The Qur'anic Manuscript Attributed to Caliph 'Uthman: Yildiz Palace AY6760

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Sahin B. O., ÜNAL ŞAHİN A. E., GÖKKIR N.

SAKARYA UNIVERSITESI ILAHIYAT FAKULTESI DERGISI-JOURNAL OF SAKARYA UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF THEOLOGY, cilt.27, sa.2, ss.359-399, 2025 (ESCI, TRDizin)

Özet

This article examines the manuscript AY6760, preserved in the Yildiz Palace Library, which is particularly significant because of its traditional attribution to Caliph `Uthman. This manuscript has not been studied before and is held in the private library of Sultan Abdulhamid II. The study undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the manuscript from four perspectivesand concludes with a transliteration. The methods applied include codicological, paleographic, rasm al-mushaf, and qira'at analyses. The codicological investigation addresses features such as the binding, the condition of the folios, quire structure, line layout, page organization, library seals, marginal notes, decorative elements, and historical attributions. The paleographic analysis classifies the letter shapes (initial, medial, and final forms) in tables and compares them with Deroche's paleographic typology. For the rasm al-mushaf analysis, 3057 words were recorded in a database and compared with the patterns documented in the scholarly literature, and the results were presented graphically. The qira'at analysis compares the readings allowed by the script with the ten canonical readings; the results are displayed both in tables and as percentage charts. The study concludes that the manuscript does not date from the time of `Uthman but instead displays characteristics of the AD 8th-10th centuries. It further suggests that, due to the slight predominance of readings associated with Nafi`, Abu `Amr, and Abu Ja`far, the text aligns more closely with the Madinan and Basran traditions.