After 'Umar's death, 'Uthmaan took over the caliphate, and continued the great legacy of his two predecessors. The Muslims were successful in waging jihaad for the cause of Allaah, and spreading the religion of Islaam.
One of the places where this was occurring was the territories of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Muslims from different parts of the ummah had joined forces to fight against the enemy.
Unfortunately, the Muslims, who were not trained in the proper manner and etiquette of the recitation of the Qur'aan, started differing amongst themselves with regards to the recitation of the Qur'aan. The Muslims from Syria were reciting the Quraan differently than the Muslims from Iraq.
One of the Companions who was present amongst them, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamaan, could not believe what was happening. He advised them to leave this argumentation, but realised that some action must be taken to prevent this occurrence on a larger scale.
He therefore left Azerbaijan for Maqeenah, to report to the caliph 'Uthmaan.' 'O Commander of the Faithful!" Hudhayfah pleaded to 'Uthmaan, "save this ummah before it disagrees about its Book, like the Jews and Christians did before it."
Hudhayfah told 'Uthmaan what had occurred amongst the new Muslims in Azerbaijan. 'Uthmaan, alarmed by this news, convened a gathering of the leading Companions, He informed them of what Hudhayfah had told him, and requested their advice on this matter. The Companions, in return, asked 'Uthmaan what he thought the best plan of action was.
'Uthmaan told them his opinion: Official copies of the' Qur'aan should be written and sent to all the provinces, and all other copies destroyed, so that the ummah would have one standard Qur'aan.
Therefore, this standard version would serve to unite the Muslims upon one recitation. After the Companions agreed to his idea, he requested Hafsah, the daughter of 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab, to loan him the rnus-haf that AbuBakr had ordered to be Apart from Zayd, the other three committee members were from the Quraysh. This was done on purpose; 'Uthmaan told them, "If you (three) and Zayd differ (on how to spell a word), then spell it in the dialect of the Quraysh, for verily it was revealed in their dialect." (Bukhari)
'Uthmaan said this in response to a difference that arose amongst them concerning the writing of the word 'taboot' (in Q2:248);
should they write the word in the Qurayshee style of 'taboot or the Madanee style of tabooh' (i.e., with a taa marbootah)?
'Uthmaan answered them that they should write it as taboot, since this was the style of the Quraysh. After the committee finished its task, 'Uthmaan ordered that one copy of this mus-haf be sent to every province, and ordered the governors of each province to burn all the other copies of the Qur'aan in their provinces. This was a drastic step, but it was necessary if the unity of the Muslims was to be preserved.
Every Qur'aan written after this time had to conform letter for letter to 'Uthmaan's mus-haf. By his wise decision, 'Uthmaan provided a copy of the Qur'aan that would serve as a model for all future mushafs.
(An Introduction To The Science Of The Qur'an By Abu Amma Yasir Qadhi) compiled, which shedid, He then chose a committee of four people, namely Zayd ibn Thaabit, 'Abdullaah ibn az-Zubayr, Sa'eed ibn al-'Aas and 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn al-Haarith to rewrite the mus-haf of Abu Bakr. He chose Zayd ibn Thaabit for the same reasons that Aboo Bakr had done before him, and Sa'eed ibn al-'Aas was known for his knowledge of the Arabic language.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited