A unified Koran

Because the Koran was preached piecemeal and never unified in Muhammad’s lifetime, its revelations were scattered in the memories of various people and recorded on various surfaces. Muhammad’s successors quickly recognized the need for a standard version of the Koran. After all, variants could undermine religious and political unity. According to the traditional account of its first complete canonical compilation, this was done during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Uthman between 650 and 656. However, it was still regarded as inadequate, not least because of incorrect copies of the texts and the evolving Arabic script. Recent scholarship firmly places the final canonical compilation during the rule of the Caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705), at least fifty years after the death of the Prophet. In the event, the compilation of…

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Medieval World Culture & Conflict (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 16 - 2025

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