How to respond to those who say that the Qur'an was revealed without diacritical marks?
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The questioner : Praise be to Allah.
Our Shaykh, there is a doubt raised by those who say that the current script of the Qur'an has diacritical marks, and that what came from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was not like that. They say, meaning that there was tampering, may Allah protect us from that, how did they know the difference between the taa and the baa and the thaa? So how do we respond to them, O Shaykh?
The current script has diacritical marks and vowel signs.
The Shaykh : Correct.
The questioner : And when it was revealed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it was not like that.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So they ask how they distinguished between these letters?
The Shaykh : First of all, may Allah reward you, we respond to these people that the Qur'an was not revealed in written form like the Torah. The Torah was revealed in written form, but the Qur'an was revealed by hearing, as sound. Do you understand?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So there is no specific letter that is marked or unmarked; it is speech. Therefore, the consideration lies in its writing. When the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) wrote the unified mushaf in the time of Uthman, they wrote it according to the known rules of that time, which were in that state, the same as what is found in the mushafs. For this reason, you find that this rule contradicts the rule known to us. For example, the word for prayer is written with a waw in the mushaf, and zakah is written with a waw, and riba is written with a waw, whereas according to the rule we have, it is not so.
Likewise, you find that prayer and zakah contain the slanted alif, and here there is a waw instead of it, and many other differences. So this is subject to convention. For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on whether it is permissible to write the mushaf now according to the script of our era, or whether it is necessary to adhere to the Uthmanic script?
There are three opinions among the scholars:
The first opinion is that there is no harm in writing it according to our script.
The second is that it is not permissible at all, and that it is obligatory to keep the script as it is, because the official rules of calligraphy differ from country to country, so it is obligatory to keep the Qur'an respected as it was first revealed.
The third opinion is the detailed one: if we write it for the young children who are learning, we write it according to the rules known to them so that they do not change the word, because the child does not know that if he reads "establish the prayer," he will say according to his rules: "al-salawah." So he says: if it is for teaching, then there is no harm in writing it with the current letters, but if it is for recitation by adults, then it is not permissible. And this opinion is undoubtedly the best, and it is the detailed one. Is it clear now?
The questioner : Clear.
The Shaykh : Yes.
Our Shaykh, there is a doubt raised by those who say that the current script of the Qur'an has diacritical marks, and that what came from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was not like that. They say, meaning that there was tampering, may Allah protect us from that, how did they know the difference between the taa and the baa and the thaa? So how do we respond to them, O Shaykh?
The current script has diacritical marks and vowel signs.
The Shaykh : Correct.
The questioner : And when it was revealed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it was not like that.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So they ask how they distinguished between these letters?
The Shaykh : First of all, may Allah reward you, we respond to these people that the Qur'an was not revealed in written form like the Torah. The Torah was revealed in written form, but the Qur'an was revealed by hearing, as sound. Do you understand?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So there is no specific letter that is marked or unmarked; it is speech. Therefore, the consideration lies in its writing. When the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) wrote the unified mushaf in the time of Uthman, they wrote it according to the known rules of that time, which were in that state, the same as what is found in the mushafs. For this reason, you find that this rule contradicts the rule known to us. For example, the word for prayer is written with a waw in the mushaf, and zakah is written with a waw, and riba is written with a waw, whereas according to the rule we have, it is not so.
Likewise, you find that prayer and zakah contain the slanted alif, and here there is a waw instead of it, and many other differences. So this is subject to convention. For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on whether it is permissible to write the mushaf now according to the script of our era, or whether it is necessary to adhere to the Uthmanic script?
There are three opinions among the scholars:
The first opinion is that there is no harm in writing it according to our script.
The second is that it is not permissible at all, and that it is obligatory to keep the script as it is, because the official rules of calligraphy differ from country to country, so it is obligatory to keep the Qur'an respected as it was first revealed.
The third opinion is the detailed one: if we write it for the young children who are learning, we write it according to the rules known to them so that they do not change the word, because the child does not know that if he reads "establish the prayer," he will say according to his rules: "al-salawah." So he says: if it is for teaching, then there is no harm in writing it with the current letters, but if it is for recitation by adults, then it is not permissible. And this opinion is undoubtedly the best, and it is the detailed one. Is it clear now?
The questioner : Clear.
The Shaykh : Yes.