GENERAL QUESTIONS

Give an account of how the Qur’an was compiled in the years following the Prophet’s death.

The Holy Prophet could not read or write. When revelations came to him by Hazrat Jibrail, the scribes were said to write them down on bones of animals, barks of trees, pieces of pottery or any other things they could find. The Quran was completely written and arranged in sequence by the Holy Prophet’s (saw) death, but it was scattered in different pieces. During the caliphate of Abu Bakr, at least seventy of the memorizers of the Qur’an lost their lives in the Battle of Yamama. After that incident, Hazrat Umar suggested to Hazrat Abu Bakr to make a written collection of the Quran in order to preserve it. Hazrat Abu Bakr did not want to do this, because the Prophet had not done it. But Hazrat Umar persuaded him and ultimately he asked Zayd bin Thabit, the Prophet’s (saw) secretary, to do the work. Zayd worked very hard between 11 and 14 AH. Although he himself was a hafiz of the Quran, he always tried to find a written verse before adding it to his manuscript in order to check and ensure authenticity of the verse. Finally a collection of the Holy Quran was made into a single volume. It remained under the first caliph, then transferred to the second caliph, Hazrat Umar, and after his death, Hazrat Hafsa took it under her custody. The copy of Quran under Hazrat Hafsa came to be known as Mashaf al-Hafsa.

 During the Khilafat of Hazrat Umar, the Muslim Empire was extended a lot. New converts to Islam in countries like Syriaand Iraq recited the Quran in different ways. This disturbed Hazrat Anas (RA) who went to Hazrat Uthman and requested him to take immediate action against this otherwise it might create a rift in the Muslims. Hazrat Uthman nominated Zayd bin Thabit along with three other companions to make copies of the Quran in Quraishi dialect from the original text, because the Quran was revealed in that dialect. After preparing copies of the Quran, they were read loudly in the Prophet’s mosque so that no confusion may arise in the minds regarding alteration. The copies were finally sent to different parts of the empire with the instructions that future copies would be made from the official text only. All remaining variations were destroyed through fire so that no misunderstanding may arise in the future. As a result only one authentic text has remained in use to this day.