ḥājāj told us, from Ibn Jarīh said: Ibn Abi Ḥāmid told me from Ḥāmida bint Abi Yūnis said: Ali read, and he is of the age of 80 in ʿAisha manuscript (Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [ Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [ Allah to grant him] peace, and for those who pray the first raw), she said Before ʿUthman change the manuscripts, he said: Ibn Jarīh said: and Ibn Abi Ḥāmid from Ibn ʿAbdulrahman Bin Ḥirmiz and others like this one in ʿAisha Manuscript)[1]

Issue#1

(Ḥāmida bint Abi Yūnis) she is unknown and those forth unaccepted

Sheikh Akram Bin Muhammad Al-Athari said : "Ḥāmida bint Abi Yūnis Al-Ansaria the companion of ʿAisha, I never knew her, and I could not find a proper translation of her works, and sheikh shakir who was before me didn’t know her”[2]

So to put it simple Ḥāmida bint Abi Yūnis is regarded as unknown and unknown is not accepted

Imam Abu ʿUmro bin Al- Ṣalah said:
“the unknown in narration in terms of inside and out is not acceptable according to Ijmaʿa (agreement of the group of scholars)”[3]

Imam Ibn Kathir support such narrative by stating the following:
“as for the narrator who was never named, or named but never were known, thin his narration is not accepted among any of our Ulama”[4]

Issue #2:

Ibn Abi Ḥāmid is regarded as Munkar (rejected)

Imam Al-Dahabi said:

“ Ḥāmid Ibn Abi Ḥāmīd, and he is Muhammad Ibn Abi Ḥāmid Al-Ansari and he is weak

Buḵāri said he is rejected

And Ibn Maʿin said his hadith has no merits

Al-Nisāi said his sanad is weak”[5]

Imam Ibn Abi Dawood mentioned the same narration with the same sanad in his book Masaḥif[6]

Note: if we presuppose that the narration is regarded as hasan then the revelation that exist under Aisha Musḥaf is considered abrogated, considering the fact that any revelation that is revealed after the final phase or the final reveal of the Quran is considered abrogated, therefore it’s a burden for any critic to provide an evidence that their so called extra verse or extra Surah must have been revealed before the final phase of the Quran in which angle Gabriel revealed the final verse to the prophet, and Zaid Ibn Thabit wrote it down as we shall see

Imam Ṣaīuti has inserted the narration under the category of abrogation:

In his Book Itqan, which is regarded as one of the best or maybe the most valuable source for Quranic science, he said in the type 47 that abrogation happens to the recitation of the verse, but keeping the ruling preserved[7]

He also stated later on that the narration we are discussing fall under such category[8]

Evident: it should be noted that Othman gathered the manuscript that the overwhelming majority of the Islamic nation agreed upon as authentic

Imam Abu ʿUbaid Al-Rāwi said:

“and what Othman has brought, is what in the hands of the Muslims today”[9]

Also it’s worth noting what Abu ʿUbaid said regarding the alleged narration:

“these letters (referring to the alleged narration) that we mentioned in the two chapters are from the extra words that no Ulama has narrated, and considered it like what we have between the two leather covers (leather covers are referring to the covers of the Quran from top to bottom)  and they never accused anyone who denied it as Kafir (infidel), but it’s rather recited in prayer, and Kufor (infidel, or disbelief) is only accumulated to the one who deny what’s in the two leather covers (referring to the Quran), which was agreed upon by Imam Othman and Ijma (general agreement) of all Muhajirin and Ansar, and took down what’s not recited in it, then the Umah (Islamic Nation) have acknowledge it, and nothing has differ from the original phases of the Quran and the one we have today, the ignorant and the well-educated one both know that, and the reciters has inherited it one after another, and people and children learn it in the book stores, and these were one of Otham’s Great accomplishments, only the people who were lead stray by the devil denied it, and they were shown to the people why they were wrong”[10]

Imam Ibn Al-Juzri made an interesting remark about the alleged narration, also acuminated with his comments about the Qiraāt (the recitations):

“every recitation(refrence to the 7 or 10 Qiraāt) have matched the Arabic of the Quran, and has matched one of the Othmanic manuscripts even by assumption, and the sanad was Sahih of such recitations, and this (referring to today Quran) is the right recitation and no one should deny it, because it’s one of the 7 letters (referring to the 7 recitations) that God has revealed in the Quran, and it’s duty upon the people to recite them and accept them, whether they came from the 7 Imams or the 10 Imams or any other Imam who were accepted, and whenever a doubt was casted or one pillars of  Sanad was exposed it should be considered weak or unnatural, or false, and that is what is said and what is considered correct by the scholars of the past..”[11]

Interestingly enough there is a narration by Sahih Bukhari that state Othman didn’t change anything in the Quran:
“Narrated Ibn Az-Zubair: I said to ʿUthman bin `Affan (while he was collecting the Qur'an) regarding the Verse:-- "Those of you who die and leave wives ..." (2.240) "This Verse was abrogated by an other Verse. So why should you write it? (Or leave it in the Qur'an)?" ʿUthman said. "O son of my brother! I will not shift anything of it from its place."[12]

Conclusion:

As evident by now the alleged narration that Othman changed the manuscripts to make it different than Aisha’s Manuscripts is a fabrication, based on a weak sanad.

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[1] Faḍail Al-Qur’an by Imam Ibn Abi ʿUbaid Qasim Ibn Salām Page.324 Dar Ibn Kathir edition

[2] Al-Muʿjam Al-Saḡer lirwāt Imam Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari by Sheikh Ibn Akram Al-Athari Vol.2 Page.835 Dar Al-Atharia Edition

[3] ʿUlom Al- Ḥadith By Imam Abu ʿUmro bin Al- Ṣalah Page.11 Dar Al-Fikr Almuʿasir edition

[4] Al-Baʿith Al-Ḥathith biḵtisar Ulom Sharih Al-Hadith By Imam Ibn Kathir Page.92

[5] Mizan Al-Iʿtidal fi Naqid Al-Rigal by Imam Shams Al-Dīn Al-Dahabi Vol.2 Page358 Dar Al-Kutub Al-ʿIlmia edition

[6] Al-Musḥaf By Imam Abi Bakir Ibn Abi Dawood Al-Sijistani Vol.1 Page.370 Dar Al-Bashair edition

[7] Al-Itqān Fi ʿUlom Al-Quran By Imam Ṣaīuti Vol.4 Page.1458

[8] Ibid

[9] Fadail Al-Quran By Imam Abi ʿUbaid Qāsim Ibn Salām Page.326 Dar Ibn Kathir Edition

[10] Ibid Page.325

[11] Al-Našhir Fi Al-Qiraāt Al-ʿAšhir By Imam Imam Muhammad Ibn Al-Juzri Vol.1 Page.9

[12] Shih Bukhari Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 53