In addition Zayd, after receiving the dictation from the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam)
would be commanded by the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) : ‘read it (back to me)’


The Orientalist, Noldleke claims that verses of the Qur’an were arbitrarily compiled into Surahs by Zayd (after the death of the Prophet), as were the order of the Surahs. He claims that the Prophet did not arrange the verses into Surahs, nor the order of the Surahs within the Quran. This claim is easily refuted.


Firstly, we have shown that the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) would instruct the scribes where to place the revelation. The scribes were informed whether the revelation consisted of one independent Surah (as was often the case when smaller and medium length surahs were revealed), or part of a surah. If it was the latter, they would be informed which pieces belonged to which surah, and the order in which they were to be placed.


Suyootee said: ‘the recitation of the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) in front of the gatherings of the Companions proves that the arrangements of the verses is from him, and the Companions could not change the order of the verses from what the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) recited. Therefore, the knowledge of the order of the verses in mutawaatir’ (al-Itqaan).


Secondly, there a number of reports mentioning that the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) would recite particular surahs at certain times (Eid, Jum’uah, Fajr, etc). Hence the surahs were known and recognised by the Companions, and were not complied arbitrarily by Zayd.


Imaam al Karmaanee said: ‘The arrangement of the surahs is from Allah, and the Qur’an is written in the Lauh al Mahfoodh in this arrangement.’


Third, the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) mentioned the special merits of reciting some surahs (al-Baqarah, Al-Imraan, Faatihah, al-Kahf, and many others). The very fact that al- Faatihah is called the opening of the Book proves that the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) had arranged the order of the Surahs of the Qur’an.


The outcome of the Prophet’s compilation


Thus before the death of the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) the Qur’an had been memorised by many of the Companions, and had been preserved in writing. The companions knew the order of verses within each surah, and the order of surahs within the Qur’an. Jibraeel would visit the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) every Ramadan and recite the Qur’an to him whilst the Prophet listened. The Prophet would in turn recite the Qur’an back to Jibraeel. During the Prophet’s final Ramadan, Jibraeel recited the Qur’an to the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) twice. This final reading was witnessed by Zayd ibn Thabitt.


The revelation was not collected in one book before the death of the Prophet as verses were being revealed right up to nine days before his death (sallahu alaihi wa sallam). Given that the verses were not placed in chronological order, the Qur’an could not be compiled into one book until all of the verses were revealed. This meant that the compilation of the Surahs of the Qur’an in one book could only take place when the revelation had stopped – i.e. the after
death of the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam).




Compilation of the Qur’an in time of Abu Bakr (11-13H)


The Caliph Abu Bakr, upon assuming leadership of the ummah, faced a number of important challenges. The most serious was the wars of apostasy against the non payers of zakat, the hypocrites and the false prophets. The brunt of the battles were borne by many of the prominent Companions. During the battle of Yamaamah, Abu Hudayfah inspired and encouraged the Companions by saying: “O possessors of the Qur’an, decorate the Qur’an with deeds”. The Companions also encouraged one another by saying: “O companions of Surah al- Baqarah” (Ya as-haab suratul al Baqarah).


In the battle of Yamaamah, 70 companions who had memorised the Qur’an were killed. The death of such a large number of qurraa alarmed Umar. He went to Abu Bakr, expressing his fear that more qurraa may be killed in subsequent battles. This may lead to a loss of the Qur’an, unless it was complied in one book. Initially Abu Bakr was reluctant to do something that the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) had not done, but Umar convinced him that collecting the Qur’an was of benefit to the Muslims. The Prophet arranged for the Qur’an to be written in order to preserve it; compiling it in one book was completing what the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam) had already started.


Zayd ibn Thabbit was chosen to compile the Qur’an for the following reasons:


1. he was one of the best recitors of the Qur’an, and had the most knowledge with regards to the recitation of the Qur’an.
2. he had memorised the Qur’an
3. he was a primary scribe of the Prophet
4. he witnessed Jibraeel’s final recitation to the Prophet in Ramadan
5. he was youthful and had a sharp memory
6. he was of good morals


Zayd was instructed: ‘Sit at the entrance of the masjid. If anyone brings you a verse of the Book of Allah, along with two witnesses, write it down’. (ibn Abi Dawood). Ibn Hajar explained that for written material to be accepted by Zayd, two witnesses had to swear that it had been written in the presence of the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wa sallam). Any written material that the Companions may have privately copied from another Companion was not accepted. Zayd’s knowledge of the Qur’an (through memorisation and writing) could only be compared with material of the same standing.


Zayd also compared the written material presented to him, against the memories of the Companions. ‘So I gathered the Qur’an from various parchments and pieces of bone, and the chests of men”. He then mentions that: ‘I found the last two ayahs of Surah al-Bara’a with Abu Khuzaima al Ansari’ (Bukhari). These two ayat were written in the Mus-huf solely based on Abu Khuzaima al Ansari’s written form. However, other companions had memorised it, and testified that it was from the Qur’an. Even though Zayd and his fellow companions had memorised the last two ayahs of Surah al-Bara’a, and could recall them perfectly, he was not authorised to record it in the Mus-huf, until he came across it in written form. This fact is in contrast to the conjecture of Noldelke who stated that Zayd collected the revelation “chiefly
from the breasts of men”.