The Battle of the Codices: Rival Qurans in Early Islam

Episode Summary: If you ask a modern Muslim apologist, they will likely tell you there has only ever been one Quran. But the earliest Islamic records tell a story of fierce regional rivalries, competing master copies, and a community on the verge of a civil war over the text itself.

In this episode, we dive into the "Battle of the Codices." Drawing on the classic work Kitab al-Masahif by Ibn Abi Dawud and the research of John Gilchrist, we examine the regional "standard" Qurans that existed before Caliph Uthman’s intervention. We look at the codex of Abdullah ibn Masud in Kufa, the codex of Ubayy ibn Kab in Syria, and the codex of Abu Musa in Basra. We’ll recount the heated exchange between Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman and Abdullah ibn Masud—an ...