How the Qur’an was Compiled

QUESTION:
I wanted to know was the entire Qur'an compiled before the Prophet's
death or after by the khalifas. What I mean by compiled is the
ordering of the surahs. Before the Prophet's death ( Allah bless him &
give him peace), did the sahabas know that the#1 surah is fatiha and
#2 is suratul baqara and so forth? Or was this order established by
the khalifas like during Uthman (Allah be pleasedwith him) time?
ANSWER:
Assalamu alaykum
In the name of Allah the inspirer of truth
The order of the verses ineach chapter of the Qur'an was divinely
inspired, even though they were revealed portion by portion as theneed
arose over a 23 year period.
The Messenger of Allah (upon him be peace) would instruct the scribes
to place each verse in its proper place as they were revealed.
It is related by Imam Ahmad and the authors of the Sunans on the
authority of Uthman radhiyallahu anhu, "When a chapter was revealed of
the Qur'an that had a number of verses, the Messenger of Allah would
call one of the scribes and say, "Place these verses in thechapter
which states such and such…" Hence, from this and other narrations it
is understood that not only was the arrangement of the verses divinely
inspired, so were the chapters according to many scholars. (Fath
al-Bari, Bab ta'lif al-Qur'an).
Although there is agreement concerning the arrangement of the verses
being divinely inspired, there is a difference of opinion concerning
the order of the chapters. The stronger opinion seems to be that the
arrangement of many chapters was also divinely inspired, although some
chapters were placed through the ijtihad [inference] of the
Companions. For instance, it is reported that the Companions placed
Surat al-Tawba after Surat al-Anfal, through their own deliberation,
as they did not have any informationconcerning this from the Messenger
(upon him be peace).
A good English work on the sciences of the Qur'anis, Approach to the
Qur'anic Sciences by Shaykh Mufti Taqi Uthmani . An abridged version
of it is found in the beginning of the Ma`arif al-Qur'an [a Qur'anic
tafsir in Urdu, which is available in English translation as well].
Well worth reading.
Wassalam
Mufti Abdur Rahman Ibn Yusuf Mangera

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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