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Uthmani and IndoPak Script: What Differs
The Uthmani and IndoPak styles write the same Quran with different vowel signs, letter shapes and margin marks. The words and recitation are identical.
What is the difference between Uthmani and IndoPak script?
They are two ways of writing the same text. Both follow the same consonantal spelling, the rasm of the early copies made under the caliph Uthman. They differ in the system of vowel and reading signs added to it, in the shapes of some letters, and in the marks printed in the margin. The Uthmani style is standard in the Arab world and in the Madinah mushaf; the IndoPak style is standard in South Asia. The words, their order and how they are recited are the same in both.
One text, two sets of signs
Arabic is written with consonants, and the vowels and reading instructions are added as small signs above and below the line. The consonantal skeleton of the Quran, the rasm, goes back to the copies made under the caliph Uthman, and both styles keep it. What differs is the layer of signs added for the reader: the shapes used for the vowelless mark and for some vowels, how lengthened vowels are shown, and which pronunciation details are written out rather than left to the reader's training. IndoPak printings generally spell out more of these details on the page.
Letter shapes and layout
The two styles also differ in calligraphy. IndoPak printings use a heavier style with some letters shaped differently, which readers trained on one style notice at once in the other. Page layouts differ too: the Madinah mushaf has 15 lines on each of its 604 pages, while IndoPak editions are printed with 13, 15 or 16 lines a page, so the same passage falls on a different page number in each.
Margins and divisions
IndoPak printings mark the ruku, a section of a surah, with the letter ‘ayn in the margin, which the Madinah mushaf does not; the Madinah mushaf marks the quarters of each hizb with the ۞ sign. A few juz also begin at different verses. In the Madinah mushaf juz 23 begins at Ya-Sin 36:28, while many IndoPak editions begin it at 36:22.
The script on this site
This site displays the Uthmani text published by Tanzil, with the page, juz and hizb divisions of the Madinah mushaf. If you learned to read from an IndoPak copy, the words will be the same and in the same order; only the signs and letter shapes will look different.
Common questions
Is the IndoPak Quran different from the Uthmani Quran?
No. The words, their order and their recitation are the same. The difference is in how the text is written: the vowel and reading signs, the shapes of some letters, and the page layout.
Why is it called Uthmani?
After the caliph Uthman, under whom the standard copies of the Quran were made. The term properly refers to the spelling of those copies, which IndoPak printings follow as well; in everyday use, Uthmani script has come to mean the Arab-world style of the Madinah mushaf.
Why do some juz start at different verses?
Because the division into juz was set by later scholars and printers, and the traditions settled on slightly different points in a few places. Juz 23 is the best-known case: it begins at Ya-Sin 36:28 in the Madinah mushaf and at 36:22 in many IndoPak editions.
What is a 15-line Quran?
A printing with 15 lines on every page. The Madinah mushaf has 15 lines, and so do common IndoPak editions, but their page breaks differ, so a page number in one does not match the other.
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