Who Wrote the Quran

Who Wrote the Quran? And How the Quran was put together?

Allah promised to preserve the Quran

Allah has guaranteed to preserve this Quran Himself. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Quran) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption)” [al-Hijr 15:9]

Ibn Jareer al-Tabari said in his Tafseer, 14/8: “Allah is saying, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (Reminder), i.e. the Quran, and We will guard the Quran against anything false being added to it that is not part of it, or anything that is part of it being taken away, whether that has to do with rulings, hudood punishments or matters having to do with inheritance.”

Al-Sa’di said in his Tafseer (p. 696): “It is We Who have sent down the Quran in which there is mention of all issues and clear evidence, and in which We remind those who want to be reminded. 

 “And surely, We will guard it” means, when it is being revealed and after it has been revealed. When it is revealed, We protect it from the tampering of every accursed devil, and after it has been revealed Allah instilled it in the heart of His Messenger. Allah protected the words from being changed and from anything being added or taken away, or from its meanings being distorted. So no one can attempt to distort its meanings but Allah will guide someone to explain the truth of the Quran. This is one of the greatest signs of Allah and His blessing to His believing slaves. Another aspect of this protection is that Allah protects the people of the Quran against their enemies, and no enemy can overpower them and eliminate them.” 

The Quran was revealed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in stages over a period of twenty-three years. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And (it is) a Quran which We have divided (into parts), in order that you might recite it to men at intervals. And We have revealed it by stages'' [al-Isra’ 17:106]

al-Sa’di (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “This means, We have revealed this Quran in stages, to differentiate between guidance and misguidance, between truth and falsehood.

“in order that you might recite it to men at intervals” means, slowly, so that they may ponder and think about its meanings, and understand the different branches of knowledge contained therein.

 “And We have revealed it by stages” means, gradually, over a period of twenty-three years.” Tafseer al-Sa’di, p. 760.

Literacy was not widespread among the Arabs

Literacy was not widespread among the Arabs. Allah described them in such terms when He said (interpretation of the meaning): “He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves” [al-Jumu’ah 63:2]

They used to memorize the Quran by heart, and a few of them used to write down some verses or surahs on animal skins, thin white stones and the like.

The prohibition to write anything other than the Quran

At first the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade the writing of anything other than the Quran, and he forbade them to write down his words for a while, so that the Sahabah would focus on memorizing the Quran and writing it down, and so that the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would not be confused with the words of Allah, and so the Quran was protected from anything being added or taken away.

The Prophetic order to write down the revelation

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) appointed a group of his Companions who were trustworthy and knowledgeable to write down the revelation. They are known in their biographies as those who wrote down the Revelation, such as the four Caliphs, ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, Zayd ibn Thabit and others – may Allah be pleased with them all.

The Quran was revealed in seven dialects

The Quran was revealed in seven dialects as was narrated in the saheeh hadeeth of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This was narrated by al-Bukhari (2287) and Muslim (818); these were the dialects of the Arabs which were known for their eloquence.

How was the Quran compiled?

The Quran continued to be preserved in the hearts of the Sahabah who had memorized it, and on the skins and other materials until the time of the caliph Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq (may Allah be pleased with him).

During the Riddah wars many of the Sahabah who had memorized the Quran were killed, and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was afraid that the Quran would be lost. So he consulted the senior Sahabah about compiling the Quran in a single book so that it would remain preserved and would not be lost. He entrusted this mission to the chief of memorizers Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him). Al-Bukhari narrated in his Saheeh (4986) that Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 

Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq sent for me when the people of al-Yamamah had been killed [i.e., a number of the Prophet's Companions who fought against the false prophet Musaylimah]. (I went to him) and found ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab sitting with him. Abu Bakr then said (to me), “ ‘Umar has come to me and said: ‘Casualties were heavy among the Qurra of the Quran (i.e. those who knew the Quran by heart) on the day of the battle of al-Yamamah, and I am afraid that more heavy casualties may take place among the Qurra on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Quran may be lost. Therefore I suggest that you (Abu Bakr) order that the Quran be collected.” I said to 'Umar, "How can you do something that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not do?" 'Umar said, "By Allah, this is something good." 'Umar kept on urging me to accept his proposal till Allah opened my heart to it and I began to realize the good in the idea which 'Umar had realized." Then Abu Bakr said (to me). “You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). So search for (the fragmentary scripts of) the Quran and compile it in one book." By Allah If they had ordered me to move one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to compile the Quran. Then I said (to Abu Bakr), "How can you do something that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not do?" Abu Bakr replied, "By Allah, it is a good thing." Abu Bakr kept on urging me to accept his idea until Allah opened my heart to that to which He had opened the hearts of Abu Bakr and 'Umar. So I started looking for the Quran and collecting it from (what it was written on) palm stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it by heart, until I found the last Verse of Surah al-Taubah with Abu Khuzaymah al-Ansari, and I did not find it with anybody other than him. The verse is (interpretation of the meaning):  "Verily, there has come unto you a Messenger (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty...” [al-Taubah 9:128] until the end of Surat Bara'ah (i.e., al-Taubah). 

Then the complete manuscript (copy) of the Quran remained with Abu Bakr until he died, then with 'Umar until the end of his life, and then with Hafsah, the daughter of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them).

The Sahabi Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) knew the Quran by heart but he was methodical in his confirmation; he would not agree to write down any verse until two of the Sahabah testified that they had heard it from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). 

What was the Quran copy of ‘Uthman?

This Mus-haf (written copy of the Quran) remained in the hands of the caliphs until the time of the Rightly-Guided Caliph ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan (may Allah be pleased with him). The Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) had dispersed to different lands, and they used to recite the Quran according to what they had heard of the seven recitations from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and each of their students used to recite according to what he had heard from his shaykh.

If a student heard someone reciting in a manner different from what he knew, he would denounce him and accuse him of making a mistake, and this went on until the Sahabah feared that there would be fitnah (trouble) between the Tabi'een and successive generations. So they thought that they should unite the people in following one recitation, which was in the dialect of Quraysh in which the Quran had first been revealed, so as to dispel any disputes and resolve the matter. ‘Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was consulted, and he agreed with this opinion.

Al-Bukhari narrated in his Saheeh (4988) from Anas ibn Malik that Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman came to ‘Uthman at the time when the people of Sham (Syria) and the people of Iraq were waging war to conquer Armenia and Azerbaijan. Hudhayfah was alarmed by their (the people of Sham and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Quran, so he said to 'Uthman, "O Ameer al-Mu’mineen! Save this nation before they dispute about the Book (Quran) as the Jews and the Christians did before." So 'Uthman sent a message to Hafsah saying, "Send us the manuscript of the Quran so that we may make copies of the Mus-haf and we will return the manuscript to you." 

Hafsah sent it to 'Uthman. Then 'Uthman ordered Zayd ibn Thabit, 'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, Sa’eed ibn al-‘As and ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Harith ibn Hisham to copy out the manuscripts. 'Uthman said to the three men who were from Quraysh (the tribe of which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was a member), “In case you disagree with Zayd ibn Thabit on any point in the Quran, then write it in the dialect of Quraysh, for the Quran was revealed in their tongue." They did so, and when they had written many copies, 'Uthman returned the original manuscripts to Hafsah. 

'Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Quranic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt. 

Ibn Shihab said: Kharijah ibn Zayd ibn Thabit told me that he heard Zayd ibn Thabit say: “When we made copies of the Mus-haf I missed a verse of al-Ahzab that I used to hear the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recite. So we searched for it and we found it with Khuzaymah ibn Taabit al-Ansari. (The verse was) ‘Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah’ [al-Ahzab 33:23 – interpretation of the meaning]. So we put it in its place in its surah in the Mus-haf.”

Thus an end was put to dispute and the Muslims were united. The Quran has remained and will remain narrated from generation to generation and preserved in men's hearts until the Day of Resurrection. This is how Allah has preserved His Book, in confirmation of the verse in which He says (interpretation of the meaning): “Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Quran) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption)” [al-Hijr 15:9]

The order of Chapters and verses in the Quran

The fact there is scholarly consensus, and many texts stating the order of ayahs in one surah, that is very well known. The consensus was reported by many scholars, including Al-Zarkashi in al-Burhaan and Abu Ja’far, who said: “The order of the ayahs in their surahs came about because this is how it was instituted by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and there is no dispute among the Muslims with regard to this matter.”

The texts regarding this matter include the following:

The report narrated by Ahmad, Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa’i, Ibn Hibbaan and al-Haakim from Ibn ‘Abbaas, who said: “I said to ‘Uthmaan, ‘What made you put al-Anfaal which is one of the Mathaani, next to Baraa’ah [al-Tawbah], which is one of the Mi’een? Why did you not put the line Bismillaah ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem in between them when you put it at the beginning of the rest of al-Sab’ al-Tiwaal [the long seven soorahs]?” ‘Uthmaan said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to receive revelation of surahs with many ayahs. When they were revealed, he would call his scribes and tell them, ‘Put these ayahs in the surah where such-and-such is mentioned.’ Al-Anfaal was one of the first surahs to be revealed in Madeenah, and Baraa’ah (al-Tawbah) was one of the last parts of the Qur’an to be revealed. Its stories were similar to the stories mentioned in al-Anfaal, so it was thought that it was part of it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was taken [i.e., died] without explaining whether it was indeed part of it, so they were put next to one another, and the line Bismillaahi ir’Rahmaan ir’Raheem was not written between them, and it [al-Tawbah] was put among the Sab’ al-Tiwaal [seven long soorahs].” (Al-Haakim said: its isnaad is saheeh, and al-Dhahabi agreed with him. Al-Mustadrak, 2/330)

Ahmad narrated in al-Musnad (4/218) with a hasan isnaad from ‘Uthmaan ibn Abi’l-‘Aas that he said: “I was sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when he fixed his gaze on something, then lowered his gaze until he was almost looking at the ground, then he gazed at something. He said, ‘Jibreel (peace be upon him) came to me and told me to put this ayah in this place in this surah: “Verily, Allah enjoins Al-‘Adl (i.e. justice and worshipping none but Allah Alone Islamic Monotheism) and Al-Ihsân [i.e. to be patient in performing your duties to Allah, totally for Allah’s sake and in accordance with the Sunnah (legal ways) of the Prophet in a perfect manner], and giving (help) to kith and kin (i.e. all that Allah has ordered you to give them, e.g., wealth, visiting, looking after them, or any other kind of help), and forbids Al-Fahshâ’ (i.e. all evil deeds, e.g. illegal sexual acts, disobedience of parents, polytheism, to tell lies, to give false witness, to kill a life without right), and Al-Munkar (i.e. all that is prohibited by Islamic law: polytheism of every kind, disbelief and every kind of evil deeds), and Al-Baghy (i.e. all kinds of oppression). He admonishes you, that you may take heed.” [al-Nahl 16:90 – interpretation of the meaning].’”

Al-Bukhaari narrated in al-Saheeh (no. 4536) that Ibn Abi Maleekah said: “Ibn al-Zubayr said: ‘I said to ‘Uthmaan, “This aayah that is in al-Baqarah (interpretation of the meaning), ‘And those of you who die and leave wives behind them … And those of you who die and leave behind wives should bequeath for their wives a year’s maintenance and residence without turning them out’ [al-Baqarah 2:234-240] has been abrogated by the other, so why are you writing it down it down?” He said, “Leave it as it is, my nephew, I will not change anything from its place.”’”

Muslim narrated (no. 1617) that ‘Umar said: “I did not ask the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about anything more than I asked him about al-Kalaalah [those who die leaving neither ascendants nor descendents as heirs], until he poked me in the chest with his finger and said, “Is not ayat al-sayf [?] at the end of Surat al-Nisa’ enough for you?”

There are also the ahaadeeth about the ayahs at the end of Surat al-Baqarah.

Muslim narrated (no. 809) from Abu al-Darda’ that whoever memorizes the first ten ayahs of Surat al-Kahf will be protected from the Dajjaal; according to another version, whoever recites the last ten verses will be protected.

The Prophet’s recitation of various surahs in the presence of his companions indicates that the order of their ayahs is something that was instituted and commanded by him, and that the Sahaabah did not put the ayahs in a different order from that in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to recite them. The reports to that effect reach the level of Mutawaatir.

Al-Qaadi Abu Bakr said in al-Intisaar: “The order of the ayahs is something that is obligatory and binding. Jibreel used to say (to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)), ‘Put such and such an ayah in such and such a place.’”

He also said: “What we think is that all of the Qur’an which Allah revealed and commanded that it should be written down, and which was not abrogated after being revealed, is that which is contained between the covers of the Mus-haf of ‘Uthmaan, and that there is nothing lacking or added to it. Its order is the same as that commanded by Allah, may He be exalted, and instituted by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Nobody has moved any ayah backwards or forwards. The Ummah learned from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) the order of the aayahs of each surah properly, just as they learned from him the correct pronunciation and recitation.”

Al-Baghawi said in Sharh al-Sunnah: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to instruct his companions and teach them what was revealed to him of the Qur’an in the order in which it appears in our Mus-hafs now, the order which Jibreel taught him. When each ayah was revealed, Jibreel would tell him, this ayah is to be written after such and such an ayah in Surah such and such. Thus it is clear that the efforts of the Sahaabah were limited solely to gathering the Qur’an in one place, not to arranging its order. The Qur’an is written on al-Lawh al-Mahfooz in this order, then Allah sent it down in its entirety to the first heaven, whence it was revealed in stages as it was needed, and the order in which it was revealed is not the order in which it is recited.”

With regard to the order of Surahs, was this also instituted by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), or was this the ijtihaad of the Sahaabah? With regard to this question, there were differences among the scholars. The majority of scholars, including Maalik and al-Qaadi Abu Bakr, according to one of his two opinions, favoured the second opinion.

Ibn Faaris said: “There were two aspects to the compilation of the Qur’aan. One was putting the surahs in a certain order, such as putting al-Sab’ al-Tiwaal (the seven long soorahs) first, and following them with the Mi’een, which is what the Sahaabah did. The second aspect is the compilation of the ayahs within the surahs. This was instituted by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who recited them as he was told to by Jibreel, on the command of his Lord. On this basis the salaf differed as to the order in which the soorahs should appear. Some of them put them in order of revelation, which was the mus-haf of ‘Ali, which started with Iqra’ (al-‘Alaq), then al-Muddaththir, then Noon (al-Qalam), then al-Muzzammil, and so on. The Mus-haf of Ibn Mas’ood started with al-Baqarah, then al-Nisa’, then Aal ‘Imraan, with other major differences. The Mus-haf of Ubayy was similar.”

Al-Karmaani said in al-Burhaan: the order of the surahs as it is now is the same as that in al-Lawh al-Mahfooz which is with Allah. This is the order in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to review the surahs of the Qur’an he had received so far with Jibreel each year. In the year in which he died, he reviewed it with him twice, and the last aayahs to be revealed were (interpretation of the meaning): ‘And be afraid of the Day when you shall be brought back to Allah…’ [al-Baqarah 2:281]. Jibreel commanded the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to put this between the aayahs dealing with riba and those dealing with loans.”

Al-Zarkashi said in al-Burhaan: “The difference between the two views is one of wording. Those who support the second view say that it was taught to them so that they could learn the reasons of Revelation and the sequence of the words. Hence Maalik said that they compiled the Qur’an according to what they had heard from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), as well as saying that the order of the surahs was the product of their ijtihaad. He said that the dispute boils down to one question which is: was this a verbal instruction of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), or were they merely referring to what he used to do, which would give them room for ijtihaad.”

Al-Bayhaqi said in al-Madkhil: “At the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the surahs and ayahs of the Qur’an were in this order, except for al-Anfaal and Baraa’ah (al-Tawbah), as we see from the hadeeth of ‘Uthmaan referred to above.”

Ibn ‘Atiyah said: “The order of many of the soorahs was known during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), such as the seven long surahs, those that begin with Ha’-Meem, and al-Mufassal. With regard to the others, it may be the case that it was left for the Ummah to determine their order after he died.”

Abu Ja’far said: “The reports support most of what Ibn ‘Atiyah said, and a little is left which is open to debate, such as the hadeeth, ‘Recite the two shining ones, al-Baqarah and Aal ‘Imraan.’” (Reported by Muslim, no. 804).

Al-Bukhaari narrated (no. 4739) that ‘Abd-Allah ibn Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Bani Israa’eel (al-Israa’), al-Kahf, Maryam, Ta-Ha and al-Anbiya’, these are among the earliest and most beautiful surahs and they are my treasures,” (meaning, these are among the earliest I recited).

Abu Ja’far al-Nahhaas al-Mukhtaar said that the surahs were compiled in this order from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) because of the hadeeth of Waathilah, “In place of the Tawraat I was given the seven long surahs.” He said: “This hadeeth indicates that the order of the Qur’aan was taken from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

Ibn Hajar said, “the fact that the surahs , or most of them, are in a given order does not contradict the idea that this was instituted by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). What proves that this was instituted by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the report narrated by Ahmad and Abu Dawood from Aws ibn Hudhayfah, who said: ‘We asked the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the morning, “How did you write down the Qur’an in chapters?” They said, “We wrote it down in chapters of six surahs, five surahs, seven surahs, nine surahs, eleven surahs and thirteen surahs, and the chapter of al-Mufassal, from Qaaf until the end. This indicates that the order of the surahs – as it appears in the Mus-haf now – existed at the time of the Messenger of Allah, or it is possible that what was known in order at that time was Hizb al-Mufassal specifically, which is not the case with the rest.” See al-Itqaan fi ‘Uloom al-Qur’an by al-Suyooti, 1/62-65).