How the Holy Qur'an was preserved
Since the Holy Qur'an was not revealed all at once, i.e., different verses of it were being revealed as and when appropriate, it was not possible from the very beginning to write and preserve it in a book form. So, during the initial stage of Islam, major emphasis was laid on memory as a means of preserving the Holy Qur'an.
When wahee (revelation) used to come in the very beginning, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) would tend to repeat its words instantly so that they would be memorised well enough. Thereupon, Allah Almighty directed him through the verses of Soorah Qiyaamah that he need not repeat words in a hurry immediately as revelation came. Allah Almighty would himself endow him with a memory that he will be unable to forget the words of the wahee once its descent had been completed. So it was that the moment the Qur'anic verses would come to him, they would be committed to his memory the next moment. Thus, the blessed chest of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), was the most protected vault of the Holy Qur'an, in which there was no chance of even some common mistake, editing or alteration. Moreover, as a matter of additional precaution, he used to recite the Qur'an before angel Jibra'eel every year during the month of Ramadhaan. It is reported that in the year he left this mortal world he completed a cumulative review of Qur'anic recitation twice with Jibra'eel. (Saheeh Bukhaari with Fat'hul Baari)
Again, as it was, he would not restrict his teachings of the Sahaabah (Companions) to just the meaning of the Holy Qur'an, but had them memorize its words as well. Then, the revered Companions were themselves so enamored with a desire to learn and remember the Qur'an that everyone of them was anxious to get ahead of the other. There were women who claimed no dowry from their husbands except that they would teach the Qur'an.
Hundreds of Companions, freeing themselves from all other concerns, had devoted their whole lives for this purpose. Not only did they memorize the Qur'an but they also went on repeating it within the nightly prayers. 'When someone migrated from Makkah and came to Madeenah', says Ubaadah Ibne Saamit, 'the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) would entrust him to one of us Ansaar so that he could teach Qur'an to the new comer.' The mosque of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) was so filled with voices generated by learners and teachers of the Qur'an that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) had to ask them to lower their voices so that mistakes are not made. (Manaahilul 'Irfaan)
So, within a fairly short time, there was on hand a large group of the noble Companions who had the Qur'aan all committed flawlessly to their memory.
In short, memorisation of the Qur'an was given more emphasis in early Islam as this was the only protected and trustworthy method, given the conditions of that time. The reason is that the number of people who could read or write was very limited in those days. The means of publishing books, such as printing press, etc., were not there. Therefore, in that situation, if writing was taken to be sufficient, it would have neither been possible to spread the Qur'an on an extensive scale nor to protect it reliably. In its place, Allah Almighty had blessed the people of Arabia with a memory of such dimensions that thousands of poetic lines would normally rest in the memory of one person after another. Common ordinary villagers would remember by heart their genealogies and those of their families and even those of their horses! Therefore, this power of memory was well utilized for the conservation and protection of the Qur'an and it was through it that the verses and chapters of the Qur'an reached to the far corners of Arabia.
THE WRITING OF WAHEE: Besides having the Qur'an committed to memory, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) did make special arrangements to have the Qur'an committed to writing as well. Zayd Ibne Thaabit says: "I used to write down the words of wahee for him. When wahee came to him he felt burning with heat and the drops of perspiration would start rolling down on his body like pearls. When this state would go away from him, I would present myself before him with shoulder-bone or a piece (of something else). He would go on dictating and I would go on writing. When I would be finished with writing, the shear weight of copying the Qur'an would give me the feeling that my leg is going to break and that I will never be able to walk. In any case, when I would be finished with writing, he would say: 'Read.' I would read it back to him and if there was a shortcoming, he would have it corrected and then let it be known to people. (Majma'uz Zawaa'id with reference to Tabraani)
Besides Zayd Ibne Thaabit, there were other Companions who carried out the duty of committing the wahee to writing. Some of those who can be specially mentioned, in addition to the four rightly guided Khulafaa, are Ubayi Ibne Ka'b, Zubayr Ibne Awwaam, Mu'aawiyah, Mugheerah Ibne Shu'bah, Khaalid Ibne Waleed, Thaabit Ibne Qays, Abaan Ibne Sa'eed and others. (Fat'hul Baari)
Uthmaan says that it was the practice of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) that, soon after the revelation of a certain portion of the Qur'an, he would pointedly instruct the scribe of the wahee to write it in such Soorah after such and such a verse. (Fat'hul Baari, Zaadul Ma'aad)
Since paper was not available in Arabia during those days, these Qur'aanic verses were mostly written on stone slabs, parchments, date branches, bamboo units, tree leaves and animal bones. However, at times, paper pieces have also been used. (Ibid)
Thus, there existed, during the time of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), a copy of the Qur'an which he had arranged to be committed to writing under his supervision. Although, it was not there as a formally prepared book, it certainly was there in the form of various units of available writing materials. Along with it, it was also the practice of some revered Companions that they would make copies of the Qur'anic verses and keep them for personal recollection. This practice was common since the very early period of Islam. Accordingly, much before Umar embraced Islaam, his sister and brother-in-law had in their possession verses of the Qur'an which they had written and kept in a book form. (Seerah Ibne Hishaam)
IN THE PERIOD OF ABOO BAKR: It was the characteristic of all copies of the Qur'an made during the days of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) that they were either written on different available writing surfaces, for instance, a verse would appear on parchment, another on tree leaf and yet another on a bone; or they were not complete copies. One Companion would have only a single soorah in his record while someone else would have five or ten soorahs and some others will have only a few verses. Then there were Companions having in their possession explanatory sentences as well along with the text of the verses.
On these grounds, Aboo Bakr, during his tenure of Khilaafah, thought it necessary to bring together all these scattered units of the Qur'an and have them preserved. The motive and the methods behind this has been explained in detail by Zayd Ibne Thaabit. He says:
"One day, soon after the Battle of Yamaamah, Aboo Bakr sent a message calling me. When I reached him, 'Umar was present there. Aboo Bakr said to me, 'Umar has just come now and he tells me that a large group of Huffaaz (those who had committed the Qur'an to memory) have been martyred in the Battle of Yamaamah. If the Huffaaz of the Qur'an continue to meet their martyrdom in this manner, I am afraid a large portion of the Qur'an may just go extinct. So, in my view, you should begin the task of having the Qur'an collected together under your order.' I said to 'Umar, 'How can we do what the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) himself did not do?' 'Umar replied, 'By Allah, this is for nothing but good.' After that, this is what 'Umar continued telling me, until I too started seeing the truth, and now, my view was the same as 'Umar's. After that Aboo Bakr said to me, 'You are young, and intelligent. We have no doubts about you. You have been working as a scribe of wahee as well under the supervision of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), so you search and collect the verses of the noble Qur'an."
Zayd Ibne Thaabit says, "By Allah, had these people commanded me to haul some mountain, that would have been much less weightier than this duty of collecting the Qur'an. I said to them, 'How are you doing something that the noble Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) did not do?' Aboo Bakr said, 'By Allah this is good, nothing but good.' After that this is what Aboo Bakr kept saying to me again and again until Allah almighty put my heart at rest for the same view that was the view of Aboo Bakr and 'Umar. Consequently, I started searching for the verses of the Qur'aan and it was from the branches of date palms, slabs of stones and hearts of people that I finally collected the Qur'an." (Bukhaari)
At this point, while we are dealing with the process of the collection of the Qur'an, we should have a clear perception of the method used by Zayd Ibne Thaabit. As mentioned earlier, he was himself a Haafiz of the Qur'an, therefore, he could have written down the whole Qur'an from his memory. In addition to that, there were hundreds of Huffaaz present at that time; the noble Qur'an could still have been written down by entrusting the duty to a selected group from out of them. Also, the copies of the noble Qur'aan committed to writing during the times of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) could have been used by Zayd to make his copy of the Qur'an. But he, guided by his caution and concern, did not limit himself to anyone of the many methods available. On the contrary, by using all these methods simultaneously, he did not allow any verse to be included in his master copy of the Qur'an unless he received written and verbal testimonies proving its uninterrupted succession. In addition to that, the verses that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) had arranged to be written under his supervision, were still preserved by the Companions. Zayd collected them together so that the new copy be made from them.
Consequently, a public proclamation was made to the effect that anyone possessing any number of written verses of the Qur'an should bring them over to Zayd. When a written verse was brought to him by someone, he used to verify its authenticity by the following methods:
To begin with, he tested its reliability against his own memory. Then, 'Umar too was a Haafiz of the Qur'an, and as proved by reliable reports, Aboo Bakr had assigned him too, to work with Zayd on this project. When someone came with some verse Zayd and 'Umar used to receive it jointly. (Fat'hul Baari with reference to Ibne Abi Daawood)
No written verse was accepted until such time that two trustworthy witnesses had testified to the fact that the particular verse was written in the presence of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam).(Al Itqaan)
After that, these verses in writing were collated with collections that different Companions had prepared for themselves. (AI Burhaan fi Uloomil Qur'an)
If this functional methodology behind the collection of the Qur'an during the period of Aboo Bakr is kept in mind, it would become perfectly simple to understand what Zayd Ibne Thaabit meant when he said, "I found the last verses of Soorah Al Baraa'ah - Laqad jaa'akum rasoolum min anfusikum - with Aboo Khuzaymah only. They were not found with anyone else except him."
This never meant that no person other than Aboo Khuzaymah remembered these verses, or somebody else did not have ties in written form, or anyone other than him did not know of their being part of the Qur'an. It just meant that these verses were not found with anyone from among those who were coming along with different verses written as dictated by the noble Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam).
Otherwise, as far as the fact of these verses being part of the Qur'an is concerned, everyone knew it in an uninterrupted succession. There were hundreds of Companions who remembered it as well. Moreover, these were available in writing with Companions who possessed complete collections of the Qur'anic verses. But, among those written separately under the supervision of the noble Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) this verse was found only with Aboo Khuzaymah and not with anyone else. (AI Burhaan)
So in every way possible, it was with great caution and concern that Zayd Ibne Thaabit, by collecting the Qur'anic verses, wrote them out in an organized form on pages of paper. (Al Itqaan)
But each Soorah was written in separate folios. In the terminology of the Qur'anic studies, this copy is called "Umm" (literally, 'the mother', meaning 'the original') and it had the following features:
· In this copy, the Qur'anic verses were indeed arranged in accordance with the order identified by the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), but the soorahs were not so arranged, rather they were written separately. (Ibid.)
· Incorporated in this copy were all seven Huroof (versions of recitation) of the Qur'aan.
· Collected here were all verses the recitation of which has not been abrogated.
The purpose of having this copy made in writing was to prepare an organized document with the collective endorsement of the whole Ummah, so that, reference can be made to it when needed.
These folios committed to writing on the orders of Aboo Bakr remained with him during his lifetime. Then they remained with 'Umar. After the death of 'Umar, they were transferred to the custody of Ummul Mu'mineen Hafsah. After the death of Hafsah, Marwaan Ibne Hakam had these burnt since the copies of the Qur'an ordered by Uthmaan were ready at that time, and a consensus of the Ummah had already been reached to the effect that following these copies of the Qur'an, in script and arrangement of soorahs, was obligatory. Marwaan Ibne Hakam thought it inadvisable to let any copy which was contrary to this script and arrangement remain in existence. (Fat'hul Baari)
IN THE PERIOD OF UTHMAAN: When Uthmaan became Khaleefah, Islaam had grown out of Arabia reaching into the far-flung areas of Byzantium and Iran. As people from new areas embraced Islam, they would learn the Qur'an from the Mujaahideen of Islam or from the traders because of whom they had found the blessing of Islam. We have already seen that the Qur'an was revealed incorporating seven Huroof (versions of recitation), and different Companions had learnt it from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). In accordance with different readings, therefore, every Companion taught the Qur'an to his disciples in accordance with that particular Huroof which they had themselves learnt from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). In this manner, this difference in readings reached far out countries. Until such time that people knew that the Qur'an had been revealed incorporating seven Huroof (readings) no harm was done by this difference. However, when this difference reached those far out countries, and the fact that the Qur'an had been revealed incorporating different readings was not fully publicized there, disputes among people started. Some people began to insist on their reading as correct and that of others as incorrect. On the one hand, these disputes posed the danger that people would fall into the grave error of declaring the reading of the Qur'an which have followed in uninterrupted succession as incorrect. On the other hand, there was no such standard copy available through out the Islamic world which could become the rallying authority for the entire Ummah, except, of course, the copy committed to writing by Zayd Ibne Thaabit which was there in Madeenah. Since other copies were written individually, and in them, there was no provision to incorporate all the readings, therefore, the only reliable method to resolve these disputes was that copies which incorporate all valid readings be spread out all over the Islaamic world, and then, by seeing them it could be decided as to which reading is correct and which is incorrect. Uthmaan accomplished this feat during the period of his Khilaafah.
Details of this feat is given in Hadeeth narration's as follows:
Huzayfah Ibne Yamaan was engaged in jihaad on the Armenian-Azerbaijaan front. There he noticed that differences were rising among people about readings of the Qur'an. So, on his return to Madeenah, he went straight to Uthmaan and once there, he pleaded, 'O Ameer-ul Mu'mineen! Before this Ummah falls prey to differences in the Book of Allah like the Jews and Christians, you should do something about it.' Uthmaan asked, 'What is the matter?' In reply, Huzayfah said, 'I was on a jihaad mission fighting on the Armenian front. There I saw people of Syria following the reading of Ubayi Ibne Ka'b which would not be familiar to the people of Iraq, and the people of Iran following the reading of Abdullah Ibne Mas'ood which would not be familiar to the people of Syria. As a result of this, they are charging each other of being kaafirs.'
In fact, Uthmaan had himself sensed a danger much earlier. He was told that there were cases right there in Madeenah itself where a teacher of the Qur'an would teach the text to his disciples in accordance with one reading, and another teacher would do so in accordance with another reading. In this way, when the disciples of different teachers come together, differences would crop up between them, and there were occasions when this difference would extend to teachers, and they too, would declare each other's reading to be incorrect. When Huzayfah Ibne Yamaan too invited his attention to his danger, Uthmaan convened a meeting of some highly-regarded Companions and sought their advise. He said, 'I have been informed that there are people who say to each other things like, "My reading is better than yours" - and this could touch the extreme limits of Kufr. So, what is your opinion in this connection?' The Companions themselves asked Uthmaan what his thoughts were on this subject? Uthmaan said, 'I believe we should unite everyone on one book so that we face no difference or division.' The Companions, approving this opinion, supported Uthmaan.
Consequently, Uthmaan gathered people together and delivered a sermon and in it he said, "You who live so close to me in Madeenah, if you can falsify each other and differ with each other in respect of the readings of the Qur'an, it is quite obvious that those who are far away from me will be indulging in falsification and disputation on a much larger scale. Therefore, let everyone get together and come up with a copy of the Qur'an following which becomes obligatory for all."
With this in view, Uthmaan sent a message to Hafsah requesting her to let them have the blessed folios of the Qur'anic text (prepared under the orders of Aboo Bakr which she had in her custody). He promised that these will be returned to her after copies have been made. Hafsah sent these pages of the Qur'aan to Uthmaan. He then formed a group of four Companions which was composed of Zayd Ibne Thaabit, Abdullah Ibne Zubayr, Sa'eed Ibne Aas and Abdul Rahmaan Ibne Haarith Ibne Hishaam. This group was entrusted with the duty of making several copies from the original copy of Aboo Bakr's Qur'anic folios and making sure that the Soorahs too are arranged in order. Out of these four Companions, Zayd was an Ansaari, while the rest of the three were from Quraysh. Therefore, Uthmaan said to them, 'When you and Zayd differ in respect of any portion of the Qur'an (that is, differ as to how a certain letter should be written) you write it in the language of the Quraysh because the Noble Qur'an has been revealed in their very language.
Basically, this duty was entrusted to only four distinguished persons named above, but later on, other Companions were also attached to help them out. (Fat'hul Baari)
The functions performed in connection with the writings of the Qur'aan: They performed the following functions in connection with the writings of the Qur'aan:
· In the copy prepared during the period of Aboo Bakr, Soorahs were not placed in sequence, rather each Soorah was written separately. They wrote down all the Soorahs in their proper sequence in a single copy. (Mustadrak)
· The verses of the Qur'an were written in a way so that all readings backed up by uninterrupted successions could be incorporated within their script. Therefore, no dots or desinential marks were placed on them so that the text could be recited in accordance with all readings that are supported by uninterrupted successions. (Manaahilul Irfaan)
Up to this time, there existed only one single copy of the Qur'an complete, authentically standard and collectively attested by the whole Ummah. These distinguished persons prepared more than one copy of this newly organized copy of the Qur'an. It is generally believed that Uthmaan had accomplished the preparation of five copies, but Aboo Haatim Sijistaani says that a total of seven copies were prepared. Out of these, one was sent to Makkah, one to Syria, one to Yaman, one to Bahrain, one to Basra and one to Kufa, and one was preserved in Madeenah.
To accomplish the task cited above, these revered elders basically worked through the pages of the Qur'an which were written during the time of Aboo Bakr. But along with it, as a matter of added precaution, they adopted exactly the same method that was employed during the time of Aboo Bakr. Consequently, assorted copies of texts committed into writing during the days of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) which were preserved by different Companions were recalled once again, and it was, by yet another collation with these, that the new copies were prepared.
This time, a separately written verse of Soorah Ahzaab was found with Khuzaymah Ibne Thaabit Ansaari only. As we have explained earlier, it does not mean that nobody else remembered this verse because Zayd has himself said, 'While writing the copy of the Qur'an, I could not find the particular verse of Soorah Ahzaab which I used to hear the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) recite.' This shows very clearly that the verse under reference was something Zayd and other Companions remembered very well. On the other hand, it also does not mean that this verse never existed in writing anywhere, because this verse was obviously there in the pages of the Qur'an written during the time of Aboo Bakr. Besides that, obviously enough, this verse was also included in the copies of the Qur'an which were written and preserved by the Companions on their own. But, like it was in the days of Aboo Bakr, this time too, all those scattered documents, available with the Companions in writing, were collected together, therefore Zayd and others with him did not write down any verse into these copies of the Qur'an until such time when they did find it in those written documentation as well. As such, the fact was that other verses were found written separately too with several Companions, but this verse from Soorah Ahzaab was not found written separately with anyone else except Khuzaymah.
After having these several standard copies of the Qur'an prepared, Uthmaan had all copies kept by different Companions burnt so that all copies of the Qur'aan became uniform in terms of the script, incorporation of accepted readings and the order of chapters, leaving no room for any difference between them.
The entire Ummah acknowledged this achievement of Uthmaan with admiration, and the Companions supported him in this venture. Ali says, "Say nothing about Uthmaan, unless it be in his favour because, by Allah, whatever he did in connection with the copies of the Qur'an was done in the presence of all of us, and with our advise and counsel." (Fat'hul Baari)
Three stages of dotting and diacritization:
1. Dots were put as syntactical marks by Abu Al-Aswad Al Doaly, during the time of Mu'awiya Ibn Abi Sufian (661-680 CE).
2. The letters were marked with different dotting by Nasr Ibn Asem and Hayy ibn Ya'amor, during the time of Abd Al-Malek Ibn Marawan (685-705 CE).
3. A complete system of diacritical marks (damma, fataha, kasra) was invented by Al Khaleel Ibn Ahmad Al Faraheedy (d. 786 CE).