Ta'shir (marking the tens in a copy of the Qur'an)

Ta'shir is, in language, taking a tenth of a people's property. In the technical sense it is marking the tens in a copy of the Qur'an, with a ring placed at the end of every ten verses, called the tenth. ¹

Ibn 'Atiyya reports that some histories say al-Ma'mun ordered it, and others that al-Hajjaj did. Qatada said the copies were first dotted, then marked by fives, then by tens. Yahya ibn Abi Kathir said the copies were bare, then dots were added over the letters ba, ta and tha, then marks at the end of verses, and then the openings and closings of the surahs. ^{1 2}

Abu 'Amr al-Dani reports that Ibn Mas'ud disliked the marking and used to scrape it off, and that Mujahid disliked it along with perfume in copies. ² The Hanafis allowed it, as an aid to readers and especially non-Arabs, and called it a good innovation; they held that Ibn Mas'ud's call for a bare Qur'an belonged to his own time. ² The Malikis dislike marking in red or other colours but see no harm in ink, as reported from Ashhab from Malik. ²

Ta'sib: see 'asaba. Ta'qib: see muwala and tata'bu'. Ta'allum: see ta'lim. ²