al-Shufa bayn al-Jam al-Uthmani wa al-Ahruf al-Sabaa
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Markaz Ta’seel ‘Uloom al-Tanzeel lil-Buhooth al-‘Ilmiyyah wal-Dirasat al-Qur’aniyyah
al-Shufʿa bayn al-Jamʿ al-ʿUthmānī wa al-Aḥruf al-Sabʿa (The Pairing Between the ʿUthmānic Compilation and the Seven Modes), also titled in full Tamām al-Shufʿa bayn al-Jamʿ al-ʿUthmānī wa al-Aḥruf al-Sabʿa, is a contemporary treatise on Quranic sciences by ʿArafa ibn Ṭanṭāwī examining the historical stages of the compilation of the Quran and their relationship to the concept of the seven modes (al-aḥruf al-sabʿa).
Background and Purpose
The work was initially conceived as a research paper intended for an international conference under the working title al-Jamʿ al-ʿUthmānī wa-mā Ilayh (The ʿUthmānic Compilation and Related Matters), before being expanded into a comprehensive study. The author chose the term shufʿa—a legal and linguistic term denoting the joining of one share to another—to reflect the method of combining the study of the earlier stages of Quranic compilation (during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and under the caliphate of Abu Bakr) with the principal subject of the compilation under Uthman ibn Affan and its harmonization with the seven modes. The author completed the final draft of the work on Saturday, 3 Dhu al-Hijjah 1442 AH (July 2021) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Structure and Content
The book is structured into four main chapters (fuṣūl), alongside an introduction and conclusion detailing previous studies, research aims, and indexing:
- Chapter One: The Concept and Meaning of Quranic Compilation – Covers the linguistic and technical definitions of compilation (jamʿ), Allah's preservation of the Quran, and the community's safeguarding of the text both through memorization in hearts and transcription onto written pages.
- Chapter Two: The First and Second Stages of Compilation – Details the compilation during the Prophetic era (its motives, writing instruments, and distinct characteristics) and under Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (motives, conditions, method, historical timeline, and a critique of chronological commentaries that arrange chapters by order of revelation).
- Chapter Three: The Third Stage: The ʿUthmānic Codices – Explores the preparation of the standard codices (al-Maṣāḥif al-ʿUthmāniyya), including the drafting committee and its criteria, orthographic variations across regional copies, the distribution of codices and assignment of reciters, the burning of non-standard variants, the principles of ʿUthmānic orthography (rasm), and a subsequent discussion on modern audio recordings of the Quran as a fourth stage of preservation.
- Chapter Four: The Seven Modes (al-Aḥruf al-Sabʿa) – Analyzes the definition of the seven modes, the reasons for their revelation, their connection to canonical variant readings (qirāʾāt), their fate, and their relationship to Abu Bakr's and Uthman's compilations, the Final Review (al-ʿArḍah al-Akhīrah), and Arabic dialects, concluding with a polemical critique refuting Shiʿite rejections of the seven modes and allegations of textual alteration.
Publication
The treatise was evaluated and peer-reviewed for publication in Majallat al-Buḥūth wa al-Dirāsāt al-Sharʿiyya, edited by ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Maḥmūd Idrīs in Cairo, and published by Markaz Taʾṣīl ʿUlūm al-Tanzīl in Riyadh as the eighth volume in its research encyclopedia series Mawsūʿat Taʾṣīl ʿUlūm al-Tanzīl.
Answer updated