not compiled during the era of the Prophet,
why was the Qur’an not compiled during the era of the Prophet,
may God bless him and grant him peace, as the Noble Qur’an informed us of civilizational and urban laws that do not fail or change, and that run in life like the sun and the moon, such as the Almighty’s saying: {If you support God, He will support you} (Muhammad: 7) and His saying also: {God has promised those who believe among you and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors upon the earth, just as He made successors those before them, and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has approved for them} (An-Nur: 55). He also informed us of social laws, such as His saying, the Almighty: {And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able} (Al-Baqarah: 217). This is a visible reality, and no one denies it except someone ignorant of history or a stubborn scholar; since the call of Islam saw the light and paved its way in confronting the components of ignorance until this day, it has continued to encounter plots, hostility, and ambush from its enemies, and this is something that is not hidden from anyone with insight and discernment.
If this is decided, then doubts about this religion were and still are being woven from time to time; to deter people from its path, to tempt its followers, and to test its supporters.
The doubt to which we dedicate this article says: The Qur’an was not compiled during the life of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, but rather it was compiled after his death, and the Companions differed in its compilation and arrangement!! This is the gist of the doubt, and in response to it we say:
There is no doubt that the Noble Qur’an was not compiled in its entirety in his time, may God bless him and grant him peace, but rather it was preserved in the hearts, the hearts of the Companions, may God be pleased with them. Parts of it were written on pieces of paper, and others on palm branches, stones, and whatever means of writing were available in that era..
And a questioner may ask: Why was the Qur’an not written down and recorded during his time, may God bless him and grant him peace? This is a legitimate question, and the answer to it is from two aspects:
The first: The existence of abrogation during his lifetime, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was a matter that occurred regarding some verses of the Noble Qur’an. If the book had been written down and then abrogation came, this would have led to differences and confusion in the religion. So Allah, the Almighty, preserved it in the hearts of the Companions until the time of abrogation had passed, and then He enabled the Companions to collect it. Also, Allah, the Almighty, secured His Messenger from forgetfulness, by saying: {We will make you recite, and you will not forget} (Al-A’la: 6). So when the fear of people forgetting arose, and something happened that had not happened, He created a record of it that had not been needed before that.
The second aspect: The reasons for writing did not exist during his era, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, because the Qur’an may not have been complete yet, and also because a large number of the Companions had the Qur’an memorized in their hearts.
But... when the reasons for writing became available, represented by his death, may God bless him and grant him peace, and what followed from that of the Ridda Wars that exhausted a large number of the memorizing companions... when what happened happened, the companions rushed to collect it and write it down for fear of its loss and disappearance from the hearts.
This is indicated by the hadith of Al-Bukhari on the authority of Zaid bin Thabit, may God be pleased with him, who said: (Abu Bakr sent for me after the killing of the people of Yamamah, and Umar was with him, so Abu Bakr said: Umar came to me and said: The killing has intensified - that is, it has become intense and widespread - on the day of Yamamah of the reciters of the Qur’an...) In the hadith there is clear evidence that Abu Bakr and the companions with him, may God be pleased with them, when they saw the need to collect the Qur’an, they rushed to do so and collected it from the hearts of men, and from the written scraps of paper with some of the companions. It is proven that the Holy Qur’an was preserved in its entirety in the hearts of men during the time of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and composed in the order in which it is in the hands of people today.
What is significant in this context is what was mentioned in the same hadith, from the words of Zaid, may God be pleased with him, who said: (...so I searched for the entire Qur’an from the ‘usub - palm leaves - and the lakhaf - thin white stones - and the chests of men until I found the end of Surat At-Tawbah with Abu Khuzaymah Al-Ansari. I did not find it with anyone else: {There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; he is anxious over you.} (At-Tawbah: 128) until the end of Surat Bara’ah. The significance in the words of Zaid, may God be pleased with him, is that he did not find these two verses written with any of the Companions, except with Khuzaymah Al-Ansari. Otherwise, the Companions, may God be pleased with them, memorized them in their chests. This indicates that most of the verses of the Noble Qur’an were written with the Companions, and what was not like that was memorized in their chests. This supports and confirms what we have stated above, that the Noble Qur’an was memorized in its entirety during his time, may God bless him and grant him peace, between the chests and the lines.
We are not here concerned with tracing the historical stages that took place. The collection of the Holy Quran in it - we have devoted a special section to talk about that which can be referred to - but what is important for us to report and confirm here is that Abu Bakr's decision to collect the Holy Quran between the covers of a book was the greatest decision in the history of the Islamic call, as it preserved for it the constitution of its life and the landmarks of its path.
The gist of the matter is that Abu Bakr's collection of the Quran was not different from what was the case during his era, may God bless him and grant him peace, and all that happened was that Abu Bakr transferred it from the chests and scattered places where it was written, and then collected it in one place, for fear of its loss and its disappearance with the death of the Companions.
As for the answer to the doubt of those who said that the Companions differed in the collection and arrangement of the Qur’an, the gist of what is said about it is: If some of the Companions appeared to have opposed and disagreed about the collection of the Qur’an at the beginning, the difference between the Companions eventually led to agreement and consensus, and the Companions agreed on the necessity of collecting the Qur’an in one Mushaf, and there is nothing in this that calls for doubting the position of the Companions, may God be pleased with them, regarding the collection of the Qur’an.
Then it is also said: The gist of what is said about the issue of the arrangement of the verses and surahs of the Qur’an is that the arrangement of its verses was by his command, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the Companions had no role in it, neither directly nor indirectly; since Gabriel, peace be upon him, would come down to him with revelation and order him to place such and such a verse in such and such a place, and there is no disagreement about this. As for the arrangement of its surahs, the opinion of the respected scholars has settled on the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) delegated that to his companions after him. Since the companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) had compiled the Qur’an based on what they heard from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) during his lifetime, they wrote it down according to what they heard, without any disagreement among them, and the matter was settled on that. However, there are scholars who have said that the arrangement of the surahs was also based on his (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) command.
The gist of the response to this doubt is that the Noble Qur’an was not completely compiled during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) for certain considerations, which we have mentioned during this article. We have explained that even though the Qur’an was not completely compiled in lines during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), most of it was written on scraps of paper, on leaves of trees, on stones, and similar means that were used in writing, in addition to memorising it in people’s hearts, which is the matter that is relied upon above all else. With the above, the invalidity of this doubt becomes clear from its foundation.
As for the arrangement of its surahs, the opinion of the respected scholars has settled on it, that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, delegated that to his companions after him. And since the companions, may God be pleased with them, had compiled the Qur’an based on what they heard from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, during his lifetime, they wrote it down according to what they heard, without disagreement among them, and the matter settled on that. However, there are some scholars who have held that the arrangement of the surahs was also based on his, may God bless him and grant him peace, revelation.
In Al-Musnad and Al-Sunan, Ibn Abbas said: I said to Uthman ibn Affan: What made you take Bara’ah, which is one of the hundreds, and Al-Anfal, which is one of the paired surahs, and put them among the seven long surahs, and did not write between them a line: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful? Uthman said: Verses were revealed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and he would call one of those who used to write for him and say to him: Put this verse in the surah in which such and such is mentioned, and a verse or two verses would be revealed to him, and he would say the same. Al-Anfal was among the first of what was revealed to him in Madinah, and Bara’ah was among the last of the Qur’an to be revealed, and its story was similar to its story, so I thought it was among them, and that is why I put it among the seven long surahs, and did not write between them a line: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
In Sahih Muslim and others, it is narrated that Al-Nawwas bin Sam’an Al-Kalabi said: I heard the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, say: “The Qur’an will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, along with its people who used to act upon it. Surat Al-Baqarah and Al-Imran will precede it. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, gave them three examples that I have not forgotten since. He said: ‘They are like two black clouds or two shades between which there is an easterly cloud, or like two flocks of white birds pleading for their companion.’”
It is also narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may God be pleased with him, that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Do not make your homes into graves, for Satan flees from a home in which Surat Al-Baqarah is recited.”
It is also narrated on the authority of Hudhayfah, who said: I prayed with the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, one night, and he began with Al-Baqarah. I said: He should bow at the hundredth, then he went on. I said: He should pray one rak’ah with it. He went on. I said: He should bow with it. Then he began with An-Nisa’ and recited it. Then he began with Al-Imran and recited it... to the end of the hadith.
In the two Sahihs, in the story of the man who wanted to … That he married a woman, and he had no money, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to him: “What do you have of the Qur’an?” He said: “I have such and such a surah with me, and such and such a surah.” He said: “Do you recite them by heart?” He said: “Yes.” He said: “Go, for I have given her to you for what you have of the Qur’an.”
In Saheeh al-Bukhari, it is narrated that Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid said: I heard Ibn Mas’ud (may Allaah be pleased with him) say about Bani Isra’il, al-Kahf and Maryam that they are among the freed slaves.
It appears that the establishment of these names was by the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his teaching. Al-Suyuti stated in al-Itqan that they were revealed by revelation, and he said: “All the names of
the surahs have been confirmed by revelation from the hadeeths and reports, and if it were not for the fear of making this long, I would have explained that.” End quote. As for the arrangement of the surahs according to what is in the Qur’an, the scholars differed on this: Was it revealed by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? Or was it the effort of the Companions?
The majority of scholars believe that it was an effort of the Companions inspired by the recitation of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and by his mention of some of the surahs arranged as they are in the Mushaf now,
such as his saying: “Recite the two bright ones, Surat Al-Baqarah and Surat Al-Imran…” Narrated by Muslim.
A group of scholars believed that the arrangement of the surahs was based on the Prophet’s, may God bless him and grant him peace, revelation.
Ibn al-Anbari said:(Allah sent down the entire Qur’an to the lowest heaven, then divided it into sections over twenty-some years. A surah would be revealed for a matter that had occurred, and a verse would be an answer to someone who asked, and Gabriel would inform the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, of the location of the verse and the surah. So the order of the surahs was like the order of the verses and letters, all from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. So whoever brings a surah forward or backward has corrupted the order of the Qur’an.)
It seems that the disagreement between the two groups is a verbal disagreement, as al-Zarkashi said in al-Burhan, because the one who says that the arrangement is based on ijtihad says: The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, indicated that to the Companions, and they were inspired by his reading and saying as mentioned above. Therefore, Imam Malik, may God have mercy on him - who is one of those who say that it is based on ijtihad - said: They only composed the Qur’an based on what they heard from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace.
So the disagreement between the two groups came down to whether that was based on verbal revelation or merely on actual attribution, such that they had room to think about it?
Ibn Atiyyah leaned toward a third opinion: that the arrangement of many of the surahs was known during the life of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, such as the seven long surahs, the Ha-Meem surahs, and the Mufassal. And that the matter of other than that could have been delegated to the nation after him.
What is most likely to us is that this arrangement that exists now, or something close to it, was known during the time of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace.
What indicates this is what Ahmad narrated on the authority of Aws ibn Abi Aws on the authority of Hudhayfah Al-Thaqafi, who said: I was among the delegation who came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and converted to Islam from Thaqeef... The hadith includes: He stayed away from us for a night and did not come to us until it was long after the evening prayer. He said: We said: What made you stay away from us, O Messenger of Allah? He said: “My portion of the Qur’an came to me, and I did not want to leave until I finished it.”
Aws said: So I asked the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, how do you divide the Qur’an into three surahs, five surahs, seven surahs, nine surahs, eleven surahs, thirteen surahs, and the section of Al-Mufassal from Qaf until you finish.
The three are: Al-Baqarah, Al-Imran, and An-Nisa. The five are:
Al-Ma’idah, Al-An’am, Al-A’raf, Al-Anfal, and At-Tawbah. The seven are
: Yunus, Hud, Yusuf, Ar-Ra’d, Ibrahim, Al-Hijr, and An-Nahl, and so on...
And Allah knows best.
http://www.islamweb.net/fatwa/index....atwaId&Id=9138
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