Ubaiy ibn Kaʿb

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Ubaiy ibn Kaʿb ( Arabic أبي بن كعب) was a secretary of the Prophet Mohammed in Medina , who compiled his own collection of the Koran , which differed from the later official Koran edition of the Caliph Uthman ibn Affan . He died sometime between 640 and 656.

Ubaiy belonged to the Banū Nadjār, a clan of the Chazradsch tribe , and fought in the battles of Badr and Uhud . Because of his writing skills, Mohammed accepted him as his secretary, Ubaiy not only being responsible for his correspondence but also for writing down the revelation.

The Qur'an collection compiled by Ubaiy was later used mainly in Damascus , while in Kufa the collection of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd , in Basra on that of Abū Mūsā al-Aschʿarī and in Homs on that of Miqdād ibn Aswad. Ubaiy himself justified the admissibility of all these different versions of the Koran text with the fact that when he expressed his concern about the differences between the versions of the Koran text in circulation during the lifetime of the Prophet, the Prophet reassured him that the Koran was available in seven variants ( ʿAlā sabʿati aḥruf ) was revealed. When Uthmān had an official edition of the Koran created and sent it to the most important cities of the Islamic Empire (Damascus, Kufa, Basra), he gave the order to destroy all other collections of the Koran. This also applied to the Ubaiy's collection.

In contrast to the collection of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, which has been passed on despite the prohibition, no later copies have been made of the collection of Ubaiy. However, some knowledge has been preserved about this collection. Accordingly, it contained two additional short suras , namely the "Sura of surrender" ( Sūrat al-Chalʿ ) and the "Sura of aspiring" ( Sūrat al-Hafd ). Taken together, they were also known under the name "The Two Qunūt Suras" ( Sūratā l-qunūt ) or "Morning Prayer" ( Duʿāʾ al-Fajr ). From this it follows that these must have been texts for the supplication . According to tradition, Abū Mūsā al-Aschʿarī also had the two suras in his collection. The wording of the two suras is only passed down by authors of the 16th century, but there is partly traced back to authorities of the first century of the hijra with isnads .

The surviving succession of suras in Ubaiy's collection also shows some differences compared to the canonical version, but generally adheres to the principle of progression from the longer suras to the shorter ones. In addition, there are traditions about individual verses that are said to have been in Ubaiy's collection. One of them is described as a supplement to Sura 98 and in Nöldeke's translation reads: "Truly, the religion of God is mild Hanifism , not Judaism, nor Christianity; and whoever does good will not be unrewarded for it." According to another tradition, Ubaiy's collection also contained the verse of stoning .

In addition, various versions of the text are traced back to Ubayy in Arabic literature about the readings of the Koran , some of which were based on the collection he created. After the canonization of the Koranic readings by Ibn al-Mujāhid (d. 936), the use of these non-Uthmānic readings was forbidden, and scholars who continued to use them there were brought to justice. However, the use of such reading variants in standards theory was still allowed . So who Hanafi supported many of their legal decisions on the Koran readings of Ubaiy.

literature

  • Ḫaula ʿUbaid Ḫalaf ad-Dulaimī: Qirāʾat Ubaiy Ibn-Kaʿb: dirāsa naḥwīya wa-luġawīya . Beirut 2007.
  • Arthur Jeffery: Materials for the History of the Text of the Qurʾān. Leiden 1937. pp. 114-181.
  • Theodor Nöldeke : History of the Qoran. With a literary-historical appendix about the Muslim sources and the more recent Christian research . New edition Dietrich, Leipzig 1909/38
  1. About the origin of the Qoran . 2nd edition, edited by Friedrich Schwally. Leipzig 1909.
  2. The collection of the Qoran . 2nd edition, completely revised by Friedrich Schwally . Leipzig 1919. pp. 30-39.
  3. The history of the Koran text . 2nd, completely revised edition by G. Bergsträsser and O. Pretzl. Leipzig 1938.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Nöldeke-Schwally 28.
  2. ^ See Nöldeke-Schwally II 29f.
  3. ↑ See Nöldeke-Schwally I 48f.
  4. ↑ See Nöldeke-Schwally II 112-119.
  5. ↑ Cf. Nöldeke-Bergsträsser-Pretzl III 95f.
  6. ↑ Cf. Nöldeke-Schwally II 33-38.
  7. ↑ See Nöldeke-Schwally 38-43.
  8. ↑ See Nöldeke-Schwally I 242.
  9. ↑ See Nöldeke-Schwally II 45.
  10. ↑ See Bergsträsser-Pretzl III 95.
  11. ↑ See Bergstrasse-Pretz. III 111.
  12. ↑ See the book by Ḫaula ʿUbaid Ḫalaf ad-Dulaimī: Qirāʾat Ubaiy Ibn-Kaʿb: dirāsa naḥwīya wa-luġawīya . Beirut 2007.
personal data
SURNAME Ubaiy ibn Kaʿb
ALTERNATIVE NAMES أبي بن كعب; Ubay ibn Kaʿb
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Islamic theologian
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century or 7th century
DATE OF DEATH between 640 and 656