Is it likely that the sana'a manuscript was an accepted reading of the Quran?
The acceptance of the Sana'a manuscript as a valid reading of the Qur'an is a complex issue that involves historical context and varying interpretations of the Qur'an's compilation. The efforts of Uthman ibn Affan during his caliphate to compile a standardized version of the Qur'an highlight the importance of maintaining a singular, authoritative text. As narrated, Hudhaifa was concerned by the variations in their recitation. He said to Uthman: 'O Commander of the believers, save this nation before they differ greatly over the Book as Jews and Christians did.' Uthman sent to Hafsa to send the manuscripts of the Quran so that they could be copied into Mushafs and returned
Sahih al-Bukhari 66:9. This indicates a proactive approach to resolving differences in recitation and ensuring that a consistent text was available.
Uthman's directive to use the dialect of Quraysh for the transcription of the Mushafs further underscores the emphasis on maintaining a specific linguistic standard, which suggests that any readings that significantly deviated from this standard, such as those found in the Sana'a manuscript, may not have been accepted. The standardized version was intended to prevent fragmentation in the community's understanding of the Qur'an.
Moreover, variations that existed in the early manuscripts, including the Sana'a manuscript, can be seen as part of the natural evolution of the text prior to Uthman’s compilation, but they would not have been part of the accepted reading after his efforts to unify the Qur'anic text. Therefore, while the Sana'a manuscript provides valuable insights into the early textual history of the Qur'an, its acceptance as a standard reading would have been unlikely after Uthman's compilation efforts.
Sources
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Sahih al-Bukhari 66:9
Sahih al-Bukhari · Book 66, Hadith 9 · Narrated by Zayd ibn Thabit
Anas ibn Malik related to me that Hudhaifa ibn al-Yaman came to Uthman while he was campaigning in the conquest of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the people of Iraq. Hudhaifa was concerned by the variations in their recitation. He said to Uthman: 'O Commander of the believers, save this nation before they differ greatly over the Book as Jews and Christians did.' Uthman sent to Hafsa to send the manuscripts of the Quran so that they could be copied into Mushafs and returned. Hafsa sent them to Uthman. He ordered Zaid ibn Thabit, Abdullah ibn Al-Zubair, Saeed ibn Al-As, and Abdurrahman ibn Al-Harith ibn Hisham to copy them in Mushafs. Uthman said to the Qurayshi party, 'If you differ with Zaid ibn Thabit regarding any part of the Quran's Arabic, write it in the dialect of Quraysh, for the Quran was revealed in their language.' They did so, and when they finished copying the Mushafs, Uthman returned the manuscripts to Hafsa and sent a Mushaf to every region and commanded that the other copies or Quranic parchments be burned. Ibn Shihab said: And Khārijah ibn Zaid ibn Thabit told me he heard Zaid ibn Thabit say: 'When we copied the Mushaf, I found a verse missing from the chapter of Al-Ahzab that I used to hear the Prophet (peace be upon him) reciting. We searched for it and found it with Khuzaymah ibn Thabit Al-Ansari. It is "Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah". We included it in its place in the Mushaf.'
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