What is the explicit evidence that the writing of the Qur’an is tawqifi (divinely ordained and unchangeable), and that it is not permissible to violate it, especially since the word "tawqifi" is understood to mean that it originated from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him? And what prevents contradicting the Qur’anic script that was not revealed with it, given that scholars later added dots, hamzas, and diacritics, which altered the form of the Qur’anic script?
The orthography of the Qur'an is divinely ordained (tawqifi) and cannot be altered. The proof for this is that it was written with this orthography during the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who approved it. The practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the consensus of the Ummah after them continued upon it. Since consensus is a source of legislation, changing it could open the door to alteration in the religion. Among the wisdoms behind not changing it is that it achieves the preservation of the Qur'an in a comprehensive sense, for it was written in a way that accommodates the different recitations. Changing it would remove the rulings and secrets embedded in its orthography. The imams of the early Muslims (Salaf) agreed on the prohibition of altering the orthography of the Qur'an, among them Malik and Imam Ahmad. The place for observing the Uthmani script is when writing the Mushaf or anything specific to it. As for writing a verse to quote it for evidence, there is no objection to writing it with modern spelling. What the scholars of recitations added in terms of diacritical marks for clarification did not affect the orthography of the Qur'an, nor did it change a single letter in it.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/83365