The history of the Noble Quran

The Quran is the backbone of Islam. On this Sacred Book of Allaah
depends the Islamic call, state, society and the civilisation of
theMuslim world. It is the last Divine revelation, which was sent down
to Prophet Muhammad , the last and final of all Prophets, may Allaah
exalt their mention. His task was to convey the message of worshipping
the One God, Allaah, without ascribing any partners to Him. The Noble
Quran, which is thesource of guidance and mercy to mankind, is divided
into one hundred and fourteen (114) Soorahs (chapters) of varying
lengths. Ninety-three chapters were revealed in Makkah, while the
remaining twenty-one were revealed in Madeenah.
The first revelation that the Prophet received was Soorat Al-'Alaq,
which was in Makkah where Soorat An-Najm was to later became the first
to be recited openly to the people. In Madeenah, Soorat Al-Mutaffifeen
was the first one revealed after the Hijrah (migration). The Prophet
had to flee to Madeenah to save his own life and the lives of his
followers, upon thecommand of Allaah.
The last verse sent down to the Prophet was thesaying of Allaah which
means: "…This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed
My favour upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion..."
[Quran: 5:3]
Some chapters in the Quran focus on the call toIslam as guidance for
humanity. They focus upon monotheism and the fight against polytheism
and idolatry. Thus, stress is laid on all that is related to faith. In
other chapters, attention is given to legislation, acts of worship,
relationships among people and the laws that regulate matters within
the Muslim community, government, and family.
A number of chapters inform about Resurrection, the Hereafter and the
unseen; others relate the stories of various prophets and their calls
to their people to return to Allaah. We see how theprevious nations
were severely punished when they disobeyed Allaah and denied the
messagesof previous prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention.
In addition, several chapters focus on the story of creation and the
development of human life. In fact, Makkan revelations made the
Muslims' faith in Allaah firmly established. On theother hand,
Madeenan revelations were meant to translate the faith into action and
give details ofthe Divine Law.
Allaah will forever preserve the Quran against all attempts to destroy
or corrupt it. Being guarded by Allaah, it will always remain pure.
There does not exist a single copy with any variation from the
recognised text.
Any attempt of alteration has resulted in failure.
Upon the command of the Prophet his Companions would write down what
was revealedof the Noble Quran. They used, for this purpose, palm
branches stripped of leaves, parchments, shoulder bones, stone
tablets, etc. About forty people were involved in this task. Among
them was Zayd Ibn Thaabit who showed his work to the Prophet . Thus,
theQuran was correctly arranged during the Prophet's life, but it was
not yet compiled into one book. In the meantime, most of the Prophet's
Companions memorised the Quran.
When Abu Bakr became Caliph after the Prophet died, a large number of
the Companions were killed during the War of Apostasy. 'Umar Ibn
Al-Khattaab went to the Caliph and discussed the idea of compiling
theQuran into one volume. He was disturbed, as most of those who
memorised it had died. Then, Abu Bakr called for Zayd and commissioned
him to collect the Quran into one book, which became known as the
'Mus-haf.'
After Zayd accomplished this great task and organized the Quran into
one book, he submitted the precious collection to Abu Bakr who kept it
in his possession until the end of his life. During the caliphate of
'Umar it was kept with his daughter Hafsah who was also a wife of the
Prophet .
During the Caliphate of 'Uthmaan Islam reached many countries, and
readers began to recite the Quran in different ways (dialects).
'Uthmaan then had various copies made and sent them out to the
different Muslim lands, lest these dialects would cause alterations to
the Quran, and kept the original copy with Hafsah . Thus, the Quran
remained preserved and the Caliph was very muchpleased with his
achievement.
Today, every copy of the Quran conforms with the standard copy of
'Uthmaan . In fact, Muslims over the ages excelled in producing
thebest manuscripts of the Noble Quran in the most wonderful
handwriting. With the introduction of printing, more and more editions
of the Noble Quran became available all over the world.