Women Perserving the Qur'an

The Qur'an, the most sacred and important source in Islam, was memorized by many of the companions. After the Battle of Yamamah, where a large number of those memorizers were killed, `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) advised Abu Bakr to issue a standardized edition of the entire Qur'an in the dialect of Quraish, whose protection he vouchsafed.

Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) issued such an edition. After his death it passed into the protection of `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and after his passing, it was given to Hafsah bint `Umar (may Allah be pleased with her) to be carefully guarded and preserved.


During the caliphate of `Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) it was noticed that divergent and erroneous recitations of the Qur'an were emerging among the newly converted non-Arab people in places like Armenia and Azerbaijan.

`Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) then borrowed the edition of the Qur'an in Hafsah's protection (may Allah be pleased with her) to make six standardized copies to send to the major political and cultural centers in the Islamic realm. He ordered all non-standardized editions to be burned. It is clear here that no one questioned Hafsah's trustworthiness (may Allah be pleased with her), as to whether she had altered the edition vouchsafed to her in any way.