This article will be discussing a commonly misunderstood topic in Islamic history; which is: Burning The Quran by Caliph Uthman Ibn Affan.
Actually, giving Caliph Uthman’s action the title of ‘Burning The Quran’ itself is a great mistake and a misconception. Caliph Uthman didn’t burn ‘The Quran’, however, he respectfully eliminated some writings of the Quran that held Quranic verses and some other notes that have been written within the same writing in a way that may lead to the corruption of the original Quranic context unintentionally afterwards.
Here we will learn the following:
The Difference Between Caliph Abu Bakr and Caliph Uthman Collections of the Quran
The main method of The Quran preservation is through its memorization and then its compilation. Due to the fact that The Quran was revealed over 23 years, Surahs of the Quran were written on several, discrete papers or parchments. At the time of Caliph Abu Bakr – after Prophet Muhammad’s death, many Quran memorizers have been martyred in Islamic conquests. Caliph Abu Bakr made the right choice of collecting all Surahs of the Quran in one Mushaf fearing that more Quran memorizers may die.
At the time of Caliph Uthman, the Islamic State has become vast, starting to include non-Arabs as well. Those new non-Arab Muslims immediately started learning the Quran on their own with their non-Arab accent.
Hence, Caliph Uthman feared that new Muslims would have got confused by the Quranic writings that included notes and explanations of different verses since it was obviously unclear to non-Arabs to distinguish between it and the original Quranic verses. Thus, He made the right choice of making copies of the original Mushaf that Caliph Abu Bakr had previously collected, sending a copy to each Muslim state, and burning other non-authenticated personal versions.
Why Did Caliph Uthman Burn The Quran?
Caliph Uthman (RA) didn’t burn the Quran. However, he simply burnt some copies of non-officially personal writing of The Quran to ensure the validation of only authentic, accurate, and supervised copies of the Quran are available and circulated among Muslim individuals and societies.
In the following paragraphs, we will list several answers for: Why Caliph Uthman (RA) has burnt some Quranic writings:
1. Burning Is A Respectful Way (Method) To Disintegrate Worn Out Quran Copies
Unlike Western culture, burning the Quran is considered a respectful method of terminating sacred books and texts. It is better than disposing of it in trash and leaving it to insects, animals, and dirt to defile.
It is a way to disintegrate these sacred texts without harming its content or disrespecting it. When Caliph Uthman (RA) burnt the Quran, he was actually respecting and honoring it to a very high level.
2. The Burnt Copies Were Written in Different Spellings
As the Islamic State had become vast and many non-Arabs became Muslims, people started to copy the Quran by themselves without supervision which, in return, led to the emergence of many differences of the Quranic context among non-Arab people in terms of spelling and recitation.
The Quran was revealed in a pure, eloquent Arabic language and that’s of its essence. Caliph Uthman feared people would conflict on the Quran’s correct spelling and recitation, so he commanded the termination of inaccurate copies and keeping only the authentic original copy that Caliph Abu Bakr had supervised its collection as the pure revelation.
3. The Burnt Copies Contained Explanations of The Verses
Sometimes one could have written some notes, interpretation, hadith, or any kind of an explanation of the Quranic verses around. Apparently, it seems good, however, it could mislead other people afterwards, confusing them of which is the Quran and which is not.
Caliph Uthman was very conscious of such consequences from the very beginning. He expected that late Musims may find those parchments and think that those thoughts are of the original context of the Quran, while it is not.
4. The Burnt Copies Had Mansoukh (abrogated) Verses
It is well known that Allah (SWT) has revealed the Quran and its legislations in a regular manner. Thus, some abrogated (Mansoukh) verses were changed afterwards -by Allah- and replaced by another which are more suitable for the ongoing situations till the end of time.
Some copies of the Quran were not updated of such abrogations and were still containing such abrogated (Mansoukh) verses. This in itself has encouraged Caliph Uthman to terminate all the copies that contain abrogated (Mansoukh) verse to protect against their confusion.
5. The Companions Of The Prophet Approved What (Caliph) Uthman (RA) Did (Has Done)
It’s been narrated that no one of the Prophet’s companions has registered a kind of disapproval of what Caliph Uthman’s has been doing. On the other hand, they all have liked and encouraged the thought and the action as well. Some of them actually said that if they were in his place they would have done the same; as Ali Ibn Abi Talib later on has said.
It is apparent that Caliph Uthman’s decision was in the favor of the Islamic state as a whole and Muslims as well. If Caliph Uthman would have done something that is against Islamic legislations, the rest of the Prophet’s companions would have not approved it.
Why Was The Quran Not Changed By Uthman?
Caliph Uthman had simply done what’s been very essential to ensure all copies of the Quran are as same as what Allah’s (SWT) revealed to His Prophet. This was his absolute aim; to preserve the Quran from being mistakenly read or corrupted.
It is worth mentioning that The Mushaf of Uthman copy is the same as the first collected copy of Caliph Abou-Bakr. Moreover, the Mushaf of Uthman agreed with the Quran context that has been memorized by thousands of the Prophet’s companions back then. In addition, all the companions of the Prophet (PBUH) have approved what he did without any rejection.
For more information about the Quran preservation, you may check our article “Has the Quran Changed?”
If Caliph Uthman Was Allowed to Burn The Quran, Then Why Is It A Big Deal for Non-Muslims to Burn It?
Generally, Burning is the allowed respectful method to disintegrate worn-out Quran papers. The Caliph Uthman was allowed to burn some papers of the Quran to respectfully terminate unauthentic Quranic copies.
In the case of a non-Muslim, and according to their cultural context, their act of burning the Quran is out of disrespect, hate, and ignorance which is totally unacceptable and it should be condemned out of respect by their countries and societies .
Conclusion: Did (Caliph) Uthman Burn The Wrong Quran Version(s)?
At the time when Islam has become widely spread among many countries and nations, Caliph Uthman (RA) has burnt some non authentic copies of the Quran in order to preserve the pure authenticated revelation of the original Quran.
Instead, Caliph Uthman has provided copies of the pure authentic Quranic context to Muslims around different countries of the Islamic State. That Quranic context has been memorized and kept in the hearts of thousands of Muslims (back then and till the end of time). He has also kept a complete Mushaf (Quranic copy) in Madinah as the one that’s been collected by Abu Bakr.
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