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Uthman's Quran or the Imam's Quran is 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.[1]
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."[2] 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.[3]
Uthman's Quran preserved for Muslims the order of the surahs and verses as they are now.[4]