.png "Understanding the Mushaf and the Form of Fiqh Mushaf from Time to Time")
Muslimcreed – Have you ever heard the words Pocket Mushaf or Al-Qur’an Mushaf? So, what is a mushaf and how is it different from the Qur’an? For Muslims, the word mushaf may be familiar because it is often said in carrying out daily worship.
Mushaf is often equated with the Qur’an which is a book and guidelines for Muslims to carry out their daily lives. However, the two are different. The Mushaf is part of the Qur’an.
Definition of Mushaf
Many Muslims are still confused about the understanding between the Mushaf and the Qur’an, even to the point that there is an assumption that the Mushaf is the Qur’an.
the word mushaf is formed from the word shahifah which is the plural form is shaha’if or shuhuf.
Furthermore, in Jamharah al Lughah, Ibn Duraid al Azdi explains that the shahifah is a whitish skin or a thin sheet or slab that is usually written on. Meanwhile, according to Abu Nasr al-Jauhari in ash-Shihhah, the shahifah is a book. The mention of this manuscript is because it contains a number of sheets flanked by two volumes.
So, the Mushaf has the meaning of ma ushhifa, meaning something that is collected in it sheets containing writing sandwiched between two volumes. Meanwhile, in terms, Mushaf is a term for a book that is compiled between two volumes from beginning to end with successive suras and verses as collected in the time of Uthman ibn Affan Ra.
For Muslims, the Mushaf itself can be interpreted as part of the Qur’an. The emergence of the manuscripts was a concern for the companions of the prophet after the death of the Prophet Muhammad and the occurrence of the Yamamah war which took many of the hafidz.
During the caliphate, Abu Bakr ash Siddiq then invited Zaid bin Thabit to be the leader in order to collect the sheets of the verses of the Qur’an into a single unit. However, Thabit refused because it was never taught by the Prophet Muhammad.
Abu Bakr gave Thabit an understanding and he agreed with the idea, but it was not an easy matter. Zaid bin Thabit even assumes that it is easier to move mountains than to collect the verses of the Qur’an in one unit.
After the death of Abu Bakr ash Siddiq, this mission continued to the caliph Uthman bin Affan. However, there were disputes from various regions regarding the preparation of the Qur’an. As explained in a hadith, Hudzaifah ibn al-Yaman came to Uthman ibn Affan. He led the people of Syria and Iraq in the conquest of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Hudzaifah was worried about their dispute (her army) regarding qira’ah.
The Form of Fiqh Mushaf from Time to Time
Indeed, the physical form of the Qur’anic manuscripts has always been different throughout the ages. However, all are still called Mushaf and the law is the same.
1. The Prophet’s Time: Mushaf Only Sheets with Verses
At the time of the Prophet Muhammad, the form was only in the form of writing on animal skins, or on the midrib of dates, sometimes on bones, stones and so on. If we pay attention, the physical wudud of the Mushaf at the time of the Prophet SAW never appeared in a complete edition consisting of more than 6000 verses, 114 letters and 30 chapters. All are more than pages and the contents of the verse are only fragments. However, it is still called a holy and glorified manuscript, and the law on its mushaf still applies.
The question is, why at that time the Mushaf was not in the form of a book containing all the verses of the Qur’an in its entirety?
There are several answers and reasons, including:
First, because all the verses of the Qur’an have not been revealed yet. The verses came down in bits and pieces, not all at once. Even in one surah, the verses are still broken up into several parts, and the descent is a bit random. Sometimes the front verses come down later, on the contrary the back verses go down first.
Second, the fact that the manuscripts of the Qur’an were not written in a book made of paper at that time did not mean that there was no paper, but because paper was not the only medium available, it was not too easy to obtain and the price was not as cheap as it is today.
Third, in the past, Rasulullah SAW almost never ordered the writing of Mushaf in a bundle of books. Not even a hint. So that at first when the idea of writing the manuscripts in a bundle of books was voiced by Umar bin Al-Khattab radhiyallahuanhu, Abu Bakr Ash-Siddiq who was then the caliph refused outright.
2. Mushaf at the time of the Caliphs
However, when Allah SWT opened Abu Bakr’s chest when he heard Umar’s reasons for writing down the Qur’an in a bundle of books, the Mushaf which was originally only in the form of pieces or sheets bearing the verses of the Qur’an became a complete book.
Even so, the manuscript version of the sheets containing only fragments of the verses of the Qur’an is still kept by each of the friends personally.
Then the manuscripts of the sheets of their respective private collections were destroyed during the Caliph Uthman bin Al-Affan radhiyallahunahu. Because at that time Uthman wanted to uniform the taste of writing manuscripts with the rasam known as the Ottoman flavor.
3. Mushaf in the Digital Age
In the current digital era, manuscripts also appear in unique forms, namely on screens, whether monitors, LCDs, or even with cellphones and tablets. Electronic devices such as cellphones today are very sophisticated and can be installed into Al-Qur’an programs or software.
However, the difference between cellphones and the Al-Qur’an manuscripts that we know everyday is in terms of activation. If it is activated, then the cellphone will display the writings of the verses of the Qur’an. On the other hand, if it is turned off, the writing will no longer exist.
So in this case, when we want to enter a public toilet and are forced to carry a cellphone for fear of being lost or taken by someone, we must turn off the cellphone. At least the Al-Qur’an program that has been installed must be turned off or temporarily disabled first.
Then what about the memory stored in it? Aren’t there verses of the Qur’an in the form of digital data?
The answer is simple. The HP that we have has a very similar way of working with our brains. Know that the contents of our brains may contain data from the Qur’an, either in the form of written memory or sound. A memorizer of the Qur’an, for example, in his head there are thousands of memories of the verses of the Qur’an.
Is it forbidden for a person who memorizes the Qur’an to enter the toilet, on the grounds that he has digital Qur’anic data inside his head? Then do you have to take your head off to enter the toilet? Or will he simply turn off his memory from the Qur’an for a while?
It seems that the most plausible is that he did not activate the memorization of the Qur’an temporarily, either in voice or in writing. When the memory of the Qur’an data in his brain is temporarily deactivated, then basically there is no prohibition against entering the toilet.
Likewise with our HP. Even though there is a 30 juz digital data memory, either text or sound, maybe even video, as long as it’s not activated, of course it’s not a problem. What is forbidden is while hanging out in the toilet, we plug in our cellphones with the sound of reciting the Qur’an. Obviously it is haram and should be avoided.
