WEBVTT

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So now that we have spent some time looking at

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Abdullah ibn Masud and his codex, it makes sense

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to ask, what about the other giant of Quran recitation

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in early Islam? What about Ubay ibn Kab? How

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did he fit into this whole picture of competing

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texts and readings? Remember those hadith we

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looked at earlier, where the Prophet named four

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people you should learn the Quran from. In Sahih

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al -Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, Hadith 521, it

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says, Narrated Masruk, Abdullah ibn Amr mentioned

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Abdullah ibn Masud and said, I shall always love

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that man, for I heard the Prophet saying, Take

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the Qur 'an from four, from Abdullah ibn Masud,

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from Salim, from Mu 'adh, and from Ubay ibn Kab.

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You hear that? Ubay ibn Kab is one of the four

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names mentioned by Muhammad himself as a primary

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source for learning the Qur 'an. We saw the same

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list in Sahih Muslim, Book 31. Hadith 6024 In

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that report it says, Masrook said, We used to

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go to Abdullah ibn Amr and talk to him. One day

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we mentioned Abdullah ibn Masud. Abdullah ibn

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Amr said, You have mentioned a man whom I love.

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I heard the messenger of Allah say, Learn the

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Quran from four persons. From Ibn Umm Abd, meaning

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Abdullah ibn Masud. Second, Umar says that abrogated

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or forgotten revelations are replaced by something

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similar or better from Allah. But how can that

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replacement process work after the prophet has

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died? If new revelation is needed to replace

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an older abrogated verse, and if revelation ceased

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with Muhammad's death, then on what basis could

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verses be removed or left out after that point?

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Again, Ubay ibn Kab is in that inner circle of

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top -level Quran teachers. Now, beyond being

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named in those lists, Ubay had a special reputation

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as a reciter. Christian scholar John Gilchrist,

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in his book Jam al -Qur 'an, points out several

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traditions that show just how highly regarded

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Ubay was. He refers to the early Muslim historian

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Ibn Sa'd and his work Kitab al -Tabaqat al -Kabir,

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which is a large biographical collection. In

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Kitab al -Tabaqat al -Kabir, Volume 2, page 441,

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Ibn Sa'd preserves a hadith in which Anas ibn

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Malik reports a statement about Ubay. The chain

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goes like this. Afan ibn Muslim narrated to us,

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from a chain back to Anas ibn Malik. Anas says

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that the Prophet said, The best reader of the

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Quran among my people is Ubay ibn Kab. That is

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Ibn Sad, Kitab al -Tabaqat al -Kabir, Volume

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2, page 441. Because of this, Ubay became known

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by the title Sayyid al -Qurra. meaning the master

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of the readers. Gilchrist also notes that Umar

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ibn al -Khattab, the second caliph, is reported

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to have confirmed Ubay's excellence in recitation.

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In Sahih al -Bukhari, Volume 6, on page 489 in

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some Arabic printings, Umar is reported as saying

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that Ubay was the best among them in the recitation

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of the Qur 'an, even though Umar did not follow

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everything that Ubay recited. We will come back

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to that tension in a moment. Another very interesting

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tradition shows a personal connection between

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Ubay and specific Quranic revelation. In Sahih

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Muslim, Volume 4, page 1313, there is a report

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from Anas ibn Malik. He says that the Messenger

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of Allah said to Ubay ibn Kab, I have been commanded

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to recite to you the Surah Al -Bayyinah, the

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chapter that begins with the words, لَمْ يَكُنْ

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إِلَّا دِينَ كَفَارُ Meaning, those who disbelieved

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from among the people of the book. When Ubay

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heard this, he asked, Has my name been mentioned

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to you? The Prophet answered that yes, he had

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been named. Anas reports that Ubay then wept

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out of joy. That is Sahih Muslim, Volume 4, page

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1313. We are not told exactly why Ubay was singled

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out in that way. But these traditions together

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show that he was considered a foremost authority

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on the Qur 'an, both as a reciter and as someone

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to whom specific revelation was recited by command.

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Now you might ask, if Ubay was that important,

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did his codex agree completely with the codex

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of Zayd ibn Thabit that eventually became the

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standard? The answer is no. There were real differences.

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We have already seen one example of disagreement.

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and it comes in Sahih al -Bukhari, Volume 6,

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Book 61, Hadith 547. In this hadith, Zir ibn

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Hubaysh says that he asked Ubay ibn Kab about

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something he had heard from Abdullah ibn Masud.

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Let me read it to you. In Sahih al -Bukhari,

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Volume 6, Book 61, Hadith 547, it says, Narrated

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Zir ibn Hubaysh. I said to Ubay ibn Kab, O Abu

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al -Mundhir, your brother Abdullah ibn Masud

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says such and such. That is, that the two Surahs

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al -Mu 'awwidhat, meaning Surah 113 al -Falaq

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and Surah 114 an -Nas, do not belong to the Qur

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'an. Ubay replied, I asked the Messenger of Allah

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about them. He said, They have been revealed

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to me, and I have recited them as part of the

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Qur 'an. So Ubay concluded, Therefore, we say,

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as the messenger of Allah has said. In this case,

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Ubay sides with the text that includes the two

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Mu 'awidah surahs, agreeing with the codex of

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Zayd that we have today, and disagreeing with

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Abdullah ibn Masud, who regarded them as prayers

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but not Quranic surahs. So here you see an example

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where Ubay and Zayd are together on one side,

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and ibn Masud is on the other. But the picture

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does not stop there. John Gilchrist, in Jam al

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-Qur 'an, notes that Ubay's codex also contained

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material that is not found in Zayd's codex, including

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two extra surahs that later Muslim scholars refer

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to as Surah al -Khal and Surah al -Hafd. In the

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classic Muslim work Al -Itqan Fi Ulum al -Qur

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'an by Jalal al -Din al -Suyuti, on pages 152

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and 153, Suyuti reports that while Abdullah ibn

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Masud omitted the two so -called charm surahs

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from his codex, Ubay ibn Kab included two additional

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surahs of supplication in his codex. Suyuti names

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them as Al -Khal, which means the separation,

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and Al -Haft, which means the haste. That is

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Jalal al -Din al -Suyuti, Al -Itqan fi Ulum al

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-Quran, pages 152, to 153. Suyuti then cites

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the early scholar Abu Ubaid al -Qasim ibn Salam.

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Abu Ubaid says the following, In the text of

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Ubay ibn Kab were written the Fatiha al -Kitab,

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that is Surah al -Fatiha, the opening chapter,

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and the two Mu 'awidat, meaning the two charm

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surahs, as well as the surah that begins with

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the words, Allahumma inna nasta 'eenuka, which

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means, O Allah, we seek your help. This is known

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as the opening of Surah Al -Khal, and the surah

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that begins with the words, اللَّهُمَّ إِيَّا

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كَنَعْبُدُ Which means, O Allah, we worship You.

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This is known as the opening of Surah Al -Hafd.

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That is Al -Itqan fi Ulum Al -Qur 'an, page 153.

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On page 154 of Al -Itqan, Suyuti goes on to give

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the full texts of these two extra surahs and

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notes that they were also found in the Codex

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of Ibn Abbas. following the reading of Ubay and

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Abu Musa, who also recorded them in their copies.

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These two surahs are similar in style to Surah

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al -Fatiha, consisting of prayers to God for

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help, forgiveness, guidance, and mercy. That

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is Jalal al -Din al -Suyuti, Al -Itqan fi Ulum

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al -Qur 'an, page 154. So what does that tell

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us? On the one hand, Ubay's codex affirmed the

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two Muawidah surahs that Abdullah ibn Masud rejected.

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On the other hand, Ubay's codex also contained

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two extra surahs that are not part of the Qur

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'an as standardized under Uthman. Now, Umar ibn

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al -Khattab, the second caliph, was fully aware

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that Ubay's recitation included material that

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was not accepted into Zayd's codex. We see this

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in another hadith from Sahih al -Bukhari. In

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Sahih al -Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, often cited

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as Hadith 501, Ibn Abbas reports a statement

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from Umar. Let me introduce it properly. In Sahih

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al -Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, Hadith around

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501, it says, Narrated Ibn Abbas, Umar said,

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Ubay was the best of us in the recitation of

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the Quran, yet we leave some of what he recites.

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Ubay says, I have taken it from the mouth of

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the Messenger of Allah, and I will not leave

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it for anything. But Allah says, None of our

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revelations do we abrogate or cause to be forgotten,

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but we bring something better than it or similar

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to it. That is a quotation of Quran chapter 2

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verse 106. So Umar admits two things here. First,

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that Ubay was the best among them in recitation.

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Second, that there were things in Ubay's recitation

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that the community was not following and was

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effectively leaving aside. When challenged on

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this, Umar appeals to Quran, chapter 2, verse

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106. Let me quote that Quran verse clearly. In

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Quran, chapter 2, verse 106, often translated

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by Pickthall, it says, Nothing of our revelation

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do we abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but

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we bring in place of it one better or the like

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thereof. Do you not know that Allah is able to

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do all things? That is the Arabic Quran, Surah

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Al -Baqarah. Chapter 2, verse 106. Umar appears

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to be saying that if Ubay had verses that the

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others were not following, those verses must

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have been abrogated or caused to be forgotten

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by Allah, and therefore replaced by something

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equal or better. That is his theological explanation

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for why parts of Ubay's recitation were left

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out of the standard text. But this answer raises

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several serious questions. First, How can you

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call a verse or a surah forgotten when men like

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Ubay, Umar, and others clearly still knew it

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and recited it? The word forgotten usually means

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that no one remembers it anymore. Yet in these

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cases, the extra material in Ubay's codex was

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very much remembered and even defended by him.

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Second, Umar says that abrogated or forgotten

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revelations are replaced by something similar

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or better from Allah. But how can that replacement

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process work after the Prophet has died? If new

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revelation is needed to replace an older abrogated

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verse, and if revelation ceased with Muhammad's

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death, then on what basis could verses be removed

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or left out after that point? Third, the hadith

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about Zayd's collection shows that verses found

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with only one person, like Abu Huzaima al -Ansari,

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were accepted and added to the Standard Codex.

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We saw this in Sahih al -Bukhari, Volume 6, Book

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61, Hadith 509 and 510. In those hadith, Zayd

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says he found the last verses of Surah 9 with

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Abu Huzaima alone and a missing verse of Surah

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33 with Huzaima ibn Thabit alone and he added

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them in. So here, solitary reports from one companion

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were considered sufficient to include verses.

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Yet when it comes to the extra surahs and readings

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in Ubay's codex, which were shared by notable

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companions like Ibn Abbas and Abu Musa according

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to Suyuti, those were excluded. So here is the

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puzzle. Why does a verse found only with Abu

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Khuzaymah get included, while whole surahs attested

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in the codices of Ubay and others are left out?

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So let me ask you, if Ubay ibn Kab was called

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the master of the readers, If the Prophet singled

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him out as one of the top four to learn the Qur

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'an from, if he had two additional surahs that

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some early scholars and codices preserved, and

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if Umar himself acknowledged that they were leaving

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some of what he recited, is it really accurate

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to say that the Qur 'an's contents and boundaries

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were fixed and universally agreed upon from the

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very beginning? Or does the evidence point instead

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to a much more complex process of selection inclusion,

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and exclusion, based on later decisions by the

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community and its leaders, rather than a clear,

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unbroken, divinely controlled transmission of

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a single, unchanging text.