Essay on history of Quran

[Noor´e´Din]

In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent The Merciful.

All Praise is to Him, Lord of the Worlds.

Let Allah’s Blessings be upon Muhammad

and upon his righteous and pure family.

In this paper, we will discuss the origin of the Holy Quran, how it was sent from Allah to his Prophet (SAW) and how it was put down on paper and compiled, as well as if the Quran has undergone any ‘editorial treatment’ during the past fourteen centuries. Finally, we will wrap it all up with a short conclusion of the topics above. But, before all of this we will explain why we haven’t used your sources Sir.

1. http://www.thekoran.com/imk/chap0703.html

Looking at the root of the URL (http://www.thekoran.com), we get redirected to URL (http://www.thequran.com), which is a site that writes lies about the Prophet (SAW) and is obviously written by enemies of Islam. The site has also been accused of being created (together with some other sites) by Israeli Jews in a campaign with misinforming people on Islam as its objective. Officially, the site is owned and run by Christians.

2. http://www.maitreya.org/english/pislam_kor...ny_versions.htm

Looking at the root of the URL (http://www.maitreya.org) we see some odd movement combining different religious symbols in one combined symbol, including the Swastika. They also seem to ‘worship’ different symbols. Also, in the site it says that Uthman (May Allah curse his soul) was assassinated while he was reading the Quran, it is wrong. Uthman (May Allah curse his soul) was murdered by a herd of people that surrounded his palace for 40 days after Uthman (May Allah curse his soul) had ordered the assassination of their leader in Egypt. See URL [http://www.shia.com/notes/tar09_16.html] for more detailed information on that event in history. Because of these two reasons we do not accept this site as a reliable and proper source of information for us to write a paper on something such as important as the Holy Quran.

3. http://***.org/Green/seven/originof.htm

Again, we went to the root of the URL [http://www.***.org]. There we found that again, there was a Christian organization fabricating horrible lies about the Prophet (SAW) and accusing Him of being a child molester (Astaghfirul´Allah!) and that Muslims all over the world follow his example. In the URL [http://***.org/Hoaxes/israeliweb.html] the organization behind this site is defending itself again the reputation of it being a part of the campaign run by Israeli Jews against Islam that we have written about above.

Also, many of the quotes in these sites come from Bukhari. He is one of the most important collectors of hadith for the Sunnis; among the ones who he has collected hadith from are Umar Al-Khattab (May Allah curse his soul), Aisha and Abu-Huraira. Both Umar and Aisha denied the rights of the Ahlul-Bayt (as) – the family of the Prophet (SAW) – after the Prophet (SAW) had passed away.

Abu-Hurayyra was a liar that produced hadith to keep his tummy full and has no reliability what so ever. Sunnis claim that this is impossible as he was a sahaba chosen by the Prophet (SAW), but there are several hadith confirming that not all sahaba would follow the Prophet (SAW) and his words after his departure from this world (Oh Allah! Send your blessings to our Prophet (SAW) and his descendants! (as)) . The Sunnis deny this and therefore there is a gap between Shias and Sunnis in this matter.

Before we start discussing what the Quran is and how it was sent to the Prophet (SAW) as well as how it was written down, compiled and whether it was edited or not, we shall first define the word “Prophet” and its meaning.

We will use the Quran´s standards of defining the meaning of the word “Prophet” and what the “Prophets” task is, here on Earth. The Quran states that “Prophets” are sent by Allah to teach us, the ‘normal’ humans, how to be good Muslims. The “Prophets” are human, just as us, and we can and should therefore copy them and use them as models for how to be good Muslims. They are like a bridge between Allah and us.

So, how does Allah communicate with the “Prophets”? Well, Allah use one of three ways to communicate with them; the first one is to address them directly (as Allah did with Prophet Musa [Moses]), the second one is to give them instructions in their dreams (as Allah did with Prophet Isa [Jesus]) and the third and final way of Allah to instruct his Prophets is through angels (as Allah did with Prophet Muhammad (SAW)).

When the Prophets receive their revelations through one of the three mentioned ways, they forward it to the people. The Prophets also have to have certain qualities, or properties. They have to be chosen by Allah, be Masoom (infallible, unable to commit sins, not even by mistake), and have a behavior that is perfectly in order with the sayings of their Holy Books and they also have to have the most of knowledge. Finally, the Prophet also has to be able to perform miracles. Note! Not all Sunnis believe that all Prophets sent by Allah were Masoom.

Now, there are two different kinds of Prophets, ‘nabi’ and ‘rasool’. ‘Nabi’ is the Arabic word for Prophet. Amongst the ‘nabi’, there are certain specially chosen Prophets by Allah that are given new sets of laws for the people to follow, like Prophet Musa and Prophet Isa for example. These are called ‘rasool’. As you might have noticed, the Prophets are differently ranked in order with the importance of their tasks – the ones who only have to continue teaching old laws are lower than the ones who have to introduce new laws. Now, above the ‘rasool’ there are the ‘ulul adhm’ Prophets. ‘Ulul adhm’ means ‘those of great constancy’ in Arabic. There are only five ‘ulul adhm’ Prophets – Prophet Nuh (Noah), Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), Prophet Mosa (Moses), Prophet Isa (Jesus) and finally Prophet Muhammad (SAW), who was the last and greatest of the total of 124’000 Prophets that Allah has sent through time.

Islam has been the religion that has been revealed to the Prophets through time, from Prophet Adam to Prophet Muhammad (SAW). However, it has been sent down to the people - through the Prophets - in stages with consideration to the level of knowledge as well as comprehension of Islam by the people. As people’s knowledge and comprehension of Islam grew, so did the message of Allah. Islam was complete with the last Prophet (SAW).

Also, each ‘rasool’ had their new set of laws written down in ‘divine books’. Prophet Nuh and Prophet Ibrahim each had a ‘divine book’ where the new laws of Allah were written down, but unfortunately there isn’t much known about these books. In addition to the Quran, the following ‘divine books’ has been sent down; the Book of Ibrahim (sometimes referred to as ‘the Booklet’) which was sent to Prophet Ibrahim, the ‘Tawrat’ (Torah) which was sent to Prophet Musa, the ‘Zabur’ (Psalms of Prophet Dawod) which was sent to Prophet Dawod (David) and finally the ‘Injil’ (New Testament) which was sent to Prophet Isa. The revelation of the Quran completed all of these ‘divine books’ and added new sets of laws. With the Quran, there were no longer any need of the previous ‘divine books’ which had been corrupted, all other ‘divine books’ except the Quran were now invalid.

The Quran is the complete and final ‘divine book’ of the Muslims, and include all original commandments which had been revealed to the previous ‘rasools’ as well as the new sets of laws revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Now that we have defined what a Prophet is, in accordance to the Quran, and explained what the Quran is and what it contains, we will write about how it was sent down to the Prophet (SAW).

The Holy Prophet (SAW) used to spend a lot of time meditating and praying in the cave of the mountain ‘Hira’, which lies about 3 miles north of Makkah, offering perfect view of the Holy Kaba. He had made it a habit to sometimes go away from his house to the caves of Hira and pray by himself for a couple of days. His wife, Khadidja (as), used to bring him water and some food when this occurred. One night, when he was in the cave, he heard a voice calling his name and a bright light shone into the cave. Instead of being panicked, the Holy Prophet (SAW) sat calmly and saw a man approach him. The man was the Angel Jibrail (Gabriel) (as) that had taken human shape. The Angel Jibrail (as) approached the Holy Prophet (SAW) further and held up a silk scroll with writings on it and asked the Holy Prophet (SAW) to read. The words that the Holy Prophet (SAW) read were the first revelation from Allah and as time went became the first five verses of Surah al-Alaq :

In the Name of Allah the Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Read! In the Name of your Lord Who created (everything in the Universe). He created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Honourable. (He) Who taught (to write) with the pen. (He) taught man what he knew not.

Surah al-Alaq, 96:1-5

After reciting the writings on the silk scroll, the Angel Jibrail (as) said, “O Muhammad! There is no doubt that you are the Apostle of Allah and I am his angel Jibrail.” Then the Angel Jibrail (as) vanished. It was now time for the Holy Prophet (SAW) to start his mission.

Allah also sent a very, very important and wonderful blessing to the Holy Prophet (SAW); he gave Him a very special memory that made him remember everything that he heard only a single time from the Angel Jibrail (as), forever in his mind.

After the first revelation, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) returned home and told his wife Khadidja (as) and Imam Ali (as) about his revelations. Khadidja (as) was the first woman to acknowledge Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as the Prophet of Allah, and Imam Ali (as) was the first man to do the same.

The night when Prophet Muhammad (SAW) received the first revelation of Allah occurred at the 27th day of the Arabic month Rajab at the year 610 CE (The Prophet was born on 570 CE). The last revelations was revealed to the Holy Prophet (SAW) about one week before his departure from this world. The Quran consists of revelations from Allah sent to the Holy Prophet (SAW) during the last 23 years of His life. In total, the Quran has 114 chapters, consisting of 6’226 verses, containing 99’464 words made up of 330’113 letters. On the orders of the Prophet (SAW), the Quran was written down by persons personally chosen by the Prophet. These were known as the “kuttab al-wahy”, “Scribes of Revelation”. The Prophet (SAW) also emphasized the importance of remembering the Quran as well as reciting it.

The following is based on an article in the journal ’Mishkat’ (No 4, May 1991), owned and distributed by ‘Edareyeh-Umur-Farhangi’, an academic and research institution connected to Astaneyeh-Quds´a-Radawi, Imam Reza (as)´s Shrine at the ‘Khorasan’ province capital Mashhad (about 900 km east of Tehran with 8 million citizens according to unofficial Iranian sources), by a well known Iranian scholar. We will present a number of narrations about the compilation of the Quran written by different narrators/collectors of hadith:

Ibn Al-Nadim narrates that Imam Ali (as), Said ibn ‘ Ubayd ibn Al-Numan, Abu al Darda´, Mu´adh ibn Jabal, ‘ Thabit Ibn Zayd and ‘ Ubayd ibn Mu’ awiyah ibn Zayd compiled the Quran when the Prophet (SAW) was still alive.

Al-Bukhari (most important Sunni collector of hadith) claims that Ubayy ibn Ka´b, Zayd ibn Thabit, Mu´adh and Abu Zayd collected the Quran ‘during the Prophet’s (SAW) era’. This claim is based on interviews with Anas ibn Malik. Other narrations made by Al-Bukhari mentions names such as Abu al-Darda´, Mu´adh ibn Jabal, Zayd ibn Thabit and Abu Zayd as compilers of the Quran during the same era as mentioned above.

Al-Zarakshi mention Ubayy, Zayd, Mu´adh, Abu al-Darda´, Said ibn ´Ubayd, Abu Zayd and finally Mujamma ibn Jariyah as compilers of the Quran except for two chapters (surahs) during the lifetime of the Prophet (SAW) based on the sayings of Al-Sha´bi.

In al-Tamhid, Abu Musa al-Ashari and Miqdad ibn al-Aswad are mentioned as compilers of the Quran.

Ibn al-Nadim has mentioned how Imam Ali (as) continued the collection the Quran on direct orders from the Prophet (SAW) after his death, together with several other Shia collectors of hadith. They also mention how there are slight differences in the arrangement and names of the different chapters (surahs) of the Quran, between the codex of Imam Ali (as) and Ubayy ibn Ka´b for example. The present compilation of the Quran is the result of a standardization of the Quran ordered by Abubakr (May Allah curse his soul), and carried out by Zayd ibn Thabit.

Zayd narrates, "…Abu Bakr sent for me after the Battle of Yamamah, in which a large number of the Prophet's Companions and qurra' (reciters) of the Qur'an were killed. He told me, "'Umar, who is now here, says that qurra' of the Qur'an have been martyred at Yamamah. If a similar incident should recur, it is feared that a part of the Qur'an retained by them in their memories would be lost. Since you are an intelligent man and happen to be one of the scribes of the revelation and are trustworthy as well, I ask you to collect the Qur'an.' Accordingly, I collected the Qur'an from original recordings, and from the memories of men…."

Al-Tamhid claims that the work was commenced by Zayd ibn Thabit with the help of several others, but later Ubayy ibn Ka´b assumed responsibility for the reading and Zayd for the writing down. And so the Holy Quran was compiled in this way and Abubakr (May God curse his soul) had it in his custody. After Abubakr´s (May God curse his soul) death, it went to Umar (May God curse his soul). After Umar´s (May God curse his soul) death Hafsa had it until 642 CE. While Uthman (May God curse his soul) was in power, suddenly differences in recitation of the Quran arose. Worried about the risk of having different versions of the Quran, Uthman (May God curse his soul) ordered that the Quran compiled by Zaid ibn Thabit on the orders of Abubakr (May God curse his soul) should be returned from Hafsa for Uthmans (May God curse his soul) scribes to transcript it. Uthman (May God curse his soul) then ordered Zaid ibn Thabit to prepare several copies of the Quran, once compiled by him on the order of Abubakr (May God curse his soul). The original Quran that had been used as the host for the copies was then brought back to Hafsa. Uthman (May God curse his soul) kept one of the copies with him at Madina (which served as the ‘master copy’, the “Al-mushaf Al-imam) and 4 to 9 other copies (different numbers because of different narrations) were sent to major Islamic cities/areas such as Kufah, Basrah, Makkah, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt and Al-Jazirah.

These copies were seen as ‘master copies’ when the people in the city wanted to copy the Quran or if there was any differences in the reading of the Quran´s in the cities. If there were any differences in the ‘master copies’ of the Quran´s sent out to the different cities, the ‘master copy’ at Madinah would serve as the “standard”.

Along with the Qurans sent out to the different cities, Uthman (May God curse his soul) ordered one qari (reciter) to follow with each of the Qurans to show how the Quran ought to be read. These ‘master copies’ sent out by Uthman (May God curse his soul) was kept intact for a long time. (We still use their ‘model’ today, but not all ‘originals’ made by Zaid ibn Thabit are remaining.)

The Quran that was compiled by Zaid ibn Thabit on the orders of Abubakr (May Allah curse his soul) was in the possession of Hafsah until Marwan ibn al-Hakam was in power. He wanted to burn it, just as Uthman (May Allah curse his soul) once had burnt all Qurans except his master copies sent out to all major Islamic cities. However, Hafsah refused to let Marwan ibn al-Hakam burn it so, it remained with her until her death. Marwan ibn al-Hakam burnt it after her demise. Two others refused to hand over their Qurans to Uthman, (May Allah curse his soul) and it remained with their families – the compilations of Abdallah ibn Masud and Imam Ali (as). Uthman (May Allah curse his soul) ensured that the Quran was one in 642 CE.

Ibn al-Nadim narrates: "…After the demise of the Prophet (S) 'Ali (A) vowed not to leave his home until he had collected the Qur'an. He remained at home for three days and collected the Qur'an. He was the first one to have compiled the Qur'an from memory; this compilation remained in the custody of the family of Ja'far…".

The first one to compile the Holy Quran was Imam Ali (as) who did so in accordance with the instructions of the Prophet (SAW), he structured the verses chronologically and “mentioned their context and place of revelation”.

“…It is inferred from the observations of Ibn al-Nadim that 'Ali (A) had already memorized the Qur'an before the demise of the Prophet (S) and after his (S) demise he retrieved it from his memory and compiled it. Perhaps he had already written parts of it, because even a highly skilled scribe cannot write the entire Qur'an in three days from memory or copy it from another copy. Since there is no evidence that 'Ali (A) copied the Qur'an from another copy, it follows that he had previously written the Qur'an as and when it was revealed in that order, and since the Prophet (S) was aware of 'Ali's (A) work and his writing of the Qur'an, he (S) instructed him (A) to collect and compile the same, so that it was safeguarded from destruction and tahrif like the revealed scriptures of the past…”

There are several hadith that witness about how the Quran was scattered during the time of the Prophet (SAW). Same hadith also mention how the Quran was written down on loose papers and was memorized by the Companions of the Prophet (SAW). Among these were Uthman (May Allah curse his soul) and Imam Ali (as) that sometimes even used to recite the Quran for the Prophet (SAW).

“…from the foregoing account that 'Ali (A) collected and compiled the Qur'anic text in the order of its revelation, it is inferred that the 'short surahs, which are generally Meccan, were placed at the beginning "of the Qur'an, followed by the longer ones revealed at Madinah. Further, the context of revelation of the verses was also mentioned…”

The Quran of Imam Ali (as) remained in the family of Imam Hasan (as), the son of Imam Ali (as). Al-Maqrizi narrates about a Quran written by Imam Ali (as) that was in the custody of the library of the Fatimid caliphs in Cairo, Egypt. It was kept in a silver chest in the ancient grand mosque. Later it was moved to a special-made golden chest, ordered by Ma´mun Bata´ihi (a minister of the Fatimid caliph Amir Billah). Today, a Quran said to be compiled by Imam Ali (as) is kept at the Imam Hussayn (as) shrine at Cairo. It might be the Quran that was once in the custody of the Fatimid caliphs and kept in the ancient grand mosque.

There are also three codices credited to Imam Hasan (as). One of these is kept in the Quran collection at the Shrine of Imam Reza (as), the second is placed upon the sarcophagus of the tomb of Imam Ali (as), which is located in southern Iraqi city of Najaf. The third one is located at the library of Ostad Mahmud Farrukh Khorasani.

Bare in mind that the different Qurans compiled in the centuries after the death of the Prophet (SAW) are without names of their compilers or dated, in opposition to the Qurans of the Imams (as) and the Quran of Aqabah ibn Amir and Khadij ibn Mu´awiyah.

For more information on the Quran of Imam Ali (as), visit http://www.al-islam.org/encyclopedia/chapter8/4.html, it is a great site with several Sunni as well as Shia references that support his position.

I will now quickly present Imam Mohammad Shirazi´s view of on the compilation of the Quran.

Imam Mohammad Shirazi is basing his thoughts on how the Quran was compiled and by whom on a hadith of Ibn Abbas in ‘al-Manaqib’, where he describes how the Angel Jibrail (as) said to the Prophet (SAW): ‘Place this verse at the head of the 280th verse of the second chapter’, after revealing the last verse of the Quran to Him.

Shirazi interpret this hadith, and with it the words of Angel Jibrail (as), as a commandment from Allah to the Prophet (SAW) to compile the Quran as well as structure its verses precisely (even to number these in a precise way). He says that the Prophet (SAW) did this during his life and that leaving the Quran “disparate” so that someone after him should compile it is unthinkable. Shirazi also states that the Quran is the “eternal constitution of Islam and its inimitable miracle surviving throughout the aeons and ages until the day of resurrection”, and that it is therefore not possible to even think about that the Prophet (SAW) would fail in compiling the Quran and leave it scattered for his followers to complete the work.

Shirazi also mentions a verse in the Quran saying “It is our duty to compile it and recite it”, as a argument for that the Prophet (SAW) compiled and structured the Quran exactly as Allah had commanded him to do. He also claims that the Quran we have today, with its “structure and compilation, the numbering of its verses, and the structure of its chapters and sections is the very same Quran that the Prophet Muhammad gathered, collated, compiled and structured for Muslims during his life at the instigation of Allah”, and that it hasn´t even slightly changed.

Shirazi supports this statement with a report from Imam al-Sadiq (as) saying that the Prophet (SAW) ordered his son in law, Imam Ali (as) to collect the Quran with the words: “Oh, Ali. The Quran is behind my bed, in scrolls, silk and papers. Take it and collate it and do not lose it as the Jews have lost the Torah.” With these words, Shirazi says that it is obvious that the Prophet had been told my Allah to collect and compile the Quran, and that Imam Ali (as) was the one that was chosen as the responsible one for this work by the Prophet (SAW) himself.

Also, Shirazi mentions how some of the Companions of the Prophet (SAW) recited the Quran from the beginning to the end in front of Him, indicating that it was gathered and structured – not “disparate and scattered”. He also writes about how Zaid ibn Thabit has been reported saying :

“We used to collect the fragments of the verses of the Quran and put them in their appropriate places at the instruction of the Messenger of Allah. Despite this, the verses were still fragmented so the Prophet ordered Ali to gather them in one place and warned us against losing them.”,

as a proof of Imam Ali(AS) being the one chosen to be responsible for the compilation and gathering of the Quran and that Allah had commanded the Prophet (SAW) to structure the Quran in a specific way. The following said by Shirazi is brilliant and should not be rewritten, so we quote him instead:

“ The ‘Opening’ Chapter

The naming of the first chapter of the Quran as the ‘opening’ chapter during the time of the Prophet means that it is the opening chapter of the Quran despite the fact that neither this chapter or even the first verse of it were the first chronologically to be revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. The naming of it as the ‘opening’ chapter during the Prophets lifetime shows that the book was collated together as a whole in the form existent today, and that the first chapter then is still the first chapter today. “

Another point that Shirazi is using as evidence of that the Prophet compiled the Quran is a hadith widely accepted by both Sunni and Shia scholars:

“I leave with you the two momentous things – the book of Allah and the people of my household. As long as you adhere to these two you will never go astray after me..”

Shirazi claims that the Prophet (SAW) would never have used the word “book” if the Quran was not already structured and gathered when He was still alive and able to say the words mentioned above.

Shirazi explains the matter of the rejection of the Quran of Imam Ali (as) as something very clear; “…they did not want commentary or interpretation because it was a special merit of ‘Ali’s…”.

Also, he states that the gathering of the Quran by Umar or Uthman (May Allah curse their souls), if it was the case, was a process where incomplete documents written down by the Companions of the Prophet (SAW) would be brought and gathered into one complete version and several incomplete. Shirazi uses the following example to explain this:

This is a natural thing, for example when the speeches of a lecturer are gathered by his students, some students will be absent for reasons of illness or travel or the like and hence not have the complete versions of the speeches. Those who had a full attendance record however will have the complete version.

Shirazi continues with saying that Umar and Uthman (May Allah curse their souls) destroyed all versions that were different (as well as scattered) from the Quran of the time of the Prophet (SAW).

In conclusion; it is important to define the concepts you are working with. The Quran was and still is a very mysterious object of attention that has provided food for thought to minds devoted to all kind of religions and ideologies. After weeks of work, we are still not sure about what to think about what version is correct; did the Prophet (SAW) himself get told that he had to collect, compile and structure the Quran? If so, why didn´t he do it? If Al-Nadim is right of course. In any case, what we are trying to say is that this project has provided enormous amounts of food for thought and helped us to be more critical, even when it comes to something as fundamental as the book of which the entire religion of Islam is built upon. For that we thank you, Sir.

Glossary:

Hadith : A record of the sayings and deeds of the Prophet(SAW) as well as the Imams that followed him (as), a second reference for Muslims in correct Islamic behavior.

AS : Alayhi Salaam, meaning ‘Upon Him Peace’, it is always stated after the mention of the names of all Prophets except for Prophet Muhammad (SAW). It is also said after the mention of the names of the 12 Imams (as).

SAW: Salle-Allah Alayhi wa Alayhi wa Salaam, meaning Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him and his infallible family. This is always stated after the mention of the name of the Prophet out of respect for the Prophet of Islam (SAW).

Sources used:

Ahlul-Bayt Discussion Forum (www.shiachat.com)

Mishkat, No4 May 1991 (http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/manuscripts.htm)

The Qu´ran : When was it compiled?( http://www.shirazi.org.uk/books.htm)

Holy Qu´ran Resources on the Internet (http://www.quran.org.uk/)

Shia Ithna Ashari Madressa (SI Stanmore) (http://ww.shia.com)

Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project (http://www.al-islam.org/organizations/dilp)