Compilation of the Quran under the Rightly Guided Caliphs

Compilation of the Quran under the Rightly Guided Caliphs

Q         Trace the main stages in the compilation of the Quran in the time of the Caliphs Abu bakr (ra) and Uthman (ra).                [2x5-N-06][12-N-03]

Q         Give an account of how the Quran was compiled in the years following the Prophet’s death.                                                                         [10-J-10]

Q         Write about the methods used to compile the Quran into a book after the death of the Prophet (sw).                                                   [10-N-14-2058/12]

The work of Abu Bakr (ra)

When Abu Bakr (ra) became the first Caliph of the Islamic Empire, he had to fight with the false prophets. In the fierce battle of Yamama, 70 companions of the Prophet who had the Quran in their memory were martyred. Until now, the holy Quran was in the scattered writing. Umar (ra) advised Abu Bakr (ra) to bring the Quran in the book form. First he hesitated because the Prophet had not done it in his life but latter he was convinced.

They assigned Zaid Bin Thabit (ra), a young man and the scribe of revelations and the secretary to the Prophet (saw), to do this work. Zaid was also reluctant in the beginning but later he was also convinced that the writing of the Quran was an important work. He says that responsibility was such a huge one that it would have been easier for him to shift a hill from one place to another. However, Zaid collected all scattered writings and also took two witnesses on each piece of writing. With the consultation of those who had the Quran in their memory, compiled the Quran in the book form. This Quran was open to all Muslims in order to remove any confusion. All companions confirmed that it is the same Quran starting from Sura Al Fatiha ending with Sura Al Naas which was given to Prophet Mohammad (sw) in the same sequence. Therefore, Muslims have the consensus (Ijma) that the holy Quran is in the original form without any change.

When Abu Bakr died, he gave this holy Book to the next Caliph Omar. Omar (ra) gave this Quran to his daughter and the wife of the Prophet (saw) Hafsa (ra) on his death bed until it was taken by Uthman (ra), the third caliph. For this reason, this original book is also called “Mushaf e Siddiqui” and “Mushaf e Hafsa”.                      

The work of Uthman (ra)

The third Caliph Uthman (ra) received the report from Huzaifa (ra) that Quran was being recited in different dialects of Arabia in the newly occupied non-Arab lands. Arabic language was spoken in seven dialects in the region. Since the dialects did not make any difference in the meaning of the Quran, the Prophet (sw) allowed reading the Quran in all seven dialects. When Muslim forces occupied non-Arab lands, the Muslim fighters taught Quran in their own dialects. This created two problems. One was the conflict among non-Arabs whose recitation was right and they blamed others for reading the Quran in the wrong accent. This created conflict among those people. The second problem was the danger that different dialects could also change the meaning of the Quran.

Uthman (ra) called Zaid Bin Thabit again and gave him the task to make several copies of the Quran. The original copy of the Quran which was with Hafsa (ra) was also brought for further authenticity. Many other Muslims helped him writing these copies. He sent these copies to the provinces for authenticity and they were kept in the main mosque of the capital city of the province. The Quran was written in the dialect of the Quresh which was the dialect of the Prophet (sw). He also ordered to burn unofficial private copies of the Quran in order to avoid any confusion in future. In this way, the Quran was saved forever. Uthman (ra) is also known as the collector of the Quran (Jame al Quran) due to this work.

Due to the work of Abu Bakr (ra) and Uthman (ra), the holy Quran became the safest book. It was remembered by millions of people and millions of copies of the Quran have been made but there is not a difference of a single word in any Quran.