and he directed them to write it tābūt, adding that the Holy Qur’ān was revealed in the dialect of the Quraish.” It would be seen from this that these differences of reading or writing were very insignificant, but as the Companions of the Holy Prophet believed every word and letter of the Holy Qur’ān to be the revealed word of God, they gave importance even to a slight difference in writing and referred it to the Caliph. It may be added here that Zaid was chiefly called upon by the Holy Prophet at Madīnah to write down the Holy Qur’ānic revelations, and the word tābūt occurs in a Madīnah chapter (2:248). Zaid had written it tābūh as the Madinites did, but as the Quraish wrote it tābūt, ‘Uthmān restored the Quraishite form. This incident further shows that Ḥafṣah’s copy contained the manuscripts written in the presence of the Holy Prophet. These two reports furnish conclusive proof that if there was any difference between ‘Uthmān’s standard copy and the collection made by Abū Bakr, it was a difference only as to the mode of writing certain words. In short, there was no change of words, no change of verses and no change in the order of chapters.
A few words may be added as to the so-called differences of readings in the Holy Qur’ān. There were slight differences in the spoken language of different tribes, that of the Quraish being the model for the literary language. The Holy Qur’ān was revealed in the dialect of the Quraish, the literary language of Arabia. But when, towards the close of the Holy Prophet’s life, people from different Arabian tribes accepted Islām in large numbers, it was found that they could not pronounce certain words in the idiom of the Quraish, being habituated from childhood to their own idiom, and it was then that the Holy Prophet allowed them to pronounce a word according to their own peculiar idiom. This permission was given only to facilitate the recitation of the Holy Qur’ān. The written Holy Qur’ān was one; it was all in the chaste idiom of the Quraish, but people belonging to other tribes were allowed to pronounce it in their own way.19
19 Some examples of these variations may be given here, ḥattā (meaning until) was pronounced attā by the Hudhail; ta‘lamūn (meaning you know) was pronounced ti ‘lamūn by the Asad; the Tamim read hamzah one of the letters, whereas the Quraish did not. In one report the meaning is made clear, where the following words are added from the lips of the Holy Prophet: “Therefore recite it in the manner in which you find it easy to do so” (Bu. 66:5). In other words, the Holy Prophet allowed a reader to pronounce a word in the way he found it easiest. In the proper sense of the word, these dialectic variations would not be readings at all. In exceptional cases, a person who could not pronounce a certain word, may have been allowed to substitute its equivalent. But even that would not be a case of a variant reading, since it was merely a permission granted to a particular individual, and such variations never found their way into the written text of the Holy Qur’ān.