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The First Compilation
April 27, 2008 on 8:55 am | In Islam, Qur'an| By Ilm Seeker
The Qur'an was first compiled during the lifetime of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (رضي الله عنه), the first khalifa, whose rule lasted from the death of the last messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم) for two years.
Why wasn't it compiled during the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) himself?
- On-Going Revelation: Revelation was still coming down. If you wrote two verses next to each other, and Allah revealed one in the middle--or an extension to the end of a surah--what then? They didn't have staplers to staple pages into the middle!
- No Need: The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) was still alive, and so were his companions, and they were all there with him. What need was there to compile it? The knowledge was there in the community.
- Arrangement was not Finalized: New verses would come down and be added to the middle of surahs. If it's already written in a book, what do you do? How can you fit it in?
- Abrogation: Although abrogated verses are very few, sometimes a verse would be abrogated--so what if it was written down? What do you do with it?
In any case, in Abu Bakr's time, there was a big battle, where 70 huffadh were martyred. After this one battle, 'Umar convinced Abu Bakr--who was hesitant at first--to compile the Qur'an into one book. Prior to this, it was written down in scraps and fragments; and some of it was only memorized, not written down. And 'Umar feared that the unwritten parts would be lost.
So together, they agreed; and they agreed on who would compile the Qur'an--Zayd ibn Thabit (رضي الله عنه).
Why Zayd? He was the main scribe of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم), he was a hafidh himself, and he was known was his piety and knowledge of the Qur'an.
What did Zayd say? He was hesitant too, at first--but then he agreed. They all knew the necessity of it. Zayd said, then: "If they had asked me to move a mountain, I would've found that easier then the task they gave me." [Saheeh Bukhari]
Because of the responsibility--the entire Ummah, for all time, is relying on Zayd.
And he compiled it. Despite being a hafidh, he gathered the sahaba. His condition? He would collect verses that two sahaba heard DIRECTLY from the lips of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم)--nothing less.
And he was a hafidh! He knew the WHOLE Qur'an! Still, he made this his criterion.
And so, bit by bit, over eight months, he collected it.
And there it was--the first mushaf, the first fully compiled end-to-end Qur'an.
Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Route 114: Qur'anic Sciences. University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, March 2008.
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MashaAllah!
Comment by dailyreminders — May 5, 2008 #