Collection of the Qur’an during the era of the Prophet

 

introduction

All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, seek His aid, ask for His forgiveness, and repent to Him. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and the wickedness of our deeds. He whom Allah guides is the rightly guided, and he whom He sends astray - never will you find for him a protector to guide.
We bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, his family, and his followers, as many times as the number of Your creation, as much as is pleasing to Your soul, as much as the weight of Your throne, as much as the ink of Your words, and as much as Your knowledge, whenever those who remember You remember You and the heedless forget to remember You.

Now then..

The entire world, Arabs and non-Arabs, lived before the mission of the Messenger a life full of injustice, darkness, corruption and depravity, until they deserved the hatred and wrath of God, as Imam Muslim said in his Sahih:
“God looked at the people of the earth and hated them, Arabs and non-Arabs alike, except for a remnant of the People of the Book.”

But how vast is the mercy of Allah and how generous is His kindness! He saved this lost humanity from multiple muds and darknesses piled upon each other.
He sent to it the best of mankind ever and revealed to it the best heavenly book known to the people of the earth and the inhabitants of the heavens. He made this book a spirit and a light,
a spirit that restores life to the world and a light that dispels its darkness. Without it, people would be dead, even if they had hearts that beat in their bodies or blood that flows in their veins. Without it, people would live in darkness, even if a shining sun rose above them or a radiant moon shaded them. Allah the Almighty said, {And thus We have revealed to you a spirit of Our command. You did not know what the Book was, nor what faith was, but We have made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants. And indeed, you guide.} To a straight path. (Ash-Shura 52)

The Messenger delivered this Qur’an of his Lord with complete honesty and precision, and he did not pass on to the highest companion until he had completed the mission for which he was created. Then he left the burden of this call to his noble and righteous companions, so they strove in the cause of God with the true striving in action before words, and they did not fear the blame of any blamer for God’s sake until the light of this Qur’an filled all of existence.

Some may think - due to his inherited conversion to Islam - that this Qur’an reached him, his father, or his grandfather without any effort from those noble companions, just as a peeled egg reaches a man reclining on his couch on a golden spoon.
In this thought, he is ignorant of the history of the publication of the Qur’an, and even ignorant of the history of his religion and the religion of his righteous predecessors. The companions offered themselves up to be killed by the dozens in order to teach people verses from the Qur’an of their Lord.

This is a delegation of ten men sent by the Messenger to teach the tribes of Udhl and Qara the Qur’an. When they were on the way, they were betrayed and the matter ended with them all being killed. The last words of one of them, Khabib bin Adi, were:

I do not care when I am killed as a Muslim,
on which side my death was in the cause of God,
and that is in the cause of God, and if He wills,
He may bless my limbs, torn to pieces.

This is another delegation consisting of seventy reciters of the Qur’an, who were also sent by the Messenger to teach some tribes the Qur’an of God Almighty. During the journey, they were all exposed to killing and were killed. The last word uttered by one of them, Haram bin Milhan, when he was stabbed and blood was evident on his face, was that he cried out, saying: I have won, by the Lord of the Kaaba.

And so on, there are dozens of images and dozens of conquests in which thousands of Muslims were martyred for the sake of spreading the Qur’an, to restore to the world its spirit that was taken from it, its light that was extinguished in it, and its dignity that was erased from it.

Motivations for writing on this topic

1- In appreciation of those who brought us this Qur’an, fresh and pure, as it was revealed from the heavens, without any distortion, addition, subtraction, or any other form of distortion.

2- To immortalize their righteous deeds that they have written on the front of history with their souls and blood, about which God Almighty says: “Indeed, it is We who bring the dead to life, and We record what they have put forth and what they left behind, and all things We have enumerated in a clear register.” (Yasin 12).

3- Since the validity of belief is based on the validity of the Qur’anic text.

4- Since the Orientalists and those who follow them, who live in the lands of Islam and who bear Islamic names, devote their energy to forming the Muslims’ understanding of the integrity of the Qur’anic text.

5- Since many young people live in estrangement from their religion, as they do not find anyone who cares about raising them with an Islamic upbringing, as they do not find anyone who cares about educating them with an Islamic culture that protects them against the currents of atheist thought and its followers, many young people have become easy prey to the doubts of those currents.

For all of the above, it was necessary for us to make this modest effort in fulfillment of this debt and to those who carried it for us and sacrificed their lives for it.

I declare my innocence before Allah the Almighty from all power and strength. Whatever is correct in it is from Allah alone, with no partner for Him. Whatever is wrong in it is from me and Satan
. It is enough for me that I have tried hard, and the one who strives gets two rewards if he is right and one reward if he is wrong. We hope to Allah the Almighty that this humble work is
sincerely for His sake, so that we are not deprived of the two rewards.
We also ask Him to benefit its writer, his parents, his teachers, and everyone who reads it, and to make it in the balance of our good deeds, for He is the All-Hearing, the Near, and He is our Master and Supporter. What an excellent Master and Supporter!
Our final supplication is that all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and peace be upon the most honorable of messengers, and upon his family, companions, and those who follow him in righteousness until the Day of Judgment.

Compilation of the Qur’an

Before we define what is meant by the term (compilation of the Qur’an) , it is better for us to know the meaning of compilation in the language. We say:

Al-Fayruz Badi says: “Compilation: is the arrangement of the scattered.”

Al-Raghib Al-Asfahani says: “Compilation: is the joining of something, by bringing some of it closer to some .

It is said: I gathered it so it came together.”

Based on that, compilation in the Arabic language means joining, examining, and encompassing.

If someone says: He gathered the fruits of the palm trees, he means that he examined them thoroughly and gathered some of them together.

Likewise, if he says: I gathered such-and-such knowledge, he means that he examined its roots and branches and encompassed all of its details and aspects.

What is meant by compiling the Qur’an:

If we want to apply this linguistic meaning to the Noble Qur’an, we say that what is meant by collecting it is its verses and surahs and joining some of them together in the known order.

This collection is achieved by one of two means.

The first: by memorizing it in the heart and engraving it in the memory.


This method is indicated by verses and hadiths, including the Almighty’s saying: “Indeed, upon Us is its collection and its recitation.”
Al-Zamakhshari and others said in their interpretation of this verse: “Indeed, upon Us is its collection in your chest and its recitation on your tongue.”

And among them is what was reported from Abdullah bin Amr, who said: “I collected the Qur’an and recited it all in one night. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said : ‘I fear that time will be long for you and that you will get tired, so I will recite it in a month.’ I said: ‘Let me enjoy my strength and youth.’ He said: ‘Then recite it in ten.’ I said: ‘Let me enjoy my strength and youth.’ He said: ‘Recite it in seven.’ I said: ‘Let me enjoy my strength and youth.’ But he refused .

So the saying of Abdullah bin Amr, “I collected the Qur’an,” means that I memorized it by heart.


The second method: to collect the Qur’an is to collect it by writing it down.


This method is indicated by more than one phrase in one hadith, on the tongues of the first and second caliphs of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and on the tongue of one of the scribes of the revelation, where Omar said to Abu Bakr: (And I think that you should order the collection of the Qur’an),
and where Abu Bakr said to Zaid bin Thabit: So follow the Qur’an and collect it.
And where Zaid bin Thabit said:“So I followed the Qur’an and collected it from palm leaves and shoulder blades and the chests of men.”

If we look at the most famous names of the Holy Qur’an, we will find two names at the top of them all.

1- The name (the Qur’an) 2- And the name (the Book) .


The first name refers to its collection through the first method, which is memorization in the chests,
and the second name refers to its collection through the second method, which is memorization in the lines.

Imam Sakhawi says in Jamal al-Qurra’:
The Qur’an is one of the names of this noble book. The Qur’an means gathering, from the saying “I read something,” meaning I gathered it. This is indicated by the words of God Almighty: “So when We have recited it, then follow its recitation,” meaning when We have gathered it, then follow its gathering.

Until He says: “And among its names is the Book. This is because books – with the kaf open and the ta’ still – are the plural. It is said “katab” if one gathers the letters together, and the sons of so-and-so are written – with the first, second, and third open and stressed, meaning they gathered.”


Therefore, the Holy Quran has gathered for it the above-mentioned means of collection and the strongest methods of preservation, protecting it from change and protecting it from human forgetfulness or from the slander of its enemy, so that if an individual or a group has a defect in one of the two aspects - I mean preservation and writing - the other aspect will be found reminding and alerting it.

And if the Quranic text has achieved that lofty status of preservation in the hearts of men and the lines of books, then that is not too much for it, rather this is what is appropriate for it and what is obligatory towards it, as it represents for Muslims the primary source of belief and legislation, and as it is considered the seal of the heavenly books, and there is no book after it until the Day of Judgment, so it was from the mercy of Allah.

Prophetic Assembly

Memorization of the Holy Quran by the Companions, may God be pleased with them

The Holy Qur’an was the companions’ main concern in private and in public, in their travels and in their presence. So they memorized its words and obeyed its commands. In their travels and in their presence, they memorized its words, obeyed its commands, refrained from its prohibitions, took heed from its stories, and were disciplined by its manners.

The Prophet , may God bless him and grant him peace, was the reference for Muslims in their memorization of the Qur’an, their understanding of it, and their understanding of its secrets. However, in memorization, they were not at the same level, but rather at different levels and degrees.

Some of them memorized the entire Quran by heart and wrote it down on the pages of their chests.

Some of them memorized some of it according to their time and free time after the demands of daily life and their constant presence in the presence of the Prophet.

Some of them used to write it down on parchment, palm leaves, and palm fronds, out of fear of losing it or forgetting it. Therefore, we saw that those who memorized the Qur’an and completed it all during his life, may God bless him and grant him peace, or after his death were a large group of men and women. Among the men:

First: Protection from men:

Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Talha , Saad , Ibn Masoud, Abu Hurairah, Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, Amr ibn al-Aas and his son Abdullah, Ibn al-Zubayr, Uqbah ibn Amir, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Muadh ibn Jabal, Zaid ibn Thabit, Abu al-Darda', Anas ibn Malik, Ubadah ibn al-Samit, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Saad ibn Ubadah al-Khazraji al-Ansari, Fadalah ibn Ubaydullah and many others, their number is known only to Allah.
This is in fulfillment of the words of Allah the Almighty: {Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian.} [ Al-Hijr: 9]

Second - Women memorizers:

The Qur’an was not limited to men, but women shared the memorization with men completely, especially after the Qur’an addressed both genders equally.

Allah the Almighty said: {Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who remember - Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a wide mercy.} And a great reward. Al-Ahzab 35.

Just as there were men who memorized the entire Qur’an and others who memorized part of it, so were women. Some of them memorized the entire Qur’an, such as:

Aisha, Hafsa, Umm Salamah, and Umm Waraqa bint Abdullah ibn al-Harith al-Ansariyya. This was referred to by al-Hafiz al-Suyuti in his Itqan

. Some scholars counted more than seventeen women.

Writers

Scientific references are available to prove that the Prophet’s council, may God bless him and grant him peace, had a large number of scribes who would implore the opportunity of revelation to come down to him to record the verses and words of the Holy Quran by writing them down in their scrolls and tablets in his presence and by his dictation . They also mention a large number of scribes who were also keen to record what was being revealed despite their distance from the Prophet’s council, may God bless him and grant him peace, at the time of revelation. These scribes were many, and their number recently reached more than forty scribes. Our observations on this census that the references are trying to 1- It is not a census with a specific number as some researchers have stated . This is because it was not based on what we know of the statistical means and scientific methods of enumeration that the sciences of this enumeration have revealed. Also, it only mentioned those who were proven to be writing and whose days were continuous and whose period was long and the narration of that was correct about his affair, without the one who wrote, two books, or three books, as he deserved to be called a writer and to be included in a group of writers. Therefore, there are many others besides these: 2- If this is the case with the Muslims, and they, in relation to all Arabs at that time, did not represent the majority, then what about the numbers of writers among other Muslims .....? It must be like this: They were many and they were also proficient in different types of writing. Which confirms to us: that those who wrote the Holy Qur’an .. did not have errors in their writing or any deficiency or defect in their knowledge of it as some researchers support. We will suffice here to mention that the most committed to it in writing the Qur’an and the most special among the writers were: Zaid bin Thabit and Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan, as the first of the Quraysh to write the Qur’an for him, peace and blessings be upon him, in Mecca was: Abdullah bin Abi Sarh , and the first to write the Qur’an for him when he came to Medina were: Zaid bin Thabit and Ubayy bin Ka’b, and all of them: were among those who excelled in writing at that time and among those in whom the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, placed his trust because, in addition to their skill in writing, they combined the virtues of writers : trustworthiness, accuracy, keen hearing, and awareness of the heart. These writers wrote the verses of the Holy Qur’an: as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, dictated them to them and in the place he specified for this verse or that. Whenever something from the Qur’an was revealed to him , peace and blessings be upon him, he would call some of those who wrote and say: Place these verses in the surah in which such and such is mentioned. In this way, the Prophet , peace and blessings be upon him, would dictate to them directly and they would write what was revealed in his presence and present it to him time after time until he approved them. Writing the Qur’an during the era of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace , was not limited to what was written in front of him and dictated to him only. Rather, some of the Companions, may God be pleased with them, would write what they had learned of the Qur’an in whatever was available to them from the pages and other things, far from it, due to their preoccupations and lack of free time, or due to the fact that they were on a military expedition or expedition that prevented them from writing what was revealed at the time of its revelation and in front of them.

Perhaps because there was a group of people who wrote the Qur’an away from himmay God: It was reported from himGod bless him and grant him peace - to protect the Qur’an from confusion - that he forbade writing anything from me except the Qur’an. Whoever writes anything from me except the Qur’an should erase it.

With this prohibition, the people’s concern was directed to writing the Holy Qur’an alone at that time and recording it, to the extent that during the time of disappearance in the early days of Islam, their circumstances did not prevent them from doing so. They would write and study the Qur’an from these pages in their homes. The polytheists used to call this study at that time “al-Haynamah.”

Among the evidence for this is the hadith of Omar bin al-Khattab with his sister before his conversion to Islam, and she is famous for the story of Omar’s conversion to Islam.

The Sunnah is full of narrations that indicate that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was interested in writing the Qur’an.

And that he took a book - as we have indicated - for this purpose.

And that the entire Qur’an was written during his time and presence in Mecca and Medina with complete mastery and precision from beginning to end in separate pages and scrolls.


These pages and scrolls were more precious than their own souls and dearer to them than any soul and more beloved to them than any beloved and companion. .

This is because they were certain that the Qur’an was the reason for their glory and happiness and that it was the basis of their religion and law.

In this way, the entire Qur’an was written during the time of the Messenger,may God bless him and grant him peace, with his approval and in the presence of all the companions who were qualified to know how to write and how to draw, and they were a large number that cannot be counted, and their transmission of the necessary knowledge is beneficial.

Muadh ibn Jabal, who was one of these writers, said:

We presented the Qur’an to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and he did not criticize any of us

. Islam appeared in all parts of the Arabian Peninsula, such as Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, Najd, the lands of Mudar, Rabi’ah, Quda’ah, Taif, and Mecca. There was no city, village, or neighborhood in which the Qur’an was not recited and taught to children and women, and it was written and memorized in the hearts.

@kufrcleaner drafts