Compilation of the Qur’an

Compilation of the Qur’an

By Syed Abul 'Aala Maududi

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful;

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, May Allah blessings and peace be upon His Messenger.

The Qur’an is the pure Kalam Allah (Word of God) – consisting of divine words. Not a single word has been deleted from its text. The Qur’an has been handed down to our age in its complete and original form since the time of Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam). In Al-Qur’an, the Holy Prophet's life, the history of the Arabs and the events which occurred during the period of the revelation of the Qur’an has not been mingled with the Divine Verses.

The Noble Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) over a period of twenty-three years from the time when he began to preach the Message of Islam in Makkah in 610 CE until his death at Madinah in 632 CE. The Qur’an itself in Surah Al-Furqan declares that Allah addressed Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) with what means: 

"…And We have spaced it distinctly." 

[Al-Furqan, 25:32]

From the time the Qur’an began to be revealed, the Holy Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) had dictated its text to the scribes. Whenever some Divine Message was revealed, the Holy Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) would call a scribe and dictate its words to him. The written text was then read out to the Holy Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam), who, having satisfied himself that the scribe has committed no error of recording, would put the manuscript in safe custody.

It appears that the memorisation of the text was the foremost method of recording its contents as the very word Qur’an means 'recitation'. From the very first word delivered to Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) by the angel Jibreel (Gabriel) on Mount Hira', 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 Qur’an itself bears witness in the following verse:

"[It is recorded] in honoured sheets. Exalted and purified. [Carried] by the hands of messenger-angels. Noble and dutiful."

 [‘Abasa, 80:13-16] 

There were evidence that during the early days of Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) in Makkah; portions of the Qur’an as then delivered were being written down. When ‘Umar ibn Khattab r.a was still a pagan, he one day struck his sister when he heard her reading a portion of the Qur’an. Upon seeing blood on her cheek, however, he relented and said: "Give me this sheet which I heard you reading just now so that I may see what Muhammad has brought." [Ibn Ishaq, Seerat Rasulullah, p.156]. On reading the portion of the twentieth surah chapter of the Qur’an which she had been reading, he became a Muslim.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) used to instruct the scribe about the sequence in which a revealed message was to be placed in a particular Surah (chapter). In this manner, the Holy Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) continued to arrange the text of the Qur’an in systematic order till the end of the chain of revelations. Again, it was ordained from the beginning of Islam that a recitation of the Holy Qur’an must be an integral part of worship. Hence the illustrious Companions would commit the Divine verses to memory as soon as they were revealed. Many of them learned the whole text and a far larger number had memorized different portions of it.

The evidence that these chapters already had their recognised titles during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) is the following two hadiths (Prophetic narrations) :

"Anyone who recites the last two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow, Chapter 2) at night, they will suffice him."

 [Al-Bukhari];

"If anyone learns by heart the first ten verses of the Surah Al-Kahf (the Cave, Chapter 18), he will be protected from the Dajjal (Antichrist)."

[Muslim] 

A hadith was recorded that the angel Jibreel is said to have checked the recitation of the Qur’an every Ramadaan with Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) , and, in the Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) final year, Jibreel checked it with him twice. Fatimah Az-Zahrah r.a, the daughter of the Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) said:

"The Prophet Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam told me, 'Jibreel used to recite the Qur’an to me and I to him once a year, but this year he recited the whole Qur’an with me twice. I think that my death is approaching.'"

 [Al-Bukhari]

Some of the closest Companions of the Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) devoted themselves to learning the text of the Qur’an by heart. These included Ubaiy Ibn Ka'ab, Mu’adh Ibn Jabal, Zaid Ibn Thabit, Abu Zayd and Abu Ad-Darda’. Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud collected and compiled more than ninety of the one hundred and fourteen surahs by himself, learning the remaining surahs (chapters) from other Companions.

The Preservations of the Qur’an during the Time of Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) 

Besides, those of the Companions r.a who were literate used to keep a written record of several portions of the Holy Qur’an. In this manner, the text of the Holy Qur’an had been preserved in four different ways during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam):

a) The Holy Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) had the whole text of the Divine Messages from the beginning to the end committed to writing by the scribes of revelations.

b) Many of the Companions learned the whole text of the Qur’an, every syllable of it, by heart.

c) All the illustrious Companions, without an exception, had memorized at least some portions of the Holy Qur’an, for the simple reason that it was obligatory for them to recite it during worship. An estimate of the number of the illustrious Companions may be obtained from the fact that one hundred and forty thousand Companions had participated in the Last Pilgrimage performed by the Holy Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam).

d) A considerable number of the literate Companions kept a private record of the text of the Qur’an and satisfied themselves as to the purity of their record by reading it out to the Holy Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) .

Method of Preservations of the Qur’an after the Demise of the Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) 

It is an incontrovertible historical truth that the text of the Holy Qur’an extant today is, syllable for syllable, exactly the same as the Holy Prophet (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) had offered to the world as the Word of God. After the demise of the Holy Prophet, the first Caliph Abu Bakar As-Siddiq r.a assembled all the Huffaz and the written records of the Holy Qur’an and with their help had the whole text written in Book form. In the time of ‘Uthman Affan r.a copies of this original version were made and officially dispatched to the Capitals of the Islamic World. Two of these copies exist in the world today, one in Istanbul and the other in Tashkent. Whosoever is so inclined may compare any printed text of the Holy Qur’an with those two copies, he shall find no variation.

And how can one expect any discrepancy, when there have existed several million Huffaz in every generation since the time of the Holy Prophet s.a.w and in our own time? Should anyone alter a syllable of the original text of the Qur’an, these Haffiz would at once expose the mistake.

In the last century, an Institute of Munich University in Germany collected forty-two thousand copies of the Holy Qur’an including manuscripts and printed texts produced in each period in the various parts of the Islamic World. Research work was carried out on these texts for half a century, at the end of which the researchers concluded that apart from copying mistakes, there was no discrepancy in the text of these forty-two thousand copies, even though they belonged to the period between the 1st Century Hijrah to 14th Century Hijrah and had been procured from all parts of the world. This Institute, alas! Perished in the bombing attacks on Germany during World War II, but the findings of its research project survived.

Another point that must be kept in view is that the word in which the Qur’an was revealed is a living language in our own time. It is still current as the mother tongue of about a hundred million people from Iraq to Morocco. In the non-Arab world too, hundreds of thousands of people study and teach this language.

The grammar of the Arabic language, its lexicon, its phonetic system and its phraseology, have remained intact for fourteen hundred years.

A modern Arabic-speaking person can comprehend the Holy Qur’an with as much proficiency as did the Arabs of fourteen centuries ago. This, then, is an important attribute of Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam), which is shared by no other Prophet or Leader of Religion. The Book which God revealed to Him for the guidance of mankind is today's in its original language without the slightest alteration in its vocabulary.

Excerpted with modification from a speech "Message of Prophet's (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) and Serah", by Syed Abul 'Aala Maududi.

Stages of the Revelation of the Qur'an

Stages of the Revelation of the Qur'an

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful;

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, May Allah blessings and peace be upon His Messenger.

Essential to learning the history of the Qur'an is the study of the stages of its revelation (wahyu), which is usually referred to by the term, "Tanzil of the Qur'an" literally, the descent or the 'sending down' of the Qur'an from the Heavens to Earth. Some of the aspects to be discussed in relation to that would be the meaning of the Tanzil and why it happened in stages, what was revealed first and what was revealed last, and the significance of understanding the sequence in revealing the different parts of the Qur'an, among others.

Certainly, the study of the Tanzil of the Qur'an is one of the most important aspects of the Sciences of the Quran because it is related to the beginning of revelation, and to being certain of its descent from Allah, which is the foundation of believing in the Qur'an as the word of Allah that came from Him, as well as in the truthfulness of the Message of Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam).

The Meaning of Tanzil

Lexically, the term Tanzil has its Arabic root in Nuzul, which means the descent or the movement from a high place down to a lower one. This is exactly what happened in the process of revelation where the angel Gabriel used to come down from the Heavens with a varying number of verses of the Qur'an to deliver to Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam). The exact nature of this Nuzul and how Gabriel actually brings Qur'an with him are matters of the unseen, the details of which, Allah chose not to clarify for us, perhaps because they involve matters that can be very hard for humans to imagine or grasp. What we should understand is that this Nuzul happened in a fashion that is befitting to the greatness and sacredness of the Words of Allah. Qur'an was revealed in two stages.

Stage One:

In this stage, the Qur'an was brought by Gabriel from the Preserved Tablet down to the First Heaven (sky) and placed it in the 'Place of Power or Honor'.

First, the Qur'an mentions the Preserved Tablet:

"Nay! This is a Glorious Qur'an, inscribed in a Preserved Tablet" [Al-Buruj, 85:21-22].

Then it tells of the fact it was sent down during a specific night:

"By the Book that makes things clear, We sent it down during a blessed night. Lo! We are ever warning. Whereupon every wise command is made clear " [Ad-Dukhan, 44:2-4],

And

"We have indeed sent down this during the Night of Power." [Al-Qadr, 97:1].

These two verses indicate that the Qur'an was revealed in a single blessed night in the month of Ramadan that is called the Night of Power or Authority.

Stage Two:

This stage of revelation lasted for about 23 years in which the Qur'an was sent down in response to the development of events and in accordance with the sequence needed to complete the delivery of the Message. Allah says, "And [it is] a Qur'an which We have divided [into parts], in order that you may recite it to men at intervals. And We have revealed it by stages (in 23 years)" [Al-Israa’, 17:106].

But verse Al-An’am, 6:7 observes:

“And even if We had sent down unto you [O Muhammad] a Message written on paper so that they could touch it with their hands, the disbelievers would have said: 'This is nothing but plain sorcery."' [Al-An’am, 6:7]

And verse Al-Furqān 25:32 records the unbelievers tauntingly wanting it that way [as in Al-An’am, 6:7]:

"Why has the Qur'an not been vouchsafed to him in one single whole?" And the answer to that, "…that We may strengthen your heart thereby. And We have revealed it to you gradually." [Al-Furqān 25:32]

[Excerpted from Al Juma'ah Vol. 14 issue 12 published in Islam Web on 21 July 2003]

The Nature of Revelation

By Dr. Abdurrahman Al-Muala

Description: The nature and types of revelation (wahyu) which the Prophets received from God, Allah.

Revelation (wahyu) is where Allah imparts whatever knowledge He wills to those whom He chooses to receive it. Allah gives this knowledge to them in order for them to convey it to whomever else He wishes.

All the Messengers of Allah experienced revelation. Allah says:

“Verily, We have sent Revelation to you (O Muhammad) as We have sent Revelation to Noah and the prophets who came after him. We had sent revelation to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Tribes, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon. And to David We gave the Psalms. And Messengers We have told you about before, and Messengers We have not told you about – and to Moses We spoke directly.” [An-Nisaa’, 4:163]

The possibility of divine revelation cannot be denied by anyone who believes in the existence of Allah and in His omnipotence. Allah maintains His creation in any manner that pleases Him. The connection between the Creator and his Creation is by way of His Messengers, and these Messengers only know what Allah wants from them by way of revelation, either directly or indirectly. The rational mind cannot dismiss the possibility of revelation, since nothing is difficult for the all-powerful Creator.

The Nature of Revelation

Revelation is a communication between two beings: one that speaks, commands, and gives, and another who is addressed, commanded, and receives. Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w – as with every Prophet – never confused himself with the One who gave the revelation to him. As a human being, he felt his weakness before Allah, feared Allah’s wrath if he should disobey, and hoped for God’s mercy.

He sought help from Allah, submitted to what he was commanded to do, and was on occasion even sternly reprimanded by Allah. The Prophet s.a.w admitted his absolute inability to alter even one word of Allah’s Book. Allah says:

“And when Our clear signs are recited to them, those who hope not for a meeting with Us say: ‘Bring a Qur'an other than this or change it.’ Say (O Muhammad): ‘It is not for me to change it of my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. I fear, if I were to disobey my Lord, the punishment of an awful day.’ Say: ‘If God had willed, I would not have recited it to you nor would He have made it known to you. I have lived with you a whole lifetime before it came to me. Have you no sense?’” [Yunus, 10:15-16]

This should make perfectly clear the difference between the essence, attributes, and ways of the Creator and those of His Creation.

The Prophet s.a.w took great care to maintain a distinction between his own speech (the Hadith) and the direct speech of Allah, though both were the result of revelation. For this reason, in the early period of revelation, he used to prohibit anything that he uttered to be written down except for the Qur'an. This preserved for the Quran its distinctiveness as being the very word of Allah, unmixed with the speech of people.

The Prophet s.a.w would also make a distinction in his own speech between his own opinions and what came from God as revelation. He said:

“I am only a human being like yourselves. Opinions can be right or wrong. But, when I say to you that God said something, then know that I will never attribute something false to God.”

The Prophet s.a.w had no hand in the revelation that he received. The Revelation is a force external to the being of the Prophet s.a.w. He was not able to manipulate it in any way. This is supported by the fact that certain crises would befall the Prophet s.a.w or one of those around him that required an immediate solution, but he found no verse of Qur'an to recite to the people. He had to remain silent and wait, sometimes in desperation, until Allah, in His wisdom, revealed what was needed.

A good example of this is the time when ‘Aishah, the wife of the Prophet s.a.w was accused of adultery by some of the hypocrites, though she was innocent. People began to say things that were painful for the Prophet s.a.w until his heart was about to burst. He was unable to prohibit this. All he could say was:

“O Aishah, I have heard this or that. If you are innocent, then God will show your innocence, and if you fell into sin, then seek God’s forgiveness.”

A whole month passed before the revelation came down declaring ‘Aishah’s innocence and exonerating the household of the Prophet s.a.w.

In brief, revelation has nothing to do with the choices and wishes of the one who receives it. It is an unusual, external occurrence. It is a force of knowledge, because it gives knowledge. It is free from error. It comes only with the truth and guides only to what are right.

Ways of revelation ( Wahyu) emerges to the angels and to the Messengers

In the Qur'an it is mentioned that Allah SWt speaks to the angels. Allah says:

“And (remember) when your Lord revealed to the angels: ‘Verily I am with you, so keep firm those who have believed’…” [Al-Anfal, 8:12]

Revelation to the angels occurred by Allah SWT speaking to them and the angels hearing from Him.

Revelation arrives to Allah’s human Messengers either directly or through an intermediary. In the case of an intermediary, it is the angel Gabriel who brings the revelation. There are two ways that this occurs:

1. The angel would come to him with a voice like the clanging of a bell. This is the severest way revelation would come to the Messenger s.a.w. Such a harsh sound demands the full attention of the one being addressed with it. When the revelation came in this manner, it was extremely demanding upon all of the Messenger’s faculties.

2. The angel would come to him in the form of a man. This was easier than the previous way, since the form of the angelic Messenger was familiar to the human Messenger and easier to relate to.

Both of these ways are mentioned by the Prophet s.a.w in his answer to Al-Harith Ibn Hisham when he asked how the revelation came to him. Prophet s.a.w said:

“Sometimes he comes to me like the clanging of a bell, and this is the most difficult for me. It weighs upon me and I commit to memory what he says. And sometimes the angel comes to me in the form of a man and speaks to me and I commit to memory what he says.”

Revelation without an intermediary happens in two ways:

1. A good dream:

‘Aishah r.a relates: “It began as a good dream during sleep. He would not have a dream except that it would come as clear as day.”

This was to prepare Allah’s Messenger to receive revelation while awake. The whole Qur'an was revealed while the Prophet s.a.w was awake.

The story of Abraham a.s when he was commanded to sacrifice his son demonstrates how a dream can be revelation that must be acted upon. Allah says:

“So We gave him glad tidings of a forbearing boy. And when he was old enough to walk with him, he said: ‘My son, I have seen in a dream that I am sacrificing you. So look, what do you think?’ He said: ‘O my father, do what you are commanded. By God’s will, you shall find me to be among those who are patient.’ Then, when they had both submitted themselves and he had laid him prone on his forehead, We called out to him: ‘O Abraham, you have fulfilled the dream.’ Thus do We reward the righteous. That was indeed a manifest trial. And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice. And We left for him a goodly remembrance for later generations. Peace be upon Abraham! Thus indeed do We reward the righteous. Verily, he was one of Our believing servants.” [As-Saffat, 37:101-111]

If that dream had not been revelation that had to be obeyed, Abraham a.s would never have gone forward to sacrifice his son, but in fact he almost did so. He was only stopped because God commanded him to stop and ordered him to sacrifice something else instead.

The good dream is not only for the Prophets. It remains for the believers, even though it is not revelation. Allah’s Messenger said:

“Nothing remains of prophecy except for glad tidings.” When he was asked what these glad tidings were, he said: “Dreams.”

2. Allah speaking directly from behind a barrier:

This happened to Prophet Moses, (may the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon him). God says: “When Moses came to Our appointed meeting, his Lord spoke to him…” [Al-‘Araf, 7:143] Allah also says: “…And God spoke to Moses directly.” [An-Nisaa’. 4:164]

This also happened to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w on the night of his Journey and Ascension when he was taken up into the heavens and his Lord spoke to him.

All of these ways of receiving revelation are mentioned in the Qur'an. Allah says: “It is not for a human being that God should speak to him except as revelation or from behind a barrier, or by sending a Messenger who reveals by His leave whatever He wishes. Verily, He is All-Knowing, All-Wise.” [Ash-Syura, 42:51]
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Excerpted from the article by the editorial team of Dr. Abdurrahman Al-Muala ,translated by islamtoday.com, Published by Islam Web on 5 Nov 2007.


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