Part 1: During the Lifetime of the Prophet.
A study of the compilation of text must begin with the character of
the book itself as it was handed down by Muhammadto his
Companionsduring his lifetime. It was not delivered or revealed all at
once.
The Noble Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammadpiecemeal over a
period of twenty-three years from the time when hebegan 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
Muhammadwith what means:"…And We have spaced it distinctly."]Quran
25:32[
Furthermore, no chronological record of the sequence of passages was
kept by Muhammadhimself 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 Muhammadwould say words to the effect
of: "Put this passage in the chapter in which so-and-so is 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 the
following 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
protected from the Dajjaal )Antichrist(."]Muslim[
At the same time, there is also reason to believe that there were
other chapters to which titles were not necessarily given by Prophet
Muhammad. An example of this is Soorah Al-Ikhlaas ]Chapter 112[, for
although the Prophetspoke 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 Companionstook portions of it
down in writing and also committed its passages to memory. It appears
that the memorisation of the text was the foremost method of recording
its contents as the very word Quran means 'recitation'. From the very
first word delivered to Muhammadby 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 of messenger-angels. Noble and
dutiful."]Quran: 80:13-16[
Furthermore, there is evidence that even during the early days of
Prophet Muhammadin Makkah, portions of the Quran as then delivered
were being written down. When 'Umarwas 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 youreading just now so that I may see what
Muhammad has brought."]Ibn Is-Haaq, Seerat Rasoolullaah, 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 right up to the end of the life of
Muhammadthe 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 the recitation of the Quran every Ramadan with
Prophet Muhammadand, in his )the Prophet( final year, he )Jibreel(
checked it with him twice. Faatimahsaid:"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 Prophetdevoted 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'oodcollected more than ninety of the one
hundred and fourteen chapters by himself, learning the remaining
chapters from other Companions.
Regarding the written materials, there are no records as to exactly
how 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 Muhammador otherwise.
With the death of Prophet Muhammadin 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
text into 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 Prophetwas alive, unlike those which arose soon
after his death. All these factors explain the absence of an official
codified text at the time of his death. Imaam As-Suyootistated 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
Companionshad 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 Prophetwhile he
was still alive.
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