There is Only One Quran
Fatwa No: 82058

Question

What is the Muslim's belief about the Qur'an of Abdulla Ibn Masoud (may God be pleased with him). Someone told me that he didn't include Al Fatiha in it, is this true? What about the qira'a of Ibn Aubay (may God be pleased with him)? I need the answer as soon as possible, please!

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

All Muslims are agreed that the Quran is what all the Companions of the Prophet firmly and solely declared to be the Quran exactly as they heard it from the Prophet . This happened during the era of the Caliph Othman Ibn Affan . In other words, the Quran is what is contained in the Mushaf that the Caliph Othman copied in the presence of the Companions of the Prophet and dispatched it everywhere in the Muslim world at that time. Othman gave an order to destroy all remaining unauthentic copies of the Book. So the Quran reached us through an authentic chain which is supported by impeccable evidence. There can be no doubt about it. In addition to this, the Quran can not be considered as authentic unless the following three conditions are met;

1 It must be reported from its original source by such a large number of people who can not be expected to agree on a lie.

2 Being in conformity in its transcription with the Othmani Mushaf.

3 Being in conformity with well-spoken Arabic language.

So anything that is in the Mushaf of Abdullah Ibn Masood and not included in Othman's Mushaf is not Quran like it was brought to us through the recurrence of unquestionable transmission. Here are examples of additions found in Abdullah's Mushaf: In Chapter (5:88) Abdullah read: "But whosoever can not afford (that), then he should fast for three days (consecutive)" This word “consecutive” is not found in Othman's Mushaf. He also removed "Him who created" in the verse (92:3). Abdullah read "By the night as it envelops and by the day as it appears in brightness and by the male and female". But the authentic and only true Mushaf of Othman includes the expression: "By the night as it envelops and by the day as it appears in brightness and by the creation of male and female". Abdullah's Mushaf is different from the true Mushaf for one of the following two reasons:

1- Abdullah sometimes added an explanatory word or expression to say what he understood from the verse. In this case he did not add that because he thought it was from the Quran, but rather he wanted to clarify the meaning.

2- Abdullah might not have memorized the last presentation of the Quran so he might have unknowingly kept in his Mushaf what was abrogated in that last presentation. The transcription of the Quran was committed by Othman to Zaid Ibn Thaabit who recited from memory the last presentation of the Quran to the Prophet just before the Prophet's death. Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood did not memorize this last presentation. On the other hand, it is true that Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood did not include the Faatihah in his Mushaf as stated by authentic sources such as Al Qurtubi. Abdullah was once asked on why he did not include it in his Mushaf, and he replied that he was confident that all Muslims knew it by heart. As for your question aboutUbay's way of reading the Quran, we would like to inform you that you are misinformed as there is no way of recitation attributed to Ubay Ibn Kaab. However, there are some words that he is said to have read in a way different from the commonly known way. So, his case is similar to that of Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood.

Finally, you should know, dear brother, that the qualified investigators in this field unanimously agree that both Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood and Ubay Ibn Ka'ab reverted to the Othmani Mushaf. The most sound evidence for this is that most recurring transmissions of the Quran's recitation were related from these two eminent Scholars.

Also, we draw your attention that the real name of Ubay is Ubay Ibn Ka'ab Ibn Qays Al-Ansari Al-khazraji.

Allah knows best.

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