Shaykh Uthman Taha

Famous for his copy of the Mushaf commonly referred to as the 'Madani Mushaf', the Master calligrapher Shaykh Dr Uthman bin Abduh bin Hussain bin Taha al-Halabi was born in Syria and now is a Saudi national, resident in the city of Madina.

Shaykh Uthman Taha was born in the village of Muthammanah, 60 km from the city of Aleppo in 1352 AH (1934). During his early years, he worked as a shepherd for his grandfather's flock and continues to be proud of his heritage.

His father was Shaykh Abduh Hussain Taha, an Imam and Khatib of a masjid. 
Shaykh Uthman Taha studied his primary, middle and secondary education in the city of Aleppo in the Kulliyah al-Shariyyah al-Khasrawiyyah and it was during this time that he studied with calligraphy masters in the city, amongst them: Muhammad Ali al-Mawlawi, Muhammad al-Khatib, Hussain Hasani al-Turki, Abd al-Jawwad al-Khattat and Ibrahim al-Rifai.

Shaykh Uthman studied his undergraduate studies at the University of Damascus graduating with a License in Islamic Law in 1964 and went on to gain a Diploma from the Faculty of Education from the same institution in 1965.
Shaykh Uthman Taha commented,

"My ability in calligraphy became apparent from a young age, I learned the fundamentals of calligraphy from my father who was skilled in the Ruqah script.  I would look at the calligraphy on the book spines in my father's library and ask him about the different scripts, their names and how they were written.  My father asked me: Why do you ask about them, ya Uthman, do you wish to write a mushaf?This thought entered my heart and I began to copy the calligraphic styles in books and was able to imitate printed text accurately.  I scribed a text in Arabic grammar and a poem in aqida when I was 8 years old, (and I have preserved this text in my library)."

Shaykh Uthman Taha has written the mushaf more than 13 times, all of these in the Uthmani script. 
His first mushaf was written and distributed by the Ministry of Awqaf in Syria in 1970.
His second mushaf was written in the riwayah of Hafs for Dar al-Shamiya.

Shaykh Uthman was appointed to the King Fahd Quran organisation in Madina in 1988 and hundreds of millions of copies of his written Quran have been distributed around the world. He began with the riwaya of Warsh and then Hafs.

Shaykh Uthman Taha mentioned that the writing of a mushaf can take 2.5 to 3 years and that he writes whilst being in a state of wudu and not mixing extensively with people to ensure his mind is clear. He also adds that,

"Once I wanted to begin scribing, so I gathered paper, ink, pens and all that I required.  When I wished to scribe, then pen would not write anything. I tried a number of times but without success.  I then remembered I was not in a state of wudu, so I made wudu and then tried again, and the pen wrote immediately."

From Faraid al-Juman p.149 onwards