List of archeological scripts manuscripts today. Which is the official “original” script?
A) Samarkand Manuscript Kept by Ali ibn Abu Talib in Samarkand, captured by the Russians and now in Tashken, Uzbekistan. Being said to have stains of Caliph Uthman's blood. It is written in the Kufic script.
However, it is not at all a complete document. In fact, out of the 114 suras found in today's Qur'ans, only parts of suras 2 to 43 are included. Of these suras much of the text is missing. The actual inscription of the text in the Samarkand codex presents a real problem, as it is very irregular. Some pages are neatly and uniformly copied out while others are quite untidy and imbalanced.
b) Topkapi Manuscript
The manuscript in Kufic script is in Topkapi Museum, Istanbul. It was also written on parchment, and devoid of vocalization. Like the Samarkand MSS it is supplemented with ornamental medallions indicating a later age. Muslims claim that this too must be one of the original copies, if not the original one compiled by Zaid ibn Thabit. Yet comparison with the Samarkand codex to realize that they most certainly CANNOT BOTH be Uthmanic originals.
For instance, the Istanbul's Topkapi codex has 18 lines to the page whereas the Samarkand codex in Tashkent has only half that many, between 8 and 12 lines to the page; the Istanbul codex is inscribed throughout in a very formal manner, the words and lines quite uniformly written out, while the text of the Samarkand codex is often haphazard and considerably distorted. One cannot believe that both these manuscripts were copied out by the same scribes.
c) al-Khatt al-Kufi ScriptFound in Kufa, Iraq dating back to 790s. Martin Lings and Yasin Hamid Safadi said that it is unlikely to be the original script, since Arabic was not the predominant language and writing in Iraq during that time.
The Kufic script reached its perfection during the late eighth century (up to 150 years after Muhammad's death) and thereafter it became widely used throughout the Muslim world.
This makes sense, since after 750 A.D. the Abbasids controlled Islam, and due to their Persian background were headquartered in the Kufa and Baghdad areas. They would thus have wanted their script to dominate.
Having been themselves dominated by the Umayyads (who were based in Damascus) for around 100 years, it would now be quite understandable that an Arabic script which originated in their area of influence, such as the Kufic script, would evolve into that which we find in these two documents mentioned here.
d) Ma'il and Mashq Scripts:Ma'il script was developed in the Hijaz, particularly in Mecca and Medina. The Mashq Script was also developed in Medina.
Ma’il script is found in the British Library in London. Dated back to the end of 8th century, by Marin Lings, a practicing Muslim former curator. The al-Ma'il Script came into use in the seventh century and is easily identified, as it was written at a slight angle.
This script survived for about two centuries before falling into disuse. The Mashq Script also began in the seventh century, but continued to be used for many centuries.
It could be the oldest manuscript if Sana'a manuscripts were not found.
e) Sana’a Manuscripts
Fragments from a large number of Qur'an codexes were recently discovered in the Yemen in 1972 and can be considered the earliest source available. They are now lodged in the House of Manuscript in Sana'a. Carbon-14 tests applied to one of the most complete manuscripts date it to 645-690 CE. In all at least forty manuscripts or fragments at Sana'a are believed to date from the 1st century AH.
The leader of the research Gerd R. Puin (commissioned by the Yemen government) examined and revealed unconventional verse orderings, textual variations, and rare styles of orthography which diverges from the authorised later version, refuting the assertion that the Qu'ran is the pure unadulterated word of God. The scriptures were written in the early Hijazi Arabic script, matching the pieces of the earliest Qur'ans known to exist. There were also versions very clearly written over even earlier, faded versions. What the manuscript indicated was an evolving text rather than a text fixed.
More than 15,000 sheets of the Yemeni Qur'ans have painstakingly been cleaned, treated, sorted, and photographed and 35,000 microfilmed photos have been made of the manuscripts. Some of Puin's initial remarks on his findings are found in his essay titled the "Observations on Early Qur'an Manuscripts in San'a" which has been republished in the book What the Koran Really Says by Ibn Warraq.
Conclusion
Virtually all the earliest Qur'anic manuscript fragments which we do possess cannot be dated earlier than 100 years after the time of Muhammad (610 AD), around the 8th century (750AD).
From above mentioned manuscripts, it would seem improbable that portions of the Qur'an supposedly copied out at Uthman's direction have survived, since there is two different claimants (Samarkand and Topkapi). Besides, the Sa'na manuscript written script seem be be written in the Kufic scripts instead of Hijazi script.
What we are left with is the intervening 150 years (from the 610AD to 750AD) for which we cannot account and the slow evolvement of the manuscripts. Its up to the readers to judge whether it is coherent throughout history.
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