In Search of Ali ibn Abi Talib’s Codex

History and Traditions of the Earliest Copy of the Qur'an (Foreword by James Piscatori)

By (author) Seyfeddin Kara

Book cover: In Search of Ali ibn Abi Talib’s Codex

Extent: 400, 400 pages

Publisher: Gerlach Press

Subjects: Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(July 2018)

ISBN: 9783959940542

Price: $154.00

On back order

The history of the Qur’an’s text has long been debated in Islamic Studies, but the focus so far has been on the Sunni traditions about the codices of Caliphs Abu Bakr and ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan. Little attention has been given to the traditions on ‘Ali b. Abi Talib’s collection; this book examines both Shi’i and Sunni traditions on the is


The history of the text of the Qur’an has been a longstanding subject of interest within the field of Islamic Studies, but the debate has so far been focused on the Sunni traditions about the codices of Caliphs Abu Bakr and ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan. Little to no attention has been given to the traditions on ‘Ali b. Abi Talib’s collection of the Qur’an. This book examines both Shi’i and Sunni traditions on the issue, aiming to date them back to the earliest possible date and, if possible, verify their authenticity. To achieve this, the traditions are examined using Harald Motzki’s isnad-cum-matn method, which is recognised as an efficient tool in dating the early Islamic traditions and involves analysis of both matn (text) and isnad (chain of trans-mission) with an emphasis on finding a correlation between the two.

  • By (author) Seyfeddin Kara