JAM'UL QUR'AN (FINAL POST)

COMPILATION OF THE QUR’AN :
During the reigns of ‘Uthman

By this time, disputes among the readers became so heated that they were accusing each other of unbelief (kufr).

Such disputes occurred in many places : Madinah, Kufah, Basrah, Syria, and the military camps.

Hudhayfah Ibn al Yaman was in the battle zones of Armenia and Azerbaijan and witnessed these disputes among muslims.

He became very annoyed and hastened to Madinah to suggest to ‘Uthman a unified reading of the Qur’an

He addressed him saying, “O Chief of the Believers! Save this Ummah before they differ about the Book as the Jews and the Christians did before”.(Bukhari, 6:479)

Consequently, ‘Uthman called the Muhajirin and Ansar for consultation. All of them agreed and encouraged him to unify the reading of the Qur’an. (Al Kamil, 3:111-12)

‘Uthman sent a message to Hafsah saying: “ Send us the manuscript of the Qur’an, so that we may compile the Qur’anic materials in perfect copies and return the manuscript to you.”

Hafsah sent the manuscript and ‘Uthman then odered :

THE SECOND COMPILATION COMMITTEE

1) Zayd Ibn Thabit ( Ansar)

2) ‘Abd Allah Ibn al Zubayr ( Qurasysh)

3) Sa’id Ibn al-’As ( Qurasysh)

4) ‘Abd Rahman Ibn Harith ( Qurasysh)

To write the manuscript in perfect copies.

‘Uthman said to the Qurasyshi men, “If you disagree with Zayd Ibn Thabit on any point in the Qur’an, write it in the dialect of Quraysh as the Qur’an was revealed in their tongue”.

They did so and when they had written many copies, ‘Uthman returned the original manuscript to Hafsah.(Bukhari, 6:479)

To every Muslim region, ‘Uthman sent one copy and ordered that all the other Qur’anic materials, whether whole or fragmentary manuscripts, be burnt. .(Bukhari, 6:479)

The Companions, the learned men, and the leading figures agreed with ‘Uthman and approved the decision he had made, including ‘Ali.

‘Ali is reported to have confronted those who rebelled against ‘Uthman and said to them that ‘Uthman burnt only the masahif that varied from the final revelation and preserved that which was agreed upon.

And also that he did nothing without the consultation and consent of all Companions, and furthermore, that if he were in ‘Uthman’s position he would have done the samething.(al-Kamil: 3:112)

In fact, Muslims in general admired ‘Uthman’s action and agreed to it unanimously (with the exception of Ibn Mas’ud) because ‘Uthman united them in one mushaf, cleansed from any abrogated versions, and freed it from any ahad reading or any interpretation that may have been added to the text.( Manahil, 1:260-61

Ibn Mas’ud is said to have felt ignored or insulted when he was not asked join the committee set up to compile the Qur’an

He is quoted as having said that he had been taught seventy surahs by Prophet, while Zayd Ibn Thabit was a young boy playing with children.(al-Musnad, 5:325)

As a result, Ibn Mas’ud is said to have refused to give his mushaf back to ‘Uthman to be burnt and to have told his students to do the same.

Ibn Abi Dawud states, however, that Ibn Mas’ud reconsidered and gave his mushaf back to ‘Uthman

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COMPILATION OF THE QUR’AN :

During the reigns of Abu Bakr

The Companions and their Followers relied on memorizing the Qur’an- teaching the young and newly converted Muslims the Qur’an through memorization.In addition, they had their personal manuscripts.

The Qur’an remained uncompiled in official book form until the year 12 A.H, when seventy of the Huffaz were killed in Yamamah fighting against the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah. Qurtubi, 1:50

Forty Huffaz, and posibly seventy, had been killed earlier in the battle of Bi’r Ma’unah

‘Umar came to Abu Bakr with the suggestion that the Qur’an should be compiled in a single book as a safeguard against the loss of some parts of the records or the death of the Huffaz.

Abu Bakr considered the matter carefully and agreed with ‘Umar after some hesitation. He then entrusted Zayd Ibn Thabit with the compilation since he had the following qualifications:

ZAYD IBN THABIT

He was the well-known scribe of the revelation (katib al Wahy al Mashhur)

He was a Hafiz of the Qur’an

He had checked through the text with the Prophet after the Prophet had recited it in the presence of the Jibril for the last time.

He was young, knowledgeable, wise, and reliable

He was skilled at writing the Qur’an.(Fath al-Bari, 9:13)

Zayd was afraid of carrying out this task because he felt that he could not do something that the Prophet had not asked him to do.

Abu Bakr finally persuaded him, and he started the work by comparing the Prophet’s record with the memorized and written versions of those of the Huffaz who were available in Madinah.

He then wrote out the entire text in book form and presented the mushaf to Abu Bakr, who received it and kept it in his custody.(Bukhari, 6:478)

The mushaf remained with Abu Bakr until he died, then with ‘Umar until the end of his life, and then with Hafsah, the daughter of ‘Umar and wife of the Prophet, who was herself a Hafizah.

This was because ‘Umar had died before the installation of the third khalifah.(Fath al-Bari, 9:10-16)

At this time disputes arose about the reading of the Qur’an among the Qurra’ because some of the Companions and the Followers were teaching students in the cities they were sent to in versions that differed in various ways. And also because the Companions were reciting the Qur’an in the seven ahruf they were permitted to use.

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COMPILATION OF THE QUR’AN :
In the time of the Prophet

The prophet had scribes whom he ordered to write down the revelation of the Qur’an on materials available at that time.

It is stated that whenever he received verses or surahs, he commanded one of his scribes immediately to record and to arrange them in their places in the surahs of the Qur’an (al-Baghawi, Sharh al-sunnah, 4: p.522)

Many accounts support this view, that every revealed verses was written down at the time of its revelation and was put in a preordained order and kept in a safe place. (al-Bukhari, 6, p. 480)

Many scribes took down the revelation. Some were assigned permanently to record the revelation, being given the title of katib al-Wahy, while others normally were engaged on other secretarial duties and were brought in to take down the revelation only occasionally. (Fath al-Bari, 9, p. 22)

SCRIBES

Certain scholars tried to count the number of scribes by using the sources available to them.

Ibn Kathir counts 22, and others increased to 33 or about 60.

The famous scribes are ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, Ubayy Ibn Ka’ab and Zaid Ibn Thabit, who is known as Katib al-Nabiyy or Katib al-Wahy

To ensure that the Qur’an would not be confused with his own utterances, the Prophet is reported to have ordered his Companions to write nothing except the Qur’an.

Futhermore, he commanded those who may have written down anything other than al-Qur’an to efface it. (al-Nasai, Fadail al-Qur’an, p.72)

As a result, the entire revelation is said to have been gradually secured, kept in written form, and stored in the Prophet’s house.(Fath al-Bari,9,p.22)

COMPANIONS OWN MANUSCRIPTS

The Prophet gave a number of the Companions permission to have their own manuscripts in addition to memorizing the Qur’an. (Kitab al-Masahif, p. 50-88)

The most famous among them, who are said to have taught many others, are the following:

‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan

‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib

Ubayy Ibn Ka’ab

Abu al-Darda’

Mu’adh Ibn Jabal

Zayd Ibn Thabit

‘Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud

‘Abu Musa al-Ash’ari

Salim(the mawla of Abu Hudhayifah)

Though the Qur’an was fully recorded, using all possible writing material, it was not written in the form of a mushaf. This was done later after the Prophet had passed away.

Even before the recorded Qur’anic text was in book form, it was known as al-Kitab (The Book). For instance, the Qur’an states in 2:2:

ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ (2)

The Prophet is also reported as having said before his death: “ I have left amongst you Muslims that which, if you stick to it, you will not be misguided-the book of Allah.” (al-Nawawi,Sahih Muslim bi Sharh al-Nawawi, 7:184)

Al-Baghawi explains that these records were not compiled in an official mushaf during the time of the Prophet because some verses were abrogated during the period of the revelation of the Qur’an.

When there was no more abrogation and the revelation was sealed, the time had come for the formal compilation to be carried out.(Sharh al-Sunnah, 5:519)

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HOW WAS THE QUR’AN COLLECTED

In Suyuti’s Itqan it is said that the Qur’an had been written down in its entirety in the time of the Prophet but had not been brought together in one single place, and that therefore these written records or documents had not been arranged in order’ (Itqan, 1, p. 41)

However, this statement does not preclude that the ordering of the Qur’an and the arrangement of the surahs, was fixed by the Prophet himself and safeguarded through oral trasmission.

STAGES OF COLLECTION

1) In the time of the Prophet:

- In the hearts of men (memorisation)

- On writing materials

2) In the time of Abu Bakr

3) In the time of ‘Uthman

WHY WAS NO BOOK LEFT BY PROPHET?

Because the revelation did not come down in one piece, but at intervals and was received continuosly until the end of the Prophet’s life.

Because some verses were abrogated in the course of revelation, and therefore flexibility needed to be maintained.

The Prophet lived only nine days after the last revelation and was severely ill.

THE MATERIAL OF INSCRIPTION OF THE QUR’AN

The material available at the lifetime of the Prophet are said to have included the following:

Palm stalks (‘usub)

Thin white stones (likhaf)

Boards – (alwah) a long thin piece of wood

Scapula bones (aktaf)

Saddles (aqtab)-a joint of meat consisting of the two loins

Pieces of cloth ( riqa’)

Potsherds (khazaf)-a broken piece of earthenware – pottery made of baked clay

Shells (sadaf)

Ribs (adla’)

Parchments (raqq)-a heavy paper-like material made from animal skins.

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THE QUR’AN

The Qur’an can be defined as follow:

The speech of Allah,

Sent down upon the last Prophet Muhammad, through the Angel Gabriel, in its precise meaning and precise wording, transmitted to us by numerous persons (tawatur), both verbally and in writing.

Inimitable and unique, protected by Allah from corruption.

WHAT IS MEANT BY JAM’ AL-QUR’AN

The general meaning of jam’ al-Qur’an is to ‘bring together the Qur’an’. This was done and has to be understood in two ways :

i) Bringing together the Qur’an orally, or in one’s mind (hifz)

ii) Bringing together the Qur’an in written form, or on sheets, or in a book.

Jam’ al-Qur’an therefore, has various meaning :

- To learn the Qur’an by heart

- To write down every revelation

- To bring together those materials upon which the Qur’an has been written

- To bring together the reports of people who have memorised the Qur’an

- To bring together all such sources, both oral and written