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Dating of the Muslim reports (hadiths) on the textual history of the Qur’an
Abstract
In brief, the presentation will argue that the formation of the quranic codex can be dated to before the reign of the second caliph, ʿUmar b. Khattab. Ground-breaking developments have been made in the studies related to the textual history of the Qur’an. Once, the field lamented the scarcity of reliable historical data, but the past few decades have seen rapid advancement thanks to the development of new methods and the discovery of the Ṣanʿāʾ Manuscripts. Presently, there are two types of primary historical data that may provide information on the textual history of the Qur’an: Hadith studies and the study of archaeological data. First Harald Motzki published his research (‘The Collection of the Qur’an: A Reconsideration of Western Views in Light of Recent Methodological Development’, Der Islam 78 (2001): 1–34.) on the Sunni accounts of collection of the Qur’an and successfully dated these traditions to 741-42 based on the use of the isnād-cum-matn method. Behnam Sadeghi and Mohsen Goudarzi (‘Ṣanʿā 1 and the Origins of the Qur’ān : Der Islam’, Der Islam 87/1–2 (2012): 1–129.), through the implementation of the radiocarbon dating method, dated the Ṣanʿāʾ Manuscripts to the period between 578 and 669. Based on this finding, the authors concluded that ‘It is highly probable, therefore, that the Ṣanʿāʾ 1 manuscript was produced no more than 15 years after the death of the Prophet Muḥammad.’ In my earlier research, through analysing Muslim traditions attributed to Ali b. Abi Talib, I dated the formation of the earliest quranic codex to year 728, a date slightly earlier than Motzki’s finding. However, in my follow-up research, which is again based on the analysis of Muslim traditions though isnād-cum-matn method, I reached an even earlier date, 644. The research findings indicate that the Qur’anic codex had been sealed even before the reign of second caliph ʿUmar. This date corresponds with the findings of Behnam Sadeghi and Mohsen Goudarzi’s research. Thus, it leads to the conclusion that the methodologies converge in their findings on the textual history of the Qur’an.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
All Middle East
Sub Area
Islamic Studies