The Codex of Ibn Masʿūd: A Destroyed Codex or a Shiʿi Copy of the Qur’an throughout the Early Centuries?
This presentation offers novel findings regarding the identification and historical trajectory of the Codex of Ibn Mas‘ud (Muṣḥaf Ibn Mas‘ud). Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, a prominent Companion of the Prophet and the spiritual authority of the Kufans, has traditionally been recognized in Islamic literature as the possessor of an independent copy of the Qur'an. According to common Muslim perception, this codex was destroyed in the first century during the recension projects of either ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan or al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. However, recent scholarship and a meticulous tracing of this codex within the Hadith, exegetical (tafsir), and jurisprudential (fiqh) sources of the first three centuries suggest that the narrative of its early destruction is historically inaccurate. This version of the Qur'an remained an unparalleled reference for the Kufan scholarly tradition throughout the first two centuries. Its textual variants from the official 'Uthmanic codex served as a catalyst for the emergence of distinct theological, legal, and even philological discourses among Kufan scholars. Furthermore, the nexus between Kufa and Shi‘ism, coupled with the "Shi‘i overtones" discernible through the reconstruction of Ibn Mas‘ud’s text from later reports, provides compelling evidence of a deep-seated connection between early Shi‘i circles and this codex. These findings introduce significant new perspectives on the history of the Qur'anic text and the engagement of early Shi‘ism with the Divine Word.
Mahdyar Shirazi
PhD Exchange Candidate
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Mahdyar Shirazi is a PhD Exchange Candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Groningen. He earned his MA in Qur’an and Hadith Studies from the University of Tehran (2022), with a thesis focusing on the foundations of Hadith interpretation in Ismailism. His current research primarily examines the history of the Qur’anic text, early exegesis, and the linguistic traditions of the Kufan school. His doctoral dissertation provides an analytical study of the influence of the codex attributed to Ibn Mas‘ud on the recitation and hermeneutics of the Qur’an in early Islamic scholarship. He has published several peer-reviewed articles such as “The Impact of Ibn Mas‘ūd’s Codex on the Formation of Kufan Grammatical Thought” and “The Effect of Ibn Masʿūd’s Reading on the Formation and Consolidation of the Idea of Wāw Muqḥamah”.