1. History of the Compilation of the Quran
1.1 In the Time of the Prophet (SAW)
1.1.1 God to Jibril
From the beginning, the Quran has been oral and written at the same time. That is why it is called the Quran (recitation) and Kitab (book).
The Quran is the speech of Allah which He spoke to the angel Jibril (AS), and Jibril (AS) came to the Prophet (SAW) and transmitted God’s speech to him.
The Quran is also written on Preserved Tablets with Allah which Jibril (AS) could read. Allah says ⟪But this is an honored Qur’an [Inscribed] in a Preserved Slate.⟫ (85:22) and ⟪Indeed, it is a noble Qur’an In a Register well-protected; None touch it except the purified.⟫ (56:77-79)
The written Quran was first sent down to the lowest sky in Ramadan on the Night of Qadr. Allah says ⟪Indeed, We sent the Qur’an down during the Night of Decree.⟫ (97:1) From there, Jibril used to bring it down to the Prophet (SAW).
1.1.2 Jibril to the Prophet
Jibril would give the Quran to the Prophet in different ways. Sometimes, he would come in the form of a man, and sometimes the Prophet received the Quran directly into his heart as intensely as the tolling of a bell.
Whenever the Prophet (SAW) heard the Quran from Jibril, he would remember it and memorize it with the help of God.
Allah said: ⟪Move not your tongue with it, [O Muhammad], to hasten with recitation of the Qur’an. Indeed, upon Us is its collection and recitation. So when We have recited it, then follow its recitation. Then upon Us is its clarification.⟫ (75:16-19) and ⟪We will make you recite, [O Muhammad], and you will not forget, Except what Allah should decide.⟫ (87:6-7)
He was given the Quran over a period of 23 years of prophethood. Sometimes he would get large Surahs in one go, sometimes he would only get passages belonging to already-revealed Surahs, and sometimes he would get only one verse.
To ensure the Prophet (SAW) and his companions who learned the Quran from him always remembered exactly what belonged where, Jibril (AS) would review the whole Quran that was revealed up to that point with the Prophet (SAW) once every year in the month of Ramadan. In the last year before his death, Jibril reviewed it with him twice to ensure its security and stability in everyone’s memory.
Ibn Abbas said: Jibril used to meet [the Prophet] every night in Ramadan, and he would practice the Quran with him. (Sahih Bukhari) Abu Hurairah (RA) said: The Prophet (SAW) used to be presented the Quran (for review) once every year, and he was presented it twice the year he died. (Sahih Bukhari)
1.1.3 Prophet to the Companions
As mentioned before, the Quran has two major forms of preservation: memory and writing. The Prophet himself would memorize the Quran as it was revealed to him, and he would teach his companions to memorize it as well. Several companions became well-known for their memorization and recitation of the Quran, including Abdullah ibn Masud, Salim, Ubay ibn Ka’b, and Muadh ibn Jabal.
The Prophet (SAW) said, “Learn the Quran from four: Ibn Masud, Salim the freed slave of Abu Huzaifah, Ubay, and Muaz ibn Jabal.” (Sahih Bukhari)
In addition to memorization, the Prophet (SAW) also had the Quran written down by scribes he chose for this purpose. Whenever a verse was revealed, he would call his scribes and tell them exactly which Surah and where in the Surah the verse belonged and would dictate the verse for them to write down.
It is reported that Uthman (RA) said: Sometimes a long period would pass and no large Surah would be revealed to the Prophet (SAW). When a passage was revealed, he would call some of those who used to write (the Quran) and tell them, “Put these verses in the Surah in which XYZ was mentioned.” And when a verse would be revealed to him, he would say, “Put this verse in the Surah in which XYZ was mentioned.” (Sunan Tirmidhi, Hasan)
The Prophet (SAW) would review the Quran with his companions like Jibril reviewed it with him every year until he passed away.
1.1.4 Wisdom of Gradual Revelation
Allah revealed the Quran gradually over the life of the Prophet (SAW) instead of revealing it directly for many reasons.
The first and most important reason was to make it easier for the Prophet (SAW) in learning the Quran. The Quran and preaching Islam was a heavy responsibility, so Allah revealed the Quran gradually to make it easier to implement, teach, and transmit. It also made it comforting for the Prophet (SAW) in that he would always have Allah speaking to him throughout his life.
The second reason was to make it easier for people to accept Islam. If all of Islam with its complete laws were sent to the people of Arabia without preparation, they would be unable to accept. That is why Allah sent the Quran gradually. He first started by teaching them about the Day of Judgement in the first Surahs before teaching them basic morality like prayer and charity before giving more detailed laws.
These reasons and more are included in the verses that talk about the Quran’s gradual revelation: ⟪And [it is] a Qur’an which We have separated [by intervals] that you might recite it to the people over a prolonged period. And We have sent it down progressively.⟫ (17:106) and ⟪And those who disbelieve say, “Why was the Qur’an not revealed to him all at once?” Thus [it is] that We may strengthen thereby your heart. And We have spaced it distinctly.⟫ (25:32)
1.1.5 The Prophet’s Ability to Read and Write
Someone might ask: You say the Prophet (SAW) was unlettered and could not read or write. Then, how can you trust that his scribes actually accurately wrote what he dictated to them? What if they twisted his words?
The answer is: The Prophet (SAW) had multiple scribes writing the verses of the Quran and even more people memorizing the Quran orally from him. All of them were also trustworthy and honest believers. There was never a situation where only one person could have altered any part of the Quran maliciously.
1.2 In the Time of Abu Bakr
After the Prophet (SAW) passed away, his close friend and the father of his wife, Abu Bakr (RA), became the Caliph and leader of the Muslims. In the time of Abu Bakr, there were several battles that occurred in Arabia due to the rebellion of many tribes. One of those battles was the Battle of Yamamah.
The close companions of the Prophet (SAW) were also warriors, so many of the memorizers of the Quran were present at the Battle of Yamamah, and there were many casualties.
This death of many memorizers alarmed Umar (RA), another close companion of the Prophet (SAW) who was an advisor to Abu Bakr and would go on to be the second Caliph of Islam.
He came to Abu Bakr (RA) and told him, “There were many casualties of memorizers of the Quran in Yamamah, and I am afraid there will be more casualties in other places and we might lose parts of the Quran, so I think you should compile the Quran.”
Abu Bakr (RA) replied, “How can I do something the Prophet (SAW) did not do?”
However, Umar (RA) kept insisting until Abu Bakr (RA) was convinced.
Abu Bakr (RA) appointed Zaid ibn Thabit (RA) to be primarily responsible for this compilation. Zaid ibn Thabit was a young companion who used to write Quran for the Prophet (SAW), and he was known to be trustworthy.
Zaid was initially reluctant for the same reason as Abu Bakr, but he was eventually convinced.
So, Zaid took up the task of compiling the Quran from the different written fragments that were written with the Prophet (SAW). For accuracy and precision, he only accepted a verse into the compilation when it had two written fragments from the presence of the Prophet (SAW).
He found two fragments for all of the Quran, but he could not meet that requirement for the last two verses of Surah Tawbah and one verse from Surah Ahzab (33:33). He could only find one written record for those with the companion Abu Khuzaimah al-Ansari. But, since it was memorized by him and others, he accepted it and included it.
This compilation was kept with Abu Bakr (RA) until he passed away. Then, it passed to his successor Umar. When Umar passed away, the compilation was kept with Hafsa, Umar’s daughter and the Prophet’s wife.
This whole story is recorded in Sahih Bukhari 4986.
1.3 In the Time of Uthman
Written Compilation
After Umar passed away, Uthman (RA), the Prophet’s son-in-law (twice) and close companion became the Caliph. In the time of Uthman, the Muslims had already conquered many lands from Iraq to the Levant to Egypt. Different companions had travelled to different lands and had started teaching the Quran how they were taught.
When the lands of Armenia and Azerbaijan were being conquered, armies from Iraq and Syria were brought together there. They had learned the Quran from different companions, and they started arguing over the different recitations they had learned and which one was correct. (The origin of different recitations will be discussed in a later part of the article.)
Huzaifah ibn Yaman, one of the close companions of the Prophet (SAW), saw this disagreement, and he was horrified. He left the expedition and travelled back to the capital of Madinah and said to Uthman (RA), “Save this religion from disagreeing about the Quran like the Christians and Jews disagreed about their books.”
Uthman (RA) asked Hafsa to send them the compilation of Abu Bakr, and he formed a council of several members to copy that into different books. The council initially consisted of Zaid ibn Thabit himself, Abdullah ibn Zubair (the grandson of Abu Bakr and the nephew of the Prophet’s wife Aisha), Saeed ibn al-Aas, and Abdurrahman ibn al-Harith. More people were consulted as the compilation happened, and the council eventually expanded to around 10 members.
Uthman (RA) told them to transcribe the compilation of Abu Bakr (RA) into different copies, and he told them to prefer the dialect of Quraish (the Prophet’s tribe) whenever there was a disagreement (Zaid was not Quraishi) saying, “Because it was [initially] revealed in their dialect.”
The different recitations had accommodations for different dialects as will be discussed later, but Uthman (RA) saw fit to limit this freedom for the greater benefit of unity among the Muslims.
When they finished making the copies, Uthman (RA) returned the compilation of Abu Bakr to Hafsa, and he sent the completed Quran to different lands, like Iraq, Syria, Makkah, and Madinah. He commanded people to erase, correct, or burn any other notebooks of the Quran they had to remove any confusion for the future.
This whole story is recorded in Sahih Bukhari 4987.
In summary, the compilation of Abu Bakr (RA) was made from the fragments written in the time of the Prophet (SAW) with the oversight of of the memorizers of the Quran. Then, the copies of Uthman (RA) were made from the compilation of Abu Bakr (RA) with the oversight of many memorizers of the Quran among the companions, however, preferring the dialect of Quraish whenever the Quraishi memorizers had learned from the Prophet differently.
The compilation of Abu Bakr (RA) did not consciously pick one dialect over the others. So, sometimes, it could have multiple and sometimes it could have the non-Quraishi dialect for particular verses. All of that was standardized in the copies of Uthman (RA).
Memorization
Many companions did not memorize the Quran fully in the time of the Prophet (SAW). So, during the khilafahs of Umar, Uthman, and Ali (RA), a lot of companions finished memorizing the Quran from other companions who had memorized the parts of the Quran they did not memorize. At the same time, many tabi’oon also memorized the Quran from the companions.
1.4 After Uthman
In the time of Uthman (RA), the mushaf did not have dots or diacritics to indicate different letters or vowels.
These additional parts of the Quranic text along with verse markers were gradually added to make it easier for people to read the Quran from the text.
There was no division in the Uthmanic mushaf other than Surahs which were usually marked with the basmalah. Later, people added the divisions of thirty Juz to divide the Quran for reading in a month and the divisions by passage or topic to help people know where to begin and stop when they are reciting the Quran.
