Did al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf Canonise the Quran?: Evaluating a Revisionist Hypothesis - Dr. Joshua Little

In this episode of 'Real Talk with Terron and Roxanna,' we're excited to have Dr. Joshua Little return with an in-depth presentation. He examines a revisionist hypothesis regarding the canonization of the Quran, investigating the theory that it was an initiative carried out by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the governor of Iraq under the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik. Dr. Little will scrutinize both Muslim and non-Muslim literary sources to see if the hypothesis stands up to critical examination.

2:43 - Table of Contents
4:18 - Introduction
10:15 - Part 1: The Historical Context
10:24 - Political Chronology
14:33 - al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqafi
18:03 - Part 2: Manuscripts and Canonisation
18:15 - The Manuscript Evidence
23:38 - Evidence from Quranic Scholarship
29:41 - Evident Canonisation
32:36 - The Bounds for Canonisation
34:00 - Part 3: Accounts of al-Hajjaj and the Quran
34:08 - Muslim Sources / Christian Sources
34:16 - John of Damascus (c. 730 CE)
45:52 - The Monk of Beth Hale (late 8th / early 9th C. CE)
49:24 - Pseudo-Leo (late 8th or late 9th C. CE)
54:55 - Pseudo-Abraham (c. 813-833 CE)
55:39 - al-Kindi (9th C. CE?)
57:28 - Summary of Christian Accounts
58:14 - Ali b. Mushir (d. 804-805 CE)
1:00:05 - Abu Bakr b. ‘Ayyash (d. 809 CE)
1:00:55 - Muhammad b. Fudayl (d. 810-811 CE)
1:01:46 - Ibn Zabalah (d. post-814 CE)
1:02:47 - ‘Abbad b. Suhayb (d. post-817 CE)
1:05:06 - al-Sahmi (d. 823 CE)
1:05:54 - Ibn Shabbah (d. 876 CE)
1:06:45 - Ibn ‘Abd al-Hakam (d. 882 CE)
1:09:18 - al-Baladhuri (d. post-883 CE)
1:09:51 - Ibn Qutayba (d. 889 CE)
1:10:19 - Hamzah al-Isfahani (d. 970-971 CE)
1:12:16 - Ibn ‘Atiyyah (d. 1147 CE)
1:13:38 - Summary of the Muslim Accounts
1:14:16 - Sidenote on Sources
1:15:24 - Summary
1:16:16 - Part 4: Arguments for al-Hajjaj as the Canoniser of the Quran
1:16:37 - Note: Three Distinct Hypotheses
1:18:11 - Cont.
1:18:43 - Argument # 1: Early Non-Muslim Silence
1:19:07 - Argument # 2: Lack of Infrastructure and Technology
1:19:36 - Argument # 3: Absence of Pre-Marwanid Qurans
1:20:07 - Argument # 4: Christian Reports
1:20:39 - Argument # 5: Muslim Reports
1:21:04 - Summary
1:21:32 - Part 5: Arguments against al-Hajjaj as the Canoniser of the Quran
1:21:59 - Counter # 1: Non-Muslim Silence = Equivocal
1:24:28 - Cont.
1:26:38 - Counter # 2: Infrastructure and Technology
1:31:08 - Counter # 3: Christian Reports = Dubious
1:32:57 - Counter # 4: Muslim Reports against al-Hajjaj
1:55:23 - Counter # 5: Pre-Marwanid Manuscripts
1:59:42 - Counter # 6: Exegetical Confusion
2:02:05 - Counter # 7: Lack of Anachronisms
2:05:05 - Counter # 8: Pre-Marwanid Manuscript Style
2:07:02 - Counter # 9: Dating + Stemma
2:08:02 - Counter # 10: Anti-Marwanid Sects
2:11:16 - Counter # 11: Hadith Rejectionism
2:17:00 - Summary
2:18:57 - Counters to Re-Canonisation
2:22:39 - Part 6: What Actually Happened? Tying in all the evidence
2:22:46 - Explaining the Evidence
2:23:52 - What Likely Happened
2:26:42 - Loose Ends
2:28:55 - Conclusion/Summary
2:30:05 - Q&A + Discussion

For those who are interested in exploring more of Dr. Little's work, I highly recommend visiting his website, https://islamicorigins.com/ I find it extremely useful, particularly for its in-depth content on topics related to hadith.