The Philosophy of Variation: From Early Qur’anic Manuscripts to Socio-Economic Systems

 

This piece is more of an idea—a reflection of my long-standing thoughts on the theme of variation across different natural and social disciplines. Working with early Qur’anic manuscripts has led me to a central realization: life is essentially a human quest for a controlled level of variation, both in our individual daily lives and within society at large.

I debated whether to write this in Bosnian or English, but I settled on English. This morning, I listened to a conversation with Dr. Hythem Sidky on the Near East by Midwest podcast. He discussed how the study of early Qur’anic manuscripts serves as a bridge where natural and social sciences—specifically mathematics and history—can collaborate. My intention is not to review his interview, but rather to reflect on a specific part of his research: how quantitative models of different writing styles in early mus’hafs (manuscripts) allow for historical contextualization and the tracking of controlled variation.

We must not forget—and this is my primary thesis—that the Qur’anic text emerged during Late Antiquity. This was an epoch characterized by the transition of the written word into a world defined by orality, which is inherently a world of variations. The development of script naturally followed the creation of semi-oral traditions that relied increasingly on a written culture of memory. During this shift, writing evolved from a sectoral tool (used for administration and bureaucracy) into the broader sphere of cultural memory (encompassing religion, literature, and politics). It was then that writing became a domain of creativity—a tool for innovation, but also a mechanism for preserving stability and continuity.

Throughout this process, the discourse on variation constantly resurfaces. When discussing the Qur’anic text, we are looking at textual variations that are, crucially, highly controlled. As Sidky notes, we are currently in a "golden age" of studying early Qur’anic materials. However, what is missing, in my view, is an attempt to add a vital third segment to the path between quantitative measurement and historical contextualization: the philosophy of variation.

Philosophy strives for a clearly structured way of thinking where nothing remains unexamined. Regarding the history of the Qur’anic text, the tradition of the Seven Ahruf is, in essence, a tradition of variations. We see these variations everywhere; indeed, the most serious studies across various disciplines are now based on the study of variation. I will cite two examples: one from economics and the other from the study of war crimes.

In the book How China Escaped the Poverty Trap by Yuen Yuen Ang, economic development is viewed through a contextual and co-evolutionary lens. Co-evolution does not treat the relationship between the state and the market as a conflict; instead, it sees them as two organisms that cooperate, adapt to one another, and evolve over time. The three core components of this co-evolutionary development are variation, selection, and niche creation.

Variation implies a flexible relationship between central authorities and local actors regarding how specific goals are achieved. Although China is a one-party state, it is not strictly centralist; much occurs in a decentralized manner, following the specificities of regions and lower levels of government. These specificities are the "variations." This is followed by "selection"—a process of bureaucratic rewards for results achieved by various state bodies—and "niche creation," which involves adapting to regional diversities and turning a region's strengths and weaknesses into advantages. China is essentially a state of paradox, where the centralization of goals exists in direct correlation with their decentralized execution. Yuen Ang calls this "directed improvisation": central reformers provide the direction, while local actors improvise the path.

Similarly, in the book Violence as a Generative Force: Identity, Nationalism and Memory in a Balkan Community, Max Bergholz uses the idea of variation to move beyond flat, one-dimensional explanations of ethnic groups or political cultures. By studying violence in Kulen-Vakuf during World War II, he contextualizes killings at a micro-level, tracking temporal and geographical variations. He asks: "What made it possible for some to save their neighbors?" Instances of rescue vary greatly from place to place; to understand them clearly, one must observe these variations.

The same applies to the history of the Qur’anic text. Variations are a fundamental focus for scholars. These are not "errors," because they are grounded within a system. Errors are actions that fall outside both the oral and written systems of the Qur’anic text. Variations, however—which are mostly neutral in meaning—represent the very core of the Text.

In this regard, we lack a thorough philosophy of variation for the Qur’anic text—works that are philosophically dedicated to providing precise insights and theoretical explanations as to why variation is essential to the text itself. Furthermore, we need an awareness of how to recognize variation in daily life across different disciplines. The nurtured space of controlled textual variation gave rise to the Islamic tradition of the Seven Ahruf. The mus’hafs that Uthman distributed to different regions represented regional variations of reciting the Qur’an. These regionalisms established just enough diversity that the Islamic tradition realized itself as a significantly decentralized religion with multiple centers of power, representing a form of proto-democratic tradition.

Whether we speak of genetic variations, temporal and geographical variations of violence, economic systems, or the textual variations of a sacred text, the essence is the same: our world is built on a multitude of variables within which variations emerge. Subsequently, systems and institutions arise that either attempt to abolish the idea of variation or seek to accept and control it.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, recent scholarship regarding the study of the Qur’anic text remains largely outdated. It will take time for someone here to truly sense the shifts currently happening in this field. Even on the global stage, while there are many excellent studies, they are predominantly technical or quantitative. What is still missing is, as I have said, a profound philosophy of variation that would accompany the historical development of manuscripts and the evolution of the qira'at (recitations). 

Furthermore, with a clear philosophy of variation, it is much easier to simultaneously understand the philosophy of invariance. While writing these lines, I recalled that Robert Nozick wrote a book years ago titled Invariances: The Structure of the Objective World, in which he explores the existence of objective ethical truths. My opinion is that, through a theory of systematically controlled variation, one can much better understand why certain things are open to variation while others remain fixed. It is particularly crucial today to recognize which social and cultural spaces are open to such variations; indeed, modern conflicts within societies of the same cultural sphere often stem precisely from the imposition of control mechanisms over the permissible scope of variation, depending on the subject matter at hand.