‘Uthman is a figure of monumental stature in Islamic history. Not only is he one of the four leaders known as the Rightly Guided Caliphs, who personally knew and immediately succeeded the Prophet, but he also produced the first canonical written text of the Qur’an. Because the revelations Muhammad received from the angel Gabriel and then taught to his followers remained an oral tradition for several decades, a number of divergent versions emerged. ‘Uthman reconciled these into a standard edition, destroyed all of the previous ones, and then distributed this text, known as the ‘Uthmanic codex,
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