Imam Malik was asked about the mushaf of Uthman and replied, “It is gone,” which may refer to the personal copy Uthman wrote or the main codex left in Madinah. Though the physical mushaf is lost, its scriptural standard remains.
Writing was rare among the early Arabs. According to reports, Bishr ibn Abd al Malik learned writing from the people of al Anbar and brought it to Makkah, teaching it to figures like Harb ibn Umayyah. Through this, writing spread across the region. The Kufic script dominated early mushafs, later refined by Ibn Muqla and perfected by Ibn al Bawwab.
Because writing was still developing, variations appeared in mushafs in script form, not meaning. Scholars such as Abu Ubayd and Ibn Abi Dawud studied these details extensively. Malik maintained that mushafs should follow the original Uthmanic script, though others allowed additions like diacritics and verse markings, which became common later. However, following the early generation’s approach is better.
Bukhari titled a chapter “The Scribe of the Prophet” in the singular, though many companions wrote for him. In Makkah, writing was done by others, including Abdullah ibn Saʿd ibn Abi al Sarh. In Madinah, Zayd ibn Thabit wrote most frequently, earning the title “the scribe.” Others included Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, the four caliphs, and several others. A hadith from Uthman states that when parts of long surahs were revealed, the Prophet would instruct scribes where to place the new verses, showing deliberate arrangement of the revelation.
Abu Tahir also narrated to us, Ibn Wahb narrated to us, he said: I asked Malik about the codex (mushaf) of Uthman, and he said to me, “It is gone.”
It is possible that he was asking him about the mushaf that Uthman wrote with his own hand, and it is also possible that he was asking about the mushaf that he left in Madinah. And Allah knows best.
Ibn Kathir also says: Writing was extremely rare among the Arabs, and the first time they learned it was as mentioned by Hisham ibn Muhammad ibn al Saib al Kalbi (d. 204 AH) and others. Bishr ibn Abd al Malik, the brother of Akidah of Dumat al Jandal, learned writing from the people of al Anbar. Then he came to Makkah and married al Suhbaʾ bint Harb ibn Umayyah, who was under Abu Sufyan Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayyah.
So he taught it to Harb ibn Umayyah and to his son Sufyan, and Umar ibn al Khattab learned it from Harb ibn Umayyah, and Muawiyah learned it from his uncle Sufyan ibn Harb.
It is also said that the first to learn it from al Anbar were people from the tribe of Tayy, from a village there called Buqqah. Then they refined it and spread it throughout the Arabian Peninsula, and the people learned it.
For this reason, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dawud (d. 316 AH)said: Abdullah ibn Muhammad al Zuhri narrated to us, if Allah wills, Sufyan At Thawri (d. 161 AH)narrated to us from Mujahid, from al Shaʿbi, who said: We asked the Muhajirun, “From where did you learn writing?” They said, “From the people of al Anbar.”
What dominated in the time of the early generations was the kufic script. Then Abu Ali ibn Muqla, the minister, refined it, and he developed for it a specific style and system of writing. Then Ali ibn Hilal al Baghdadi, known as Ibn al Bawwab (d. 413 AH), brought it even closer to perfection, and the people followed his method. His style in that regard is clear and excellent.
The point is that since writing was not yet firmly established in that time, differences arose in the writing of the mushafs concerning the placement of words from a script perspective, not in meaning. Scholars wrote on this topic, and great attention was given to it by the great imam Abu Ubayd al Qasim ibn Sallam, (d. 224 AH) may Allah have mercy on him, in his book Fadaʾil al Quran, and by al Hafiz Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dawud, may Allah have mercy on him. They arranged the material into sections and mentioned a considerable amount of content that pertains to the script of the Quran, but that is not our focus here.
For this reason, Imam Malik (d. 179AH) , may Allah have mercy on him, explicitly stated that mushafs are not to be written except according to the script of the original Imam (meaning the mushaf prepared under the command of Uthman). Others permitted deviations from that. There was disagreement about vowel marks and diacritics, with some allowing them and others forbidding them.
As for writing the name of the surah, the verse counts, the markings for every ten verses, and the division into parts and sections, this has become widespread in the mushafs of our time. But it is better to follow the path of the righteous early generations.
Footenote: This is how Ibn Kathir, the author, may Allah have mercy on him, transmitted from Sahih al Bukhari the following wording: “Chapter: The Scribe of the Prophet,” in the singular, not the plural. Al Hafiz also mentioned this in Fath al Bari (9/22), quoting the author here, and then said: “I have not found in any version except with the wording ‘scribe,’ in the singular form, which corresponds to the hadith of the chapter.”
Indeed, more than one person wrote revelation for the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. As for what was revealed in Makkah, all of it was written by others because Zayd ibn Thabit only accepted Islam after the Hijrah. In Madinah, most of the writing was done by Zayd, and due to how frequently he did so, he was referred to as the scribe, with the definite article, as in the hadith of al Baraʾ ibn Azib, which is the second hadith in the chapter. For this reason Abu Bakr said to him, “You used to write down the revelation for the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.” At times Zayd ibn Thabit would be absent, and others would write the revelation.
Among those who wrote for him before Zayd ibn Thabit were Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, who was the first to write for him in Madinah. The first to write for him in Makkah from Quraysh was Abdullah ibn Saʿd ibn Abi al Sarh. He later apostatized, then returned to Islam on the day of the Conquest. Others who wrote for him in general include the four rightly guided caliphs, al Zubayr ibn al Awwam, Khalid and Aban the sons of Saʿid ibn al As ibn Umayyah, Hanzalah ibn al Rabiʿ al Asadi, Muʿayqib ibn Abi Fatimah, Abdullah ibn al Arqam al Zuhri, Shurahbil ibn Hasana, and Abdullah ibn Rawahah, among others.
Ahmad and the three authors of the Sunan narrated, and it was authenticated by Ibn Hibban and al Hakim, from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Abbas, from Uthman ibn Affan, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to receive long surahs over time. Whenever a portion was revealed to him, he would call someone among those who wrote for him and say, “Place this in the surah in which such and such is mentioned,” and so on with the hadith.
Fadaail Al Qur’an By Ibn Kathir 90-92
