Evidence for the early codification of the Quran from the Dome of the Rock inscriptions

[Originally from: bloggingtheology.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/evidence-for-the-early-codification-of-the-quran-from-the-dome-of-the-rock-inscriptions/]

by ibbelund

“A narrow focus on the Qurʾānic text and continued efforts to establish and preserve a standard version without deviation have persisted throughout the history Islam, but side by side with that concern there has been a tradition of drawing upon and modifying that text for a variety of rhetorical purposes. Such creative use of familiar scriptural associations was hardly unique to Islam, and indeed it would be more surprising if no such tradition had developed. The tradition was, however, dependent upon recognition of the text by the listeners, or readers– a strong indication that the Qurʾān was already the common property of the community in the last decade of the seventh century. The inscriptions at the Dome of the Rock should not be viewed as evidence of a precise adherence to or deviation from the “literary form” of the Qurʾānic text; rather they are little sermons or parts of a single sermon addressed to an audience that could be expected to understand the allusions and abbreviated references by which ʿAbd al-Malik’s particular message was conveyed“

Wheelan, Estelle. “Forgotten witness: Evidence for the early codification of the Qurʾān”  in Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 118.  No. 1 (Jan.- Mar., 1998), pp. 1-14.  P. 8