The Holy Quran is the pillar of our Islamic religion, as it is the first source of the legislation and the basis of the rulings by which we live and resort to them in all matters of our lives. Therefore, preserving it was a difficult task that our noble Prophet and his companions sought.
The ideal way that the Prophet and his companions found to preserve the Quran was to collect it in one book, but before we talk about that in detail, let us walk gradually to know the story from the beginning.
Here we will learn the following:
Read also: Who wrote the Quran.
How was the Quran revealed?
The Holy Quran was revealed in three Stages:
First Stage Of The Compilation of the Quran:
In the First Stage Of The Compilation of the Quran, the Noble Qur’an was revealed to the Preserved slate, as stated in His saying, the Almighty, in verses 21 and 22 of Surat Al-Buruj :
“But this is an honored Quran in a Preserved Slate”.
Quran 85:22/21
Where this board brings together everything that was, and everything that is from the destinies of creatures.
The second Stage Of The Compilation of the Quran:
In The second Stage Of The Compilation of the Quran, God sent it down to the House of Glory in the lowest heaven on the Night of Decree, according to Allah saying:
“Indeed, We sent the Quran down during the Night of Decree”.
Quran97:1
And in that was a warning to the people of the seven heavens that the Quran is the seal of the heavenly books revealed to the best of creation and the most honorable of them is Muhammad, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him .
The Third Stage Of The Compilation of the Quran:
The Third Stage Of The Compilation of the Quran extended throughout the years of the call of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him. The Quran was revealed to the Prophet in parts.
The Holy Quran began to be revealed to our prophet through the revelation of Gabriel, peace be upon him, after God Almighty sent him as a Messenger.
Allah almighty said:
“And those who disbelieve say, “Why was the Quran not revealed to him all at once?” Thus [it is] that We may strengthen thereby your heart. And We have spaced it distinctly”.
Quran 25:32
The descent of the Noble Quran in parts increased the keenness of the Prophet – may God’s prayers and peace be upon him – not to miss anything from it, so he was repeating everything that Gabriel – peace be upon him – threw to him before he finished his indoctrination, so his saying – the Almighty – came down
Indeed, upon Us is its collection [in your heart] and [to make possible] its recitation.
Quran 75:17
And after the revelation of the verse, he would remain silent until the end of the revelation of his indoctrination, then he would summon the scribes from among the Companions to write down everything that was revealed from the Holy Quran, and here was the first phase of collecting the Quran, which we will talk about in detail shortly.
Read also: Was Muhammad a Prophet?
The History of the Revelation of the Quran:
And Gabriel – peace be upon him – descended on the Prophet – may God’s prayers and peace be upon him -; To show him the Holy Quran every year during the nights of the month of Ramadan, and he presented it to him twice in the last year of his life – peace be upon him – and when the Prophet died, the noble book was collected in their hearts and preserved in their memory, as the Companions were keen to memorize the Quran first.
This was the first actual attempt to collect the Holy Quran, as the collection of the Quran passed through three phases that began in the life of the Prophet Mohamed, and completed after his death.
Read also: How to become a Muslim.
Compilation And Standardization Of Quran Across Centuries:
Compilation Of Quran During The Life Of Prophet Muhammad
This phase was during the life of the Prophet Muhammad, as we mentioned that the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was calling for one of the companions to write the Quran immediately once it revealed and they used the available things such as stones, pieces of skin and stems free from the dates palm.
And among the most prominent scribes that our noble Messenger used in this task, Zaid bin Thabit, Obai bin Kaab, and the four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman, and Ali).
This phase did not serve as a complete collection of the Quran because its writing was not coordinated, the Companions were awaiting the revelation of the Prophet – may God’s prayers and peace be upon him – at any time, and they were busy with that to memorize what was revealed, also the tools of writing were not sufficiently available at that time, so it can be said that this stage ended with the collection of the Quran, but in the hearts of the Prophet and his companions not in a book.
Compilation Of Quran During Abu Bakr Era
After the Prophet’s death, 70 of the reciters of the Quran died in the “Yamamah” war. As a result, Omar was afraid that the reciters of the Quran die one after another, which could affect the preservation of the Quran, so he suggested to Abu Bakr (first Caliph) to collect the Quran in one book.
After many discussions, Abu Baker ordered a committee led by the main scribe of Prophet Muhammad “Zaid Ibn Thabet” to collect the Quran, which was written on these primitive objects, in one manuscript.
This manuscript of the Quran remained with Abu Bakr till his death. Then it remained with Umar (second Caliph) till his death, and then with Hafsa, the daughter of Umar.
Compilation Of Quran In The Time Of Hazrat Usman
During the era of Uthman (third Caliph), disputes among the Muslims (especially non-Arabs who entered Islam) arose regarding the oral ways (dialects) of reciting the Quran, which Prophet Muhammad had allowed the Muslims to read with.
To get rid of such disputes, Othman ordered a committee led by “Zaid Ibn Thabet” to make copies of the original manuscript (that Abu Bakr had collected).
Then, he sent these copies to the major centers of Islamic empire and with each copy, there was an expert companion to teach the people how to read it. At the same time, he ordered the Muslims to get rid of any written scriptures that were different from the final copies he sent.
Othman chose for this task Zaid and a group of Quraish companions to copy, namely: Abdullah bin Al-Zubayr, Saeed bin Al-Aas, and Abd Al-Rahman bin Al-Harith bin Hisham, so they copied the papers into the Qurans.
Uthman (RA) commanded them when they disagreed with Zaid in a word to return to the tongue of the Quraish; because the Quran was revealed to them.
Othman sent every Quran book to a country and returned the Suhuf to Hafsa, and thus the collection of the Noble Quran was completed during his reign so that this would be the last phase, which resulted in the Quran in its current form.
Dear reader, you may be wondering now why the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and his companions sought to collect the Quran and insisted on that.. I will answer you now!
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What is the benefit of collecting the Holy Quran in one book?
The collection of the Quran in one book was of great importance as it helps on:
- Ending the dispute between Muslims, and uniting them on one Qur’an.
- Knowing the aspects of recitation among many of the Companions.
- Knowing and learning the fixed readings of the Holy Qur’an.
- Distributing the agreed-upon copies of the Qur’an to Islamic countries by order of the Commander of the Faithful.
- The Islamic nation adheres to reading the Holy Qur’an in accordance with the drawing and writing of the Qur’an.
- Getting rid of all newspapers that were not official and collective.
Above all, the greatest importance of collecting the noble Quran is to preserve the Holy Quran from distortion or divergence from one region to another, whether at the level of words, meanings, or even the method of reading.
Read aslo: Hadith Collection.
Is the Quran exposed to distortion?
Contrary to all the Holy Books, God did not leave the trust of the care and preservation of the Holy Qur’an to human, but pledged to protect it himself in the Almighty’s saying
“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian”.
Quran15:9
Therefore, the Holy Quran has not and will not differ or be distorted by any distortion, and it will remain the preserved heavenly book until the Day of Judgment.
Read also: Are There Different Version of The Quran?
