The Orthographic Identity of Rasm ʿUthmānī in the Qur’an: Tracing Substitution, Hamzah, and Word Structure
Keywords:
Rasm ʿUthmānī, Qur’anic orthography, Word connection, Letter substitutionAbstract
This study explores the orthographic characteristics of Rasm Uthmānī, the codified Qur’anic script established during the caliphate of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, focusing on three core features: al-Badl (letter substitution), Ahkām al-Hamzāt (rules governing the glottal stop), and al-Faṣl wa al-Waṣl (word separation and conjunction). Using a descriptive-linguistic and historical-contextual approach, the research analyzes how these features differ from modern Arabic orthography and how they accommodate phonetic diversity, syntactic fluidity, and theological nuance. The findings reveal that the Uthmānī script’s allowance for phonological variation and orthographic flexibility facilitates the preservation of multiple qirāʾāt without compromising semantic clarity. This integrative system enables the faithful transmission of the Qur’an’s oral and written dimensions across generations. The study concludes that Rasm Uthmānī serves not only as a static textual representation but also as a dynamic tool for interpreting the linguistic and theological foundations of the Qur’anic message. Its continued relevance in pedagogical and scholarly contexts underscores the enduring significance of early Islamic textual engineering.
Downloads
References
Abbas, N., Qassim, T., & Jasim, H. (2023). Request constructions in classical Arabic versus modern Arabic: A corpus-based study. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/1598
Abu‐Rabia, S. (2002). Reading in a root–based–morphology language: The case of Arabic. Journal of Research in Reading, 25(3), 299–309. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.00177
AlSunbul, E. (2023). The studies of Qur’anic recitation according to Ibn Taghri in his unpublished manuscript Fatih al-Bārī fīmā yaḥtāju ilayhi al-muqriʾ wa al-qāriʾ. Revista De Gestão E Secretariado, 14(10), 16898–16916. https://doi.org/10.7769/gesec.v14i10.2816
Anwar, H. (2003). Kontroversi seputar wacana mushaf ‘Utsman. Refleksi, 5(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.15408/ref.v5i1.40454
Awadh, F., Phénix, T., Antzaka, A., Lallier, M., Carreiras, M., & Valdois, S. (2016). Cross-language modulation of visual attention span: An Arabic-French-Spanish comparison in skilled adult readers. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00307
al-Tawḥīdī, Yaḥyā Manāf Amīn Qādir. (2021). Kayfiyyat jamʿ al-Qurʾān al-karīm: Dirāsah waṣfiyyah taḥlīliyyah. Journal of Arts, Literature, Humanities and Social Sciences, (68), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.33193/JALHSS.68.2021.497
Barzilai, M. (2019). Templaticity effects on differential processing of consonants and vowels. Laboratory Phonology Journal of the Association for Laboratory Phonology, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/labphon.180
Boudraa, M., Bennour, A., Mekhaznia, T., Alqarafi, A., Marie, R., Al-Sarem, M., & Dogra, A. (2024). Revolutionizing historical manuscript analysis: A deep learning approach with intelligent feature extraction for script classification. Acta Informatica Pragensia, 13(2), 251–272. https://doi.org/10.18267/j.aip.239
Bursi, A. (2018). Connecting the dots: Diacritics, scribal culture, and the Qurʾān in the first/seventh century. Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association, 3(1), 111–157. https://doi.org/10.1515/jiqsa.3.2018.a005
Hermawan, W., & Putra, A. (2023). Manuskrip mushaf Al-Qur’an Kerajaan Lingga di Pulau Penyengat Kepulauan Riau: Analisis sejarah, rasm, dan qirāʾāt. Qof, 7(1), 81–102. https://doi.org/10.30762/qof.v7i1.994
Hula, I., & Kasim, A. (2021). Al-qawāʿid al-sittah dalam rasm al-mushaf (six rules of rasm and the uniqueness in Qur'an). `A Jamiy: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra Arab, 10(2), 385. https://doi.org/10.31314/ajamiy.10.2.385-418.2021
Hula, I., & Mala, A. (2021). Al-furūq al-ḍabṭiyyah bayna al-rasm al-muṣḥafī wa al-rasm al-imbalāʾī. Al-Lisan, 6(1), 85–111. https://doi.org/10.30603/al.v6i1.1930
Inayatullah, A., & Safruroh, S. (2024). Kodifikasi Al-Qur’an: Studi analisis sejarah. Pelita, 2(1), 18–27. https://doi.org/10.38073/pelita.v2i1.1864
Ismail, I. (2019). Sistematika mushaf Al-Qur’an. Ta Dibia: Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan Agama Islam, 8(1), 85. https://doi.org/10.32616/tdb.v8.1.152.85-94
Kahila, M., Nasir, H., Sabry, M., Malik, F., & Has, M. (2024). Husainnasir. Living Islam: Journal of Islamic Discourses, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.14421/lijid.v7i1.4804
Khalifa, S., Habash, N., Abdulrahim, D., & Hassan, S. (2016). A large scale corpus of Gulf Arabic. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1609.02960
Laqam, A. (2020). Sīmiyāʾ al-ʿalāmah al-iʿrābiyyah fī al-dars al-lughawī al-ḥadīth: Dirāsah taḥlīliyyah taṭbīqiyyah ʿalā qaṣīdat Īlyādhat ʿUmān. Majallat Kullīyat al-Lughah al-ʿArabiyyah bi-Itāy al-Bārūd, 33(4), 3897–3990. https://doi.org/10.21608/jlt.2020.123658
Madzkur, Z. (2012). Legalisasi rasm ‘Uthmani dalam penulisan Al-Qur’an. Journal of Qur’an and Hadith Studies, 1(2), 215–236. https://doi.org/10.15408/quhas.v1i2.1325
Murphy, F., & Nile, R. (2012). Writing, remembering and embodiment: Australian literary responses to the First World War. M/C Journal, 15(4). https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.526
Nashoiha, I., & Widayati, R. (2022). Form, consistency and relevance of dhabṭ in Qur’an manuscript at Museum of Sunan Drajat Lamongan East Java. Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu Al-Qur’an dan Hadis, 23(2), 285–310. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v23i2.3571
Nirwana, A., Fahmi, A., Marshal, F., Maulana, C., & Fadli, N. (2024). Methods of Qur'an research and Quran tafseer research: Its implications for contemporary Islamic thought. Bir, 2(1), 33–42. https://doi.org/10.69526/bir.v2i1.34
Pasichnyk, N., Hotsa, N., Kosenko, A., Plavutska, O., & Bloshchynskyi, I. (2021). Category of negation paradigm in diachrony. Linguistics and Culture Review, 5(S2), 1226–1235. https://doi.org/10.21744/lingcure.v5ns2.1701
Putra, A., Yasir, M., Husin, N., & Akram, N. (2023). The textological analysis of the Qur’anic manuscript written by Syekh Muhammad Said Ranah Kumpai Kampar Riau. Dinika Academic Journal of Islamic Studies, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.22515/dinika.v8i1.6678
Rozi, F., & Hasanah, S. (2023). Implementation of the Yanbu’a method in improving students’ Qur'an reading fluency. Alsys, 3(6), 669–678. https://doi.org/10.58578/alsys.v3i6.1988
Rohmah, L. (2018). Kajian terhadap rasm dalam naskah mushaf Al-Qurʾān Madura. Al-Itqan: Jurnal Studi Al-Qur’an, 4(2), 27–54. https://doi.org/10.47454/itqan.v4i2.683
Rohmah, N., Syatta, M., Zahrah, U., & Chaudittisreen, N. (2024). The concept of iʿjāz rasm of the Qur’an according to M. Syamlūl on the words ḥasanāt and sayyiʾāt in the Qur’an. Jurnal Ilmu Agama, 25(2), 224–233. https://doi.org/10.19109/jia.v25i2.24799
Rosa, E., Wendry, N., & Hanif, M. (2023). Kaidah rasm dalam manuskrip mushaf Al-Qur’an Nagari Tuo Pariangan. Alqudwah, 1(2), 108. https://doi.org/10.24014/alqudwah.v1i2.25446
Sari, N., & Putra, B. (2025). Analisis rasm terhadap manuskrip Al-Qur’an kuno karya Syaikh Ibrahim Mufti di Surau Tuo Kabupaten Lima Puluh Kota. Al-Fahmu: Jurnal Ilmu Al-Qur’an dan Tafsir, 4(1), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.58363/alfahmu.v4i1.249
Shabana, R., Siddiqui, M., & Taiba, S. (2023). Prevailing legacy of the Khulāfa-e-Rāshidīn: Their enduring influence on present age Islamic governance. Al-Qamar, 105–118. https://doi.org/10.53762/alqamar.06.02.e08
Shalabī, ʿA. F. I. (n.d.). Rasm muṣḥaf ʿUthmānī wa awhām al-musytashriqīn. Dār al-Manārah.
Shāliḥ, ʿA. K. I. ʿA. (n.d.). Al-muṭāf fī rasm al-muṣḥaf. Dār al-Ṣaḥābah.
Yahya, M., & Aini, A. (2017). Karakteristik dan fragmen sejarah manuskrip mushaf Al-Qur’an Dolah Bakri Bantul. Mutawatir, 7(2), 235–262. https://doi.org/10.15642/mutawatir.2017.7.2.235-262
Zaini, M., & Jusoh, N. (2022). Problematika penulisan Al-Qur’an dengan rasm Uthmani pada Al-Qur’an cetakan Indonesia dan Malaysia. Tafse: Journal of Qur’anic Studies, 5(1), 155. https://doi.org/10.22373/tafse.v5i1.12508
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Tsania Qothrun Nada, Siti Nur Faizah, Sinta Nuriyah Azzahra

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.