By Quran Schooling | 25 May 2020
The Holy Quran was revealed on Prophet Muhammad about 1400 years ago. But it was not in the form of a proper book by that time. The Holy Quran we see today was not properly compiled by that time. The memory of the Arabs was very strong and they relied on their memory to remember the Holy Quran. There were a lot of people who had Hifz Quran and it was saved in their strong memory.
But what are the factors that led to the compilation of the Holy Quran? When was the Holy Quran compiled and how did they ensure the safety of its verses? Well, there are three main stages through which the process of compilation of the Quran went through. We will analyze all three stages of its compilation in-depth and understand how the Holy Quran was compiled. Following are the three main stages of the compilation of the Holy Quran.
Before we continue with the stages of compilation, it is important to understand about its revelation. We all know that the Quran was revealed by Allah through Jibrael (Gabriel). But most people do not know all the ways through which the Quran was revealed. Here are a few ways in which this glorious book was revealed by Allah.
The entire Quran was revealed during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet. It was not only revealed during this time but it was also present in the written form. Whenever any verse was revealed by Allah, the Holy Prophet would advise his scribes to jot down that piece of revelation. Here are a few things on which the verses of the Holy Quran were written.
The verses of the Holy Quran were revealed according to the need of that time. But they are not in the sequence of revelation. Whenever any verse was revealed, it was also advised which Surah the verse should be placed in. So even the sequence of placement of the verses was revealed by Allah. The scribes placed each verse in the same order they were asked to do. In this way, the sequence of the Holy Quran was never changed. Not only the sequence of verses but the names of Surahs was also revealed by Allah. Hazrat Zaid Bin Thabit was one of the most prominent scribes of the Holy Quran. By the demise of the Holy Prophet, the revelation of the Quran was completed.
As mentioned earlier, the memory of the Arabs was very strong. Relying on the strong memories they had, the Holy Quran was compiled in the form of a book. It is because a lot of people had Hifz Quran. Due to their strong memory, the need for the compilation of the Quran was never felt by anyone.
But during the 632 A.D (11 A.H), a very harsh battle took place at the place of Yamamah. This battle was so intense that hundreds of companions of the Holy Prophet were martyred who had Hifz Quran. It had created a fear of losing the Holy Quran.
After the Battle of Yamamah, only a few people were left who had Hifz Quran. Hazrat Umer Bin Khattab became anxious that if the situation continues or worsens, a large portion of the Holy Quran could be lost. He expressed his fears to the Caliph of that time; Hazrat Abou Bakar and asked him to compile the Holy Quran in the form of a proper book. Abu Bakar did not agree with him at first. He said that he could not do anything like that as the Holy Prophet did not compile the Quran during his lifetime. But when Umer Bin Khattab persuaded him, he agreed and ordered him to compile the Quran in the form of a book.
Hazrat Zaid Bin Thabit became in charge of the compilation process. He was asked to collect and compile the Quran in a single book. At first, he was also hesitant to do something that the Holy Prophet did not do in his life. But when he was told about the whole situation, he became ready to do it.
After that, the process of compilation began. He collected all the written verses from the materials they were written on. He also listened to the people who had Hifz Quran. Moreover, everyone was asked to bring the verses they had. Only those verses were included, which were testified by at least two persons. In this way, there was no chance of including any verse mistakenly.
In this way, the Quran was compiled in the form of one book. Umer Bin Khattab was the official custodian of the compiled version. After he passed away, the volume of the Quran was transferred to his daughter Hazrat Hafsah. That is how the second phase of the compilation of the Quran came to an end.
Till the time of Hazrat Usman, the Islamic federation had spread over a large area. It also included the areas which were not even Arabic. Those people were not native speakers of the Arabic language. With the expansion of Islam to no native speakers, the problem of dialects started to get common. Different people had a different style of pronunciation and people started to get into conflicts by blaming the other person for reading wrong. When Hazrat Usman came to know about the conflicts on recitation, he feared that the conflicts may get more intense and divided the Muslims.
He immediately took action and asked Hazrat Hafsah for the original volume of the Quran. Hazrat Zaid Bin Sabit was appointed as the head of the committee responsible for writing the Quran in a specified dialect. Finally, the Quraish accent was appointed to be used by Muslims all around the world. It is because the Holy Quran was revealed in the Quraish accent.
Once the copies of the Quran were made, the original version of the book was given back to Hazrat Hafsah. These copies were sent to all the provinces of the Islamic states. It was ordered to burn all other copies of the Quran or replace them with the new version. In this way, the Muslim community was saved from getting divided into groups.
From the day of its revelation, not even a single word has been changed in the Holy Quran. Every precautionary measure was taken to compile the Holy Quran without even making the slightest change in it. Now it is up to take care of the Holy Quran. Although Allah has taken the responsibility to protect the Holy Quran, we should also be responsible for protecting this book. For that purpose, it is the best practice to Hifz Quran. The more hafiz e Quran there in the world, the more difficult it is to do any fabrication in the Quran. Are you living in the US and want to memorize the Quran online? Here is the ultimate guide to memorize Quran online if you are living in the US.