The compilation of the written Qur'an (as opposed to the recited Qur'an) spanned several decades and forms an important part of early Islamic history. Muslim accounts say it began in the year 610 when Gabriel (Arabic: جبريل, Jibrīl or جبرائيل, Jibrāʾīl) appeared to Muhammad in the cave Hira near Mecca, reciting to him the first verses of the Sura Iqra (al-`Alaq), thus beginning the revelation of the Qur'an. Throughout his life, Muhammad continued to have revelations until before his death in 632.^[1] Muslim and non-Muslim scholars alike disagree on whether Muhammad compiled the Qur'an during his lifetime or if this task began with the first caliph Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (632-634). Once the Qur'an was compiled, due to the unanimity of the sources, Muslims agree that the Qur'an we see today was canonized by Uthman ibn Affan (653-656). Upon the canonization of the Qur'an, Uthman ordered the burning of all personal copies of the Qur'an. The reason why Uthman gave this order is discussed further in the section below entitled "The Collection of the Qur'an". The copy of quran kept with wife of Mohammad named Hafsa was accepted for public. Until then, several copies of Quran were available in different regions of Arabia with some grammatical errors, so Uthman's order allowed only one version of Quran to exist to prevent any misinterpretation of quranic text or word of God (Allah).
Even though Uthman canonized the written Qur'an during his reign in 653-656, small diacritical variations still remained in the written Qur'an, which can be seen in the early manuscripts of the Umayyad and Abbasid Dynasties.^[2]
Due to varying historical documents, controversy is seen amongst some scholars as to whether the Uthmanic codex we have before us today is authentic and complete. Most Muslim scholars believe the Uthmanic Qur'an is what was revealed to Muhammad in its entirety, while some non- Muslim scholars believe verses were removed and other codices of the Qur'an are more absolute.^[3] Nevertheless, even according to secular scholars what was done to the Qur'an in the process seems to have been extremely conservative and the content was formed in a mechanical fashion as to avoid redactional bias.^[4]

Many Muslims and non-Muslims do not know the difference between the terms “Qur’an” and “mushaf (pronounced mus haf).” They often even confuse them and use them interchangeably. This short article aims at clarifying the difference between the two terms.

God talks in the Qur’an about the concept of “Kitab (Book)”. This term denotes a special kind of knowledge that is revealed to a prophet in the form of a book, i.e. the revelations form one unit as opposed to separate revelations that, even if collected together, do not have a hidden or visible theme linking them all together. The prophet receives such revelations in his language, which means that they can be written down to form a physical “Book.” The “Torah” and the “Injil” — which God revealed to prophets Moses and Jesus, respectively — are two examples of divine Books. The “Qur’an,” which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad, is another. So the term “Qur’an” refers to the verses that the Prophet received from God in the form of 114 distinct “suras (chapters)”. The longest chapter has 286 “ayas(verses)” whereas the shortest three chapters consist of 3 verses each.

The term Qur’an is derived from the same root of the Arabic word “qara’a (read).” Indeed, the first word of the Qur’an to be revealed was “iqra’” or “read.” The name of this particular divine Book, “Qur’an,” is derived from the fact that it was “read” to the Prophet by the archangel Gabriel.

“Mushaf” (plural is “masahif) is another Arabic term that is related to “Qur’an” but is slightly different from it. This term is derived from the Arabic term “sahifa.” This word is not found in the Qur’an, but its plural, “suhuf,” occurs 8 times. In all of its 8 occurrences “suhuf” means “written pages” of something. Note that “page” in modern Arabic is “safha,” which is clearly the same word as “sahifa.”