The Qur'an that Muslims study and recite today is the same that was revealed to the Prophet of Islam fourteen centuries ago. The Qur'an, no doubt, has been reliably transmitted and preserved like no other book in human history. However, those unaware of the history of preservation and compilation of the Qur'an, often hold the opinion that not a letter has been misplaced from the original text. This argument, without some respectable knowledge about the history of the Qur'anic text, can easily be refuted. Therefore, it is important for Muslims to acquaint themselves with at least a brief history of how the Qur'an was collected and compiled into the book that we read today.
The preservation of the Qur'an can be described in 3 major phases. The first and the primary phase was during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad, while the later phases include the measures taken by the companions of the Prophet and his successors to ensure the preservation of the Book of Allah without any corruption.
Revelation during Prophet's lifetime
The Prophet received the verses of the Qur'an over a period of 23 years. Since the revelations kept coming, the last being revealed a few days before the death of the Prophet, therefore it would not have been possible within the life of the Prophet, to compile the verses of the Qur'an into a standard book. Nevertheless, the two reliable modes through which the Prophet transmitted the Qur'an to his companions were oral mode, as well as written mode. Let us look into how the Qur'an was transmitted through these modes.
1). Oral tradition
Before we discuss this mode of transmittance, let us know a little of the background of the Arab culture. We know for a fact that the Arabs were a community, a majority of which could neither read nor write. The Qur'an in more than one instance also addresses the Prophet with the word "ummyi" i.e. someone who cannot read nor write.
"So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided." [Qur'an 7:158]
In our contemporary understanding, calling someone "ummyi" or unlettered is not a matter of pride. However, for the Arabs, the case was different. They boasted of themselves as people who did not read or write. They were too proud of their characteristic. The reason for this was because they possessed an outstanding ability to memorize whatever they read. Young kids would memorize entire volumes of poetries and works of literature. Only a handful knew how to read and write, while the majority relied confidently on their memorization power.
Whenever the Prophet received any verse or chapter of the Qur'an, he would recite it to his people, who in return would memorize it and transmit it to the other Muslims. History of the Qur'anic text by Al A'zami lists more than 39 companions who had memorized the entire Qur'an directly from the Prophet. This list only includes the major and prominent teachers of the Qur'an. Another mention of a group of seventy men who had memorized and taught the Qur'an and its recitation during the time of the Prophet can be found in Sahih al Bukhari [4090]. This practice of memorizing and teaching the recitation of the Qur’an became embedded within the culture and the Qur’an was passed on in the same manner, generation after generation, to this day.
2). Written mode
The Qur'an was not only orally conveyed by the Prophet, but several scribes were responsible for writing down the verses in the presence of the Prophet. After a scribe would write down the verse(s), the Prophet would then ask him to read out what he has written and ensured that whatever was written down was the same as revealed from Allah. As many as sixty-five scribes were responsible for writing down the Qur'an. All of their names and records are still preserved in Kuttab Al-Nabi: Scribes of the Prophet.
Aban b. Sa'td, Abo Urnama, Abo Ayyub al-Ansari, Abo Bakr as-Siddiq, Abo Hudhaifa, Abo Sufyan, Abo Salama, Abo 'Abas, Ubayy b. Ka'b, alArgam, Usaid b. al-Hudair, Aus, Buraida, Bashlr; Thabit b. Qais, Ja'far b. Abt Talib,Jahm b. Sa'd, Juhaim, Hatib, Hudhaifa, Husain, Hanzala, Huwaitib, Khalid b. Sa'ld, Khalid b. al-Walid, az-Zubair b. al-IAwwam, Zubair b. Argam, Zaid b. Thabit, Sa'd b. ar-Rabl', Sa'd b. 'Ubada, Sa'Id b. Sa'Id, Shurahbil b. Hasna, Talha, 'knir b. Fuhaira, 'Abbas, 'Abdullah b. al-Argam, 'Abdullah b. Abl Bakr, 'Abdullah b. Rawaha, 'Abdullah b. Zaid, 'Abdullah b. Sa'd, 'Abdullah b. 'Abdullah, 'Abdullah b. 'Amr, 'Uthman b. 'Affan, 'Uqba, al-'Ala' al-Hadrami, al-'Ala' b. 'Uqba, 'All b. Abl Talib, 'Umar b. al-Khattab, 'Amr b. al-'A~, Muhammad b. Maslama, Mu'adh b.Jabal, Mu'awiya, Ma'n b. 'Adl, Mu'aiqib, Mughira, Mundhir, Muhajir and Yazld b. Abl Sufyan. [History of Qur'anic text, p.68]
This practice of writing down the verses of the Qur'an prevailed from the early Meccan era. A shred of simple evidence to this can be found in the story of the conversion of Hazrat Umar (r.a) which mentions a parchment that Umar (r.a.) read the verses of the Qur'an from. The incident is recorded in several history books and is considered to be one of the turning points in the history of Islam.
'Umar hurried to his brother-in-law's house, where Khabbab was reciting suraTaHa to them from a parchment. At the sound of 'Umar's voice, Khabbab hid in a small room, while Fatima took the parchment and placed it under her thigh..."[Ibn Hisham, Sira, vol. 1-2, pp. 343-46]
Therefore, there remains no doubt that the Qur'an had been transmitted both orally and through scribes, in its entirety during the lifetime of the Prophet. Every year, during the month of Ramadan, the Prophet would recite the entire Qur'an, while in his last year, he recited the entire Qur'an twice.
Gabriel used to repeat the recitation of the Qur'an with the Prophet (ﷺ) once a year, but he repeated it twice with him in the year he died. The Prophet (ﷺ) used to stay in I'tikaf for ten days every year (in the month of Ramadan), but in the year of his death, he stayed in I'tikaf for twenty days. [Sahih al-Bukhari 4998]
Zaid ibn Thabit, who we shall see ahead in this article, played a key role in the preservation of the Qur'an, was present on this occasion when the Prophet recited the entire Qur'an. In fact, Zaid (r.a.) himself recited the entire Qur'an to the Prophet twice, during the year in which the Prophet passed away. This is indeed why we shall eventually see that the companions relied upon Zaid and made him in charge of the responsibility for the compilation of the Qur'an.
Today, memorizing the entire Qur'an, even by non Arab, seems no more to be a matter of extraordinary significance. This tradition of memorizing the Book of Allah carries an unbreakable chain that can be traced from a present-day hafiz, all the way back to the companions and ultimately to the Prophet himself! This was indeed how the last Prophet conveyed the final message of the Book of Allah to his people, to be further conveyed to the rest of the world.
Compilation by Abu Bakr (r.a.)
During the reign of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, the battle of Yalmama took place wherein the Muslims suffered a heavy loss of lives. Among the martyrs were a good number of Muslims who had memorized the Qur'an. This created concern in the mind of Umar r.a. who realized that the Qur'an needs to be collected into one book in order to ensure that it be preserved for the coming generations of the ummah. He went ahead with this concern to discuss it with the then caliphate, Abu Bakr r.a. Initially Abu Bakr was reluctant to do something that the Prophet never did in his lifetime. However, he soon realized that there was no harm in doing it and that it would be in the welfare of the whole ummah.
The incident has been narrated by Zaid bin Thabit who was given the main responsibility of collecting all the parchments with the verses of the Qur'an written upon. Only those parchments on which the verses were written in the presence of the Prophet were accepted. At least two witnesses were to testify that the parchment was written in the presence of the Prophet. The utmost care that was taken in collecting the verses and chapters of Qur'an is reflected in the fact that Zaid bin Thabit was one of those companions who had memorized the entire Qur'an directly from the Prophet, yet he did not rely solely on his own memory but collected the verses with a general consensus and agreement of the whole ummah.
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 Quran 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. [Sahih al Bukhari Volume 6, Book 61, Number 509]
In this way, the complete Qur'an was reliably collected and compiled into a single book within two years after the death of the Prophet (s.a.w), by the same people who had learnt and written down the verses and chapters directly from the Prophet. This stayed up until the time when Uthman bin Affan realized the need for another major step to be taken towards ensuring the preservation of the Qur'an. To learn about what was the need during the time of Uthman r.a. and how he carried out this huge responsibility,
continue reading Preservation of Qur'an - Part 2
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