Mushaf

A physical copy of the Qur'an: the pages, ink and binding, as distinct from the revelation itself.

Also written · Mus'haf · Mus-haf · Moshaf · Mushef · Musshaf · Mushaf Sharif · Masahif · copy of the Quran · physical Quran · Quran book · Mashaf

The meaning

What Mushaf means in Islam

The word comes from sahifah, a written sheet, so a mushaf is the sheets gathered between two covers. Muslims keep the distinction: the Qur'an is the speech of Allah, the mushaf is the object you can drop or tear. Worn out copies are not put in the bin; they are buried or burned in a clean place. Uthman burned the copies his standard edition replaced, and later scholars differ over which of the two is better.

Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named

Read beside it

Rooms that name it

The word for a Qur'an copy also gives journalistA Light · Root s h f, sheet, codex, press
The Preservation: Book, Sunnah, ChainThe Path · chapter 51
Surah Al-A'rafSurah 7 · The Heights

Words that sit beside it

Qur'anThe speech of Allah revealed to Muhammad in Arabic over about twenty three years, preserved word for word.القُرْآن
Rasm UthmaniThe spelling of the Uthmanic copies, kept in mushafs even where it differs from modern Arabic spelling.الرَّسْمُ العُثْمانِيّ
Touching the MushafWhether wudu is needed to hold a copy of the Qur'an; the four schools say yes, a minority disagrees.مَسُّ المُصْحَف
AyahA verse of the Qur'an, and in ordinary Arabic a sign.آيَة