What is the ruling on writing the Qur'an in the standard spelling method?

The questioner : Writing the Qur'an in the ordinary standard spelling method means

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : The standard spelling method, can you clarify its ruling for us? Because, as you know, they say that writing the Mushaf is also based on the Prophet's specific instruction, some people say it is of this nature?

The Shaykh : I do not see this opinion. I see that the Qur'an was written in the style that was known at that time among the unlettered people, and they had no choice. If they had been given a choice between two options, they would not have been able to choose anything other than what they did, because that was the known style of their writing of the Arabic language. So if there had been another way of writing, let alone multiple ways, and they had chosen the way they were accustomed to writing, it would have been possible to say, in that case, that the writing is based on the Prophet's specific instruction. But since there was only one way, they had no option but to write the words of Allah in that way. However, despite all this, I observe that the writing in which the noble verses were written contains wisdom, because it accommodates various forms of recitation, these forms in which the Qur'an was revealed, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: . For example, the word "salah" (prayer) in ordinary writing is written with a lam and an alif, followed by a connected hah. But in the old writing, it is written with a lam and a waw, "salwah." The secret of this is that there is a recitation, in addition to the famous recitation of "salah," which is "salwah." If the Noble Qur'an had been written in the style known today, "with a lam and an alif," it would not have been possible to recite it as "salwah." For this example and others like it, I told you a few days ago, when you asked me this question, and I answered briefly that it is permissible to write the Qur'an in the style known today, provided that the writing of the Uthmanic Mushaf is preserved, for this reason. Then, from my observation of such as His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: , I have no objection to writing the Qur'an in Arabic letters and in the standard spelling style known today, as long as it conveys at least one of the forms of recitation known to the reciters and transmitted by consensus among Muslims. It is not hidden from you that the general culture today for Muslims does not help them to read the Qur'an as it was revealed if it is written in the old transmitted way. And so I said that it is permissible to write the Mushaf in the standard spelling style known today, because of the facilitation it provides for reciting the Qur'an for people. It is closer to correctness than presenting the Uthmanic Mushaf to them. If the writing had been based on the Prophet's specific instruction, there would have been no basis for all this talk. But there is nothing indicating that the writing is based on the Prophet's specific instruction, for what I mentioned earlier, that they had no option but one way of writing. The proof of this is that later, when some people, especially the non-Arabs, began to enter the religion of Allah in large numbers, and the verses that reached them were written in the style of the first period without diacritical dots, for example, the scholars worked to facilitate the reading of the Qur'an in the correct way, so they introduced diacritical dots and vowel marks. All of this is in the category of achieving the facilitation of reading the Qur'an in the correct way, and such means have no relation to religious innovation. And this means that it does not fall under the generality of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , because what is intended by it is not drawing closer to Allah by this very thing more than the Salaf did, but rather what is intended by it is achieving the way in which the Salaf drew closer to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, which is reciting the Qur'an as it was revealed. So these means that occurred in the early days of Islam and were approved by the renowned scholars are exactly like writing the Mushaf in modern spelling.

The questioner : The one who introduced this specific instruction after the first centuries, meaning, did it eliminate many of the forms of the Qur'an? Now, do you find the Mushaf you read in, they write in it according to the recitation of Hafs from Asim?

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : And in Mushafs written according to the recitation of Warsh, because this diacritical dotting eliminates many words. There are many words that a person cannot read in the Mushaf according to the recitation of Warsh, for example, we say "wa qala" (and he said) and "wa qulu" (and they said), for example, two dots below, a person cannot read it as "wa qala."

The Shaykh : Yes, yes, "wa qala" and "wa qulu," and "wa ta'lamun" (and you know) and "wa ya'lamun" (and they know), and so on. So what then?

The questioner : So writing in this standard spelling method will also cause what the diacritical dotting caused, meaning it is just an expression of facilitating the reading of the Noble Qur'an. I see it this way, and Allah knows best. There is no more innovation than the issue of diacritical dotting, a linguistic innovation.

The Shaykh : I don't know, do you support what I said or not?

The questioner : I support what I said, but I say that this issue of writing in the standard spelling method should not be compared to that issue of diacritical dotting...

The Shaykh : This was explained earlier when I gave the example of the word "salah," meaning that if you write "salah" with a lam and an alif, that recitation of "salwah" is lost, and there are many examples of this, including the one you are mentioning now.

The questioner : Now, the majority of scholars, Professor, do not approve of writing in this way...

The Shaykh : I know this, I know this, but I am bringing you closer to the fact that there is no objection to this writing, as evidenced by what the Salaf did with diacritical dots and vowel marks.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And beware of that.