Compilation of the holy Quran

The holy Quran as wondrous as this heavenly book was not revealed in single day .the surahs
and the holy verses were revealed as per their requirement as guidance for people in those times.
This is the only reason it was not possible for the holy Quran to be written and compelled as the
complete book in the early era of the holy prophet (PBUH) life.
Whichever portion of the holy Quran was revealed it was recorded and written then and there as
it was .The holy prophet (PBUH) had appointed more than forty sahabas for the compilation and
writing of the holy quran .
Following are the most famous and respected sahabas
1. Hazrat Abu Bakar Sadeeq (RA)
2. Hazrat Umar Farooq (RA)
3. Hazrat Usman Bin Affan (RA)
4. Hazrat Ali Bin Abi Talib (RA)
5. Hazrat Abaan Bin Saeed (RA)
6. Hazrat Abdullah Bin Rawah (RA)
7. Hazrat Mawia Bin Abi Sufian (RA)
8. Hazrat Amru Bin Alaas
9. Hazrat Abi Bin Kaab
10. Hazrat Khalid Bin Waleed (RA)
11. Hazrat Hanzala Bin Abi Arqum (RA)
12. Hazrat Sabit Bin Qais
13. Hazrat Mughira Bin Shaba

Hazrat Usman Bin Affan said that when ever the Holy Prophet (PBUH) Used to receive a
revelation he did not only stressed on having it written but also instructed the writer to write it
with or after the particular verse on a specific place within.
Hence verses were written according to the instruction of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Even in the
holy Quran Allah has promised the protection of holy revelation and the verses.

The compilation in the time of Holy Prophet (PBUH)

The holy Prophet had a appointed a few Sahabas for the inscription and completion of the holy
verse in his era. The Quran was not revealed all in an instant, it was revealed part by part over
prolong period of 23 years. The revelations were recorded as soon as they were revealed be it in
parts or complete. Which ever sahaba would be present in the prophet (PBUH) quote at the time
of revelation and who ever had heard the prophet (PBUH) recite the verses used to learn them by
heart and those appointed by the holy prophet (PBUH) used to write them down. In this way the
revealed ayahs were completely secured unlike a book a Quran was not complied on a fix pattern
from the beginning till the end and neither can it be done so, since it was revealed in parts and
without any fix subject. Every surah that was revealed carried a different meaning all together
and was consider a separate entity rather than being connected with the previous one.

In those times the available stuff of writing were not fixed and thus the Quran was written on
several different mediums for example the bark of date palm, stones, large pieces of bones etc.
apart from these it has been known that the sahabas who learn the revelations by heart also later
w rote them down with themselves .so the Quran was present in the written form in the times of
the Holy Prophet. It has been a confirmed by Hazrat Zaid Bin Sabit (RA), who was also the
appointed writer for the revelation by the prophet (PBUH) that when the Holy Prophet (PBUH)
passed away the Quran was present in its complete written form and was safely kept in holy
prophet (PBUH) chamber. The holy prophet (PBUH) had forbidden the sahabas to take along
any written piece of Quranic verses in Ghazawas (jihad) even those material has not given to
remaining reliable person. It was feared that Quran would be disrespected.

Hazrat Abbas (R.A) said,’’ As Surah AL BIR’A was revealed in last so, Prophet (SAW)
could not explain where it placed in QURAN and passed away. The topics of Surah AL BIR’A
were matched with Surah AL INFAL so SAHABA combine Surah AL BIR’A with Surah AL
INFAL’’
(TIRMZI, hadis 3086 ,pg 272-273, Imam Abu Esa Muhammad bin Esa Tirmazi(R A), 279
hijri)

The history of different stages of compilation of Holly Quran al

Kareem
Hazrat Uthman has stated that:
“It was the practice of the Prophet Pbuh apart from dictating a Wahi he also
instructed the scribe to write it after such and such verses in such and such
Surah. Hence it was being written accordingly.”

Compilation of Holly Quran:

The preservation of the Quran in the early days of Islam was based on committing it to the
memory.
Memorization of the Qur'an: This was the only protected and trust-worthy method given the
conditions of that time. The reason is that the number of people who could read or write was
very limited in those days but Allah had endowed people of Arabia with excellent memory that
thousands of poetic lines would normally rest in the memory of one person after another.
Moreover most of Arabs had remembered their own genealogies and those of their families but
even those of their horses. (The memory of ‘Amr ibn Salamah a seven years old child)
 Therefore, this power of memory was well utilized for the conservation and protection of the
noble Qur'an and it was through it that the verses and chapters of the noble Qur'an reached all
over into the far corners of Arabia.
The event of the martyrdom of seventy recitors {Hafiz} in the Battle of “Biy’r Ma’unah” and
after the death of Prophet in the battle of “Yamamah” there are 700 recitors (Hafiz Quran) were
martyred.
Such type of events have become the reason of preservation the Quran in written form. However
the printing press and other means of publication were unknown at that time. Therefore, in that
situation, if writing was taken to be sufficient, it would have neither been possible to spread out
the Qur'an broadly nor to protect it reliably.

Different Stages of Compilation of Al- Quran

There are five stages Compilation of Holly Quran.
The First Stage: During the life in Prophet Muhammad pbuh
Besides having the Qur'an committed to memory, the Holy Prophet (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam)
made special arrangements to have the Qur'an committed to writing as well. Sayyidna Zayd ibn
'Thabit (RA) says: 'I used to write down the words of Wahy for him. There were forty writers of
Holy Quran at that period.

 Tablets of Stone ( Torah too)

 Parchments of Leather ( animal skin)
 Branches of date-trees
 Pieces of bamboos
 Leaves of trees
 Animal bones
 Pieces of Paper (at some time) because in Arabia paper was a scare or precious thing

The Second Stage: In the period of Sayyidna Abu Bakr (RA)

 Collected and preserved the all scattered portions of Al-Quran
 Verification of its authenticity with very strict rules
 The compilation has been made first time at governmental level otherwise other
companions for example Hazrat Ali had also compiled their individual copies.

The Third Stage: In the period of Sayyidna 'Uthman (RA)

On the 25th year of the hijra (647)
In his time period Islam had already spread to the far areas of Byzantine and Iran. People
embracing Islam and used to learn the Quran from the Muslims soldiers and traders.
 The Quran was revealed on “Seven letters” and different companions had learnt it from
the Holy Prophet according to different recitals. But when these variations reached far-
out countries and those people did not know about this fact, disputes among people
started growing up.
As given in hadith narrations, inform us that Sayyidna Hudhayfah ibn Yaman (RA) was engaged
in jihad on the Armenian-Azerbaijan front. There he noticed that differences were rising among
people about readings of the noble Qur'an. So, on his return to Madinah, he went straight to
Sayyidna 'Uthman (RA) and once there, he pleaded: 'Ya Amir al-Mu'minin! Before this Ummah
falls a prey to differences in the book of Allah like the Jews and Christians, you should do
something about it.' Sayyidna 'Uthman asked: 'What is the matter?' In reply, Sayyidna
Hudhayfah (RA) said: 'I was on jihad mission fighting on the Armenian front. There I saw
people of Syria following the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka'b (RA) which would not be familiar to the
people of 'Iraq, and the people of Iran follow the reading of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (RA) which
would not be familiar to the people of Syria. As a result of this, they are charging each other of
being kafirs.' Sayyidna 'Uthman (RA) had himself sensed the danger much earlier. He was told
that there were cases right there in Madlnah al-Tayyibah itself. When Sayyidna Hudhayfah ibn
Yaman (RA) too invited his attention to this danger, Sayyidna 'Uthman (RA) convened a
meeting of some highly-regarded Companions and sought their advice. He said: I have been
informed that there are people who say to each other things like "my reading is better than yours"
and this could touch the extreme limits of kufr. So, what is your opinion in this connection?' The
Companions themselves asked Sayyidna 'Uthman (RA):'What are your own thoughts on this
subject?' Sayyidna 'Uthman (RA) said: “I believe we should unite everyone on one book so that
we face no difference or division.' The Companions, approving of this opinion, supported
Sayyidna 'Uthman (RA).
After having these several standard copies of the Qur'an prepared, Sayyidna 'Uthman (RA) had
all copies personally kept by different Companions burnt so that all copies of the Qur'an become
uniform in terms of the script, incorporation of accepted readings and the order of chapters,
leaving no room for any difference between them.
 In the period of Hazrat Abu Bakr the Holly Quran just had collected and preserved
however Hazrat Usman arranged it in proper sequence as a part of single transcript.
 Seven transcripts were appeared and sent to Makkah, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Basra and
Madinah.
Fourth Stage: Steps taken to facilitate Recitation of the Holly Quran
The copies of the noble Qur'an were still devoid of dots and vowel points or desinential marks
which made it difficult for non-Arabs to recite them freely. As Islam spread out wide and deep in
non-Arab countries, the need to add dots and vowel points became acute, in order that people
may be able to recite them easily. Several steps were taken to achieve this purpose.
  Inclusion of Dots
 Diacritical Marks ( the fatha, Kasra and damma) and like wise tanwin etc.
 Ahzab and Manazil
It was the practice of Companions and their Successors that they would complete the recital of
the entire Qur'an once every week. For this purpose, they had identified fixed portions for their
daily recitation which is known as 'hizb' or 'manzil'. Thus the entire Qur'an was divided over
seven 'ahzab' (plural of 'hizb') 'manazil' (plural of 'manzil')
 Ajza' or Parts ( 30 parts, )
 Akhmas and A'shar: The sets of Fives and Tens
 Ruku' or Section
 Rumuz al-Awqaf: Signs to stop or pause ( ta, jim, sad, mim and so on)
Fifth Stage: Printing of the Holy Qur'an:
Before the invention of the printing press all copies were
 Hand written by pen so calligraphy introduced
 First publication in 1113 Hijrah at Hamburg.
 The first time Holly Quran was printed by Lithography on stone slabs in Tehran ( Iran)