A Comparative Study of the Tashkent Codex with the Rules and Historical Traditions of the Quranic Orthography

Tashkent Codex is the most famous Codex in terms of its attribution to ʿUthmān. The books al-Muqniʿ and Mukhtaṣar al-Tabyīn are the most important sources containing the orthography of the ʿUthmānic codices and the main criterion for measuring the Quranic Orthography. This article tries to compare the orthography of Tashkent codex with the traditions of these two books and assess the orthography reports. The words of Tashkent codex are divided into three categories: 1. Words that are consistent with the traditions of the two books of al-Muqniʿ and Mukhtaṣar al-Tabyīn; 2. Words that are consistent only with the traditions of al-Muqniʿ or Mukhtaṣar al-Tabyīn; 3. Words that are inconsistent with the traditions of the books of al-Muqniʿ and Mukhtaṣar al-Tabyīn. Words that are inconsistent with the traditions of Sheykheyn in this codex can be divided into two parts: A) Words that do not correspond to the traditions of Sheykheyn, But other scholars have mentioned it; B) Words that do not correspond to the traditions of Sheykheyn and also there is no any other traditions confirming that orthography. The result of the study indicates that the orthography traditions should be supplemented and corrected in some cases by referring directly to the ancient codices.