Toward an Integrated Theoretical Framework for the Study of Qur’anic Manuscripts: Conceptual and Methodological Foundations

This study aims to provide an integrated theoretical examination of the concept of manuscript Qur’ans through the construction of a conceptual and methodological framework that defines the foundations for their scholarly investigation. The study is grounded in the integration of Qur’anic sciences—particularly the disciplines of the Uthmanic orthography (rasm al-muṣḥaf) and Qur’anic readings (qirāʾāt)—with codicology and textual criticism. It further seeks to analyze the foundational concepts of this field, trace the development of its theoretical approaches, and highlight the major conceptual and methodological challenges confronting researchers in the study of manuscript Qur’ans.
The study adopts a descriptive-analytical theoretical methodology based on the examination of both classical and modern scholarship, without undertaking a practical analysis of specific manuscript samples. The objective is to formulate a comprehensive scholarly framework that clarifies the central concepts, methodological boundaries, and principal research orientations related to the study of manuscript Qur’ans.
The study concludes that the investigation of manuscript Qur’ans constitutes a complex interdisciplinary field that requires the reconstruction of its concepts upon rigorous methodological foundations. It further argues that the absence of a clearly articulated theoretical framework has contributed to inconsistencies in current research approaches, thereby necessitating stronger integration between Qur’anic sciences and manuscript studies within a unified theoretical model capable of regulating and advancing this field of inquiry.

Manuscript Qur’ans; Uthmanic Orthography; Qur’anic Sciences

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