Cultural and Linguistic Dimensions in the Formation of Qur’anic Orthography: A Study of Rasm Variation in Early Muṣḥafs

Abstract

This article explores the cultural and linguistic factors involved in the formation of Qur’anic orthography through an examination of rasm variation as preserved in the early codification tradition of the muṣḥaf. The discussion centers on two recurrent cases, namely the writing of raḥmat and raḥmah and that of al aykah and laykah, which display differing orthographic forms across several widely used muṣḥaf editions. The analysis draws on data from the Madinah, Indo Pak, Al Azhar, and Indonesian muṣḥafs issued by Lajnah Pentashihan Mushaf Al Qur’an, and is informed by classical rasm sources such as al Muqniʿ by al Dānī and Kitāb al Maṣāḥif by Ibn Abī Dāwūd. A comparative reading of these materials shows that variations in spelling, including the use of tāʾ maftūḥah and tāʾ marbūṭah as well as the alternation between hamzah qaṭʿ and hamzah waṣl, follow consistent patterns rather than occurring arbitrarily. In the case of raḥmat, orthographic choice is closely tied to syntactic position and semantic function, particularly in iḍāfah constructions. Variants of al aykah and laykah likewise reflect early scribal practices shaped by regional pronunciation, oral transmission, and the absence of fully standardized writing norms during the formative period of Qur’anic codification. These findings indicate that Qur’anic orthographic variation should be understood within the framework of the ʿUthmānī rasm as a historically situated writing system that accommodated linguistic diversity while maintaining textual stability. Orthographic plurality, in this sense, does not undermine the integrity of the Qur’anic text but instead reveals the intellectual and cultural strategies through which the early Muslim community preserved both recitation and meaning.