Mushaf of Ali

By some Shia accounts, the codex of Ali was rejected for official use after the death of Muhammad in 632 CE for political reasons.

[6][7][3] This preoccupation of Ali with his codex thus justifies in some Sunni sources his widely-rumored absence in the Saqifa meeting where Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) was elected caliph after Muhammad died.

The Islamicist Hossein Modarressi therefore suggests that this latter group of reports was circulated to imply consensus over the choice of Abu Bakr.

This rejection may have in turn compelled Ali to withdraw his codex in protest, similar to Abd-Allah ibn Mas'ud, another companion who stood aloof when Uthman prepared his recension.

[12][13][14] The codex would be finally revealed with the reappearance of their Hidden Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi,[15] who is expected to eradicate injustice and evil at the end of time.

[20][13][21] Such reports can be found in Kitab al-Qira'at by the ninth-century Shia exegete Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Sayyari,[17][22] even though he has been widely accused of connections to the Ghulat (lit.

In some letters attributed to them by al-Kulayni, the Shia imams also reportedly advised their followers to be content with the Uthmanid codex until the reappearance of al-Mahdi.

[36][37] The Twelver jurist Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei (d. 1992) and some others have similarly reinterpreted the traditions that may suggest the alteration of the Quran.