A study of the compilation of textmust begin with the character of the
book itself as it was handed down by Muhammad to his Companions during
his lifetime. It was not delivered or revealed all at once.
The Noble Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad piecemeal over a
period of twenty-three years from the timewhen he began to preach the
Message of Islam in Makkah in 610 CE until his death at Madeenah in
632 CE. The Quran itself declares that Allaah addressed Prophet
Muhammad with what means: "…And We have spaced it distinctly." [Quran
25:32]
Furthermore, no chronological record of the sequence of passages was
kept by Muhammad himself or his Companions so that, as each of these
began to be collected into an actual Soorah (chapter), no thought was
given as to theme, order of deliverance or chronological sequence. It
is acknowledged by all Muslim writers that most of the chapters,
especially the longer ones, are composite texts containing various
passages not necessarily linked to each other in the sequence in which
they were given. As time went on Muhammad would say words to the
effect of: "Put this passagein the chapter in which so-and-sois
mentioned", or: "Put it in such and such a place." [As-Suyooti,
Al-Itqaan fee 'Uloom Al-Quran, p.141] Thus, passages were added to
compilations of other passages already collected together until each
of these became a distinct chapter. The evidence that a number of
these chapters already had their recognised titles during the lifetime
of Muhammad . is thefollowing two Prophetic narrations: "Anyone who
recites the last two verses of Soorah Al-Baqarah (The Cow, chapter 2)
at night, they will suffice him." [Al-Bukhaari] And: "If anyone learns
by heart the first ten verses of the Soorah Al-Kahf (the Cave, No.
18), he will be protectedfrom the Dajjaal (Antichrist)." [Muslim]
At the same time, there is also reason to believe that there wereother
chapters to which titles were not necessarily given by Prophet
Muhammad . An example of this is Soorah Al-Ikhlaas [Chapter 112], for
although the Prophet spoke at some length about it and said it was
equal to one-third of the whole Quran, he did not mention it by name.
[Muslim]
As the Quran developed, the Prophet's Companions took portions of it
down in writing and also committed its passages to memory. It appears
that the memorisation of the text was theforemost method of recording
itscontents as the very word Quran means 'recitation'. From the very
first word delivered to Muhammad by the angel Jibreel (Gabriel) on
Mount Hiraa', namely Iqra' – 'Recite!' [Chapter 96:1], we can see that
the verbal recitation of its passages was very highly esteemed and
consistently practiced. Nevertheless, it is to actual written records
of its text that the Quran itself bears witness in the following verse
(which means): "[It is recorded] in honoured sheets. Exalted and
purified. [Carried] by the hands ofmessenger-angels. Noble and
dutiful." [Quran: 80:13-16]
Furthermore, there is evidence that even during the early days
ofProphet Muhammad in Makkah, portions of the Quran as then delivered
were being written down. When 'Umar was still a pagan, he one day
struck his sister when he heard her reading a portion of the Quran.
Upon seeing blood on her cheek, however, he relented and said: "Give
me this sheet which I heard you reading just now so that I may see
what Muhammad has brought." [Ibn Is-Haaq, SeeratRasoolullaah, p.156].
On reading the portion of the twentieth chapter (of the Quran) which
she had been reading, he became a Muslim.
Nonetheless, it appears that rightup to the end of the life of
Muhammad the practice of memorisation predominated over the writing
down of the Quran and was regarded as more important.
In the Hadeeth (narrations) records, we read that the angel Jibreel is
said to have checked therecitation of the Quran every Ramadhaan with
Prophet Muhammad and, in his (the Prophet ) final year, he (Jibreel)
checked it with him twice. Faatimah said: "The Prophet, sallallaahu
alayhi wa sallam, told me, 'Jibreel used to recite the Quran to me and
I to him once a year, but this year he recited the whole Quran with me
twice. I think that my death is approaching.'" [Al-Bukhaari]
Some of the closest Companions of the Prophet devoted themselves to
learning the text of the Quran by heart. These included Ubayy Ibn
Ka'b, Mu'aath Ibn Jabal, Zayd Ibn Thaabit, Abu Zayd and Abu Ad-Dardaa'
. Abdullaah Ibn Mas'ood collected more than ninety of theone hundred
and fourteen chapters by himself, learning the remaining chapters from
other Companions.
Regarding the written materials, there are no records as to exactlyhow
much of the Quran was written down during the lifetime of Prophet
Muhammad . There is no evidence to suggest that anyone actually
compiled the whole text of the Quran into a single manuscript, whether
directly under the authority of Prophet Muhammad or otherwise.
With the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE, the revelation stopped,
as the Quran had become complete. There could be no further revelation
once its chosen recipient had passed away. While he lived, however,
there was always the possibility that new passages could be added and
it hardly seemed appropriate, therefore, to contemplate codifying the
textinto one harmonious whole. Thus, it is not surprising to find that
the book was widely scattered in the memories of men and in writing on
various different materials at the time of the death of the Prophet .
There were only a few disputes among the Companions about the text of
the Quran while the Prophet was alive, unlike those which arose soon
after his death. All these factors explain the absence of an official
codifiedtext at the time of his death. Imaam As-Suyooti stated that
the Quran, as sent down from Allaah in separate stages, had been
completely written down and carefully preserved, but that it had not
been assembled into one single location during the lifetime of Prophet
Muhammad, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, [Ibn Is-haaq, Seerat
Rasoolullaah, p.96]
All of it was said to have been available in principle, for the
Companions had absorbed it in their memories and it had been written
down on separate materials. The final order of the various verses and
chapters is also presumed to have been defined by the Prophet while he
was still alive.
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