Evolution of the science of the Quran –I

The Era of the Companions:
The Quran is the final revelation sent by Allaah to Prophet Muhammad .
It is an eternal miracle that grows in clarity and strength with time
and each new scientific discovery. It was revealed over nearly
twenty-three years, during which the Prophet taught it and explained
it to his companions . He sallallaahu' alayhi wa sallam also answered
all of their questions and did not die before completely delivering
themessage of the Quran, making it clearly understood.
At the same time, the Companions were verykeen to memorise, understand
and practice it. Due to their mastery ofArabic, the purity of
theirminds and hearts, and because they had witnessed the Quran being
revealed under many circumstances and in response to diverse events,
they were able to accumulate much understanding and knowledge of the
Quran.
Some of them actually mastered its knowledge. Abdullaah bin Mas'ood
was one of those whorealised this great achievement. He described his
knowledge of the Quran by saying: "I swear by Allaah that there is not
a verse of the Quran except that I know where and why it was revealed,
and if I knew of anyone who knows the Book of Allaah more than I do, I
would travel to him." [Al-Bukhaari]
Other Companions devoted all of their lives to the Quran. Abdullaah
bin 'Umar for example,was reported by Imaam Maalik in 'Al-Muwatta'as
having spent eight consecutive years completely memorising and
learning Soorah (chapter) Al-Baqarah (thesecond Quranic chapter).
It was also reported that the Companions used to say, "It is
considered tobe a great thing that one of us learns the Soorahs
Al-Baqarah and Aal 'Imraan (The second and third chapters)." And that:
"They used to learn the Quran from the Prophet ten verses at atime,
and that they would not go beyond them until they had learned all
possible knowledge and actions in them and applied them."
This great knowledge was not all written down as text, except for what
was written down by some Companions . The reason was that the basic
process of teaching and learning in those times was the oral
tradition. Only the Quran itself and those Companions' writings were
received in written format by the next generation of Muslims.
However, many of the Companions were known for their
excellentknowledge and understanding of the Quran. People like
'Uthmaan, Ali, Zayd, Ubay,Ibn Mas'ood, Ibn 'Abbaas and Ibn 'Umar as
well as others, had many brilliant and inspired students, such as
Mujaahid, Qataadah and 'Ataa' who then conveyed that knowledge to the
rest of Ummah (Muslim community) as the practice of writing down
knowledge became widespread.
The Companions' circles of teaching were attended by hundreds of
students. As those students went back home, they taught othersthe same
knowledge as they had learned. Within a short period of time, the
Companions' knowledge, was spread across the vast Muslim lands.
What is so remarkable is that after writing became popular, the pieces
of knowledge collected from different scholars who had never seen or
known one another were found to be the same and, therefore, supported
oneanother – showing consistency in the knowledge and the guidance of
Islam.
To this day and forever, no other Ummah or religion can claim
similarity to this unique feature of Islam.