Early Quranic manuscripts

Sura al-Baqarah, verses 282–286, from an early Quranic manuscript written on vellum (mid-late 7th century CE)

In Muslim tradition the Quran is the final revelation from God, Islam's divine text, delivered to the Islamic prophet Muhammad through the angel Jibril (Gabriel). Muhammad's revelations were said to have been recorded orally and in writing, through Muhammad and his followers up until his death in 632 CE.[1] These revelations were then compiled by first caliph Abu Bakr and codified during the reign of the third caliph Uthman[2] (r. 644–656 CE) so that the standard codex edition of the Quran or Muṣḥaf was completed around 650 CE, according to Muslim scholars.[3] This has been critiqued by some western scholarship, suggesting the Quran was canonized at a later date, based on the dating of classical Islamic narratives, i.e. hadiths, which were written 150–200 years after the death of Muhammad,[4] and partly because of the textual variations present in the Sana'a manuscript. Muslim scholars who oppose the views of the Western revisionist theories regarding the historical origins of the Quran have described their theses as "untenable".[5]

More than 60 fragments including more than 2000 folios (4000 pages) are so far known as the textual witnesses (manuscripts) of the Qur'an before 800 CE (within 168 years after the death of Muhammad), according to Corpus Coranicum.[6] However, in 2015, experts from the University of Birmingham discovered the Birmingham Quran manuscript, which is possibly the oldest manuscript of the Quran in the world. Radiocarbon analysis to determine the age of the manuscript revealed that this manuscript could be traced back to some time between 568 and 645 AD.[7][8][9] Selected manuscripts from the first four centuries after the death of Muhammad (632–1032 CE) are listed below.

  1. ^ Cohen, Julia (2014). "Early Qur'ans (8th-Early 13th Century)". The Met Museum.
  2. ^ Nöldeke, Theodor; Schwally, Friedrich; Bergsträsser, Gotthelf; Pretzl, Otto (2013). "The Genesis of the Authorized Redaction of the Koran under the Caliph ʿUthmān". In Behn, Wolfgang H. (ed.). The History of the Qurʾān. Texts and Studies on the Qurʾān. Vol. 8. Translated by Behn, Wolfgang H. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 251–275. doi:10.1163/9789004228795_017. ISBN 978-90-04-21234-3. ISSN 1567-2808. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  3. ^ Cook (2000): p. 6
  4. ^ Berg (2000): p. 495
  5. ^ Lumbard, Joseph E. B. (24 July 2015). "New Light on the History of the Quranic Text?". Huffington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  6. ^ Its official website says: "Mehr als 60 Fragmente mit insgesamt mehr als 2000 Blättern (4000 Seiten) sind als Textzeugen für den Koran vor 800 bisher bekannt." https://corpuscoranicum.de/
  7. ^ "Birmingham Qur'an manuscript dated among the oldest in the world". University of Birmingham. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  8. ^ "'Oldest' Koran fragments found in Birmingham University". BBC. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Birmingham Qur'an manuscript dated among the oldest in the world". University of Birmingham. 22 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2019.