Beyond the ʿUthmānic Codex: the Role of Self-Similarity in Preserving the Textual Integrity of the Qurʾān

Abstract Self-similarity is the most pervasive feature of the Qurʾān and demands an explanation. Western scholarship generally maintains that self-similarity indicates the Qurʾān’s oral origins. In contrast, this article argues that self-similarity is evidence of an initial written origin of the Qurʾān that played a crucial role in giving the text its distinct identity and safeguarding it from corruption. The article is divided into three sections. The first introduces the concept of self-similarity, briefly defining it and reviewing Western scholarship that has dealt with self-similarity. The second section examines how self-similarity functions within the Qurʾān by analyzing eleven samples of parallel passages, thereby substantiating the study’s central claim. The third section concludes that the Qurʾān was not subject to later editing and that the ʿUthmānic Codex was copied from an earlier written exemplar.