Compilation of the Qur'an

Qur'an

Compilation of Qur'an

🖋 Scribes

Who were the scribes of the Prophet?

  • They were among the closest Companions of the Prophet.
  • They included the four Rightly Guided Caliphs and other leading Companions:
    • Zayd ibn Thabit
    • Abdullah ibn Mas'ud
    • Khalid ibn Walid
  • They were always near the Prophet to ensure the revelations were written down at an early point.
    • There was always a scribe on hand to take down a revelation from the Prophet.
  • They came to know the Qur’an well, and were able to check the truthfulness of copies.
  • Their work assisted the memorization of the Qur’an.

Outline the tasks performed by the Prophet’s scribes during his lifetime.

1) Qur'an

  • The Qur’an was written in its entirety during the Prophet’s time even though it was not compiled in one text. There were various scribes who had different roles as companions, who wrote the verses down on a number of materials.
    • They wrote down portions of verses on animal skins, bones and palm leaves.
  • They took down the revelations as the Prophet dictated them.
    • The revelation was received by the Prophet Muhammad from the Angel Jibril aurally as he could not read or write.
    • They assisted him because he was illiterate.
  • The Prophet used to instruct the scribes about the sequence in which a revealed message was to be placed in a particular Sura (chapter). In this manner, the Prophet arranged the text of the Qur’an in a systematic order till the end of the chain of revelations.
    • They re-ordered the revelations and inserted new ones as the Prophet directed them to.
  • Hadiths:
    Zayd ibn Thabit reported, “We used to record the Qur’an from parchments in the presence of the Messenger of God. “Some companions, who did not write down the revelations, had memorized them instead and their versions were used to verify the written copies after the Prophet’s death."
    Zayd bin Thabit, one of the chief scribes relates: "I used to write down the revelation for the Holy Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. When the revelation came to him he felt intense heat and drops of perspiration used to roll down his body like pearls. When this state was over I used to fetch a shoulder bone or a piece of something else. He used to go on dictating and I used to write it down. When I finished writing the sheer weight of transcription gave me the feeling that my leg would break and I would not be able to walk anymore. When I finished writing, he would say, 'Read!' and I would read it back to him. If there was an omission or error he used to correct it and then let it be brought before the people."
  • A number of companions had their own personal copies of the words of the revelations, which were later used to verify the one copy in the time of Abu Bakr.
  • Companions who kept a private record of the text of the Qur'an satisfied themselves as to the purity of their record by reading it out to the Prophet.

2) Hadiths

  • Some of them were official scribes who wrote letters for him (for example Ubayy ibn Ka’ab) whilst some became scribes because they kept their own personal copies of the revelations for example ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As.
    • He sought the Messenger’s specific permission asking, ‘May I write down everything I hear from you in the states of contentment and anger?’ He replied, ‘Yes, for I speak nothing but the truth.’

3) Documents

  • Some of the tasks of the scribes were writing letters and treaties, for example Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was his regular scribe in charge of writing and responding to letters.
  • He was one of the scribes who wrote down all the Revelation as well as Zayd bin Thabit, who the Messenger commanded to learn how to write Hebrew so that he could respond on his behalf to those who wrote to him in that language.
  • ‘Ali was also an important scribe and wrote treaties for the Prophet.

Describe the significance of the Scribes.

  • They ensured there was a written record of the revelations.
  • The Prophet could not read or write.
  • This assisted the memories of those who memorized the Qur’an.
  • Without their written records the Qur’an may have been lost after the Prophet’s time.
  • The written passages they produced formed the basis of the standard collection of the Qur’an made under Abu Bakr and ‘Uthman.

Trace the major stages in the compilation of the Qur’an in the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.

Abu Bakr (RA)

  • Hadiths about Qur'an Compilation
    Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Abu Bakr As-Siddiq sent for me when the people! of Yamama had been killed (i.e., a number of the Prophet's Companions who fought against Musailama). (I went to him) and found Umar bin Al- Khattab sitting with him. Abu Bakr then said (to me),Umar has come to me and said: Casualties were heavy among the Qurra' of the Qur'an (i.e. those who knew the Qur'an by heart) on the day of the Battle of Yalmama, and I am afraid that more heavy casualties may take place among the Qurra' on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qur'an may be lost. Therefore I suggest, you (Abu Bakr) order that the Qur'an be collected. I said to Umar, How can you do something which Allah's Apostle did not do? Umar said, By Allah, that is a good project. Umar kept on urging me to accept his proposal till Allah opened my chest for it and I began to realize the good in the idea which Umar had realized. Then Abu Bakr said (to me). 'You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle. So you should search for (the fragmentary scripts of) the Qur'an and collect it in one book). By Allah If they had ordered me to shift one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qur'an. Then I said to Abu Bakr, How will you do something which Allah's Apostle did not do? Abu Bakr replied, By Allah, it is a good project. Abu Bakr kept on urging me to accept his idea until Allah opened my chest for what He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and Umar. So I started looking for the Qur'an and collecting it from (what was written on) palmed stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it by heart, till I found the last Verse of Surat at-Tauba (Repentance) with Abi Khuzaima Al-Ansari, and I did not find it with anybody other than him. The Verse is: 'Verily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty..(till the end of Surat-Baraa' (at-Tauba) (9.128-129) Then the complete manuscripts (copy) of the Qur'an remained with Abu Bakr till he died, then with Umar till the end of his life, and then with Hafsa, the daughter of Umar.

Battle of Yamama

  • Abu Bakr waged a war against Musaylamah and around 360 companions died in the battle of Yamama.
    • 70 of the Shaheed were Hafiz of the Qur'an

Umar (RA) persuaded Abu Bakr to make the compilation

  • Umar ibn Al-Khattab expressed his great worry that some verses of the Qur’an might be forgotten due to the death of companions in battle or old age.
  • He suggested to Abu Bakr that the Qur’an should be compiled in one book for the future generations.
    • Abu Bakr was hesitant in the beginning, because as he said, “This is something not done by the Prophet.”
    • Umar argued that under the circumstances this was an absolute necessity, and eventually Abu Bakr agreed.
    • Abu Bakr said to Umar, "How can you do something which Allah's Apostle did not do? "
    • Umar said, "By Allah, that is a good project."
    • Umar kept on urging Abu Bakr to accept his proposal till Allah opened his chest for it and he began to realize the good in the idea which Umar had realized.
  • Then Abu Bakr said to Zayd ibn Thabit: 'You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle. So you should search for (the fragmentary scripts of) the Qur'an and collect it in one book).'
  • Then I said to Abu Bakr: "How will you do something which Allah's Apostle did not do?"
  • Abu Bakr replied, By Allah, it is a good project. Abu Bakr kept on urging me to accept his idea until Allah opened my chest for what He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and Umar.

Abu Bakr and Zayd ibn Thabit

  • Zayd's Methodology:
    1. Abu Bakr issued a general decree requesting that all Muslims, who had copies of written verses (recited to them by the Prophet himself), to bring such verses to the Prophet’s masjid (in Madina), had to have (1) been written down in the presence of the Prophet (2) along with two reliable witnesses.
    1. The written materials, attested by two witnesses, were also compared with oral recitation of the noted qurra’ for correctness, coherence and consistency.
    1. The verses and chapters of the text were written in the order assigned to them by the Prophet.
    Zayd ibn Thabit reports: "By Allah If they had ordered me to shift one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qur'an. "
  • The suras were written on separate sheets, but not in order, and was kept with Abu Bakr, and after his death, Umar, and after his death, Umar's daughter, Hafsa.
    • This copy of the Qur’an came to be known as Mushaf al-Umm.

'Uthman (RA)

Different version of the Qur'an

  • Under 'Uthman it became known that different forms (dialects) of the Qur'an were being circulated.
  • Hudhaifa reported to ‘Uthman that new converts in different areas, in particular in Armenia and Azerbaijan, were reciting the Qur’an in a different dialect.
  • Disputes rose among these people and some of them insisted that their style of recitation was correct and the others were not.
  • Uthman took immediate action and he declared that the Muslims should unite on a uniform way of recitation.

Zayd ibn Thabit and Uthman

  • A commitee was appointed and headed by Zaid bin Thabit and its members were 12 companions. Among them was Ubayy bin Ka'b.
  • They took great care, consulting widely and checking the text against memories
  • This team made several copies from the original text and made sure the surahs, too, were arranged in order.
    • They referred to the collection in the keeping of Hafsa.
  • The Prophet was from the Quraish, the Quran had been revealed in that dialect, and it was felt that this was the right dialect for the recitation of the Qur’an.
  • Instructions were also given that in the future, copies should be made only from the official text.
  • Uthman then checked and approved the final version.
  • He ordered all other copies of the Qur'an to be destroyed.

Distribution of copies

  • The Qur’an was read out loudly from the beginning to the end in the Prophet’s mosque from these copies, so that not a shadow of doubt remained in anyone’s mind that changes had been introduced in the text.
  • These copies were sent to the capital city of every province of the Muslim states with a teacher to teach how to recite the Qur’an properly and correctly.
  • 'Uthman is known as the Jami' al-Quran which means that he brought the Muslims around to a uniform reading of the Quran.
  • The Quran that is being read today is the same as in the time of Abu Bakr.
  • Nothing has been added or deleted from it and the arrangement of the chapters and verses are in the same order as proclaimed by the Holy Prophet, in accordance with Divine instructions.

Why did these Caliphs think it was important to make a compilation of the Qur’an?

Abu Bakr (RA)

  • Abu Bakr came to see that the Qur’an could not be kept in memories alone.
  • Although the Prophet had not made a written compilation, Abu Bakr realised that this would have to be done if the authentic Qur’an was to be preserved.
  • Confusion might arise throughout the Muslim world regarding the exact number of verses and surahs of the Quran as well as the possibility of several verses or surahs of the Qur'an being lost.
    • If the future generations of the Muslims had no single copy of the Quran, they might be misled as the Quran is the basis of all thought and action for the Muslims.

Uthman (RA)

  • There were different, competing versions of the Qur’an in different parts of the Islamic Empire, like
  • Disputes rose among these people and some of them insisted that their style of recitation was correct and the others were not.
  • There was a danger of the growth of sects amongst Muslims regarding the way of recitation because every group insisted that their dialect was the correct one and the others were wrong.
  • `Uthman realised that the original message might be lost.
    • If different versions were allowed to exist the original meaning might no longer survive.
    • Muslims would not have a single source of guidance.
    • Rival interpretations might break the unity of the community.
    • Only the original revelation given to the Prophet could preserve unity.

Significance of having the Qur'an as a single book.

  • Ensures there is only one standard copy of the Qur'an
    • Lessens the likelihood of it being reproduced with mistakes.
    • Ensures that there are no conflicting versions of the Qur'an
      • If different versions were allowed to exist the original meaning might no longer survive.
      • Muslims would not have a single source of guidance.
      • Rival interpretations might break the unity of the community.
      • Only the original revelation given to the Prophet could preserve unity.
  • The Qur‘an needed to be compiled for future generation who would not learn it by heart or would not have Arabic as their first language.
    • Even those who do not speak Arabic can read it and get the rewards
  • It gives Muslims around the world access to the Qur’an that they would not otherwise have if they are not in a position to memorise it.
    • Copies can be carried by individuals.
    • The availability of the written form of the Qur’an digitally, gives easy access to Muslims.
  • If the Qur’an had not been collected into book form, parts may have been lost.
  • Suggests unity between Muslims.
    • Old Qur’ans such as the one that was found in Birmingham, allow Muslims to authenticate that the written copies of the early Muslims are the same as the ones now. It gives a greater sense of connection to the faith when you can see things from that time.
    • They use the same book, they read it in its original language even if that language is not their own.

Zayd ibn Thabit and the Glorious Quran
Zayd ibn Thabit and the Glorious Qur'an by Mohamad K. Yusuff Introduction: In any systematic study of the history of Islam covering the past 1,420 years A.H., an objective reader of history will encounter varied classes of eminent Muslim men and women scattered across the vast geography of the then Islamic empire.
https://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_251_300/zayd_ibn_thabit_and_the_glorious.htm

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