Ramadan Lecture:5 (Preservation of The Holy Qur'an in the Period of 1st Caliph Abu Bakr R.A.)

It has already been mentioned that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, could not compile the Qur’an in one volume during his lifetime. Certainly, it was not in the form what in Arabic is called: "??? ?????? ??????????"   (A book between two covers), although it was written on scattered sheets which were read before the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, and approved. After the death of Muhammad, peace be upon him, an immediate cause demanded the preparation of the Canon Version. As there was the problem of apostasy which arose and a number of tribes refused to pay Zakat (In Islam, Zakat is an obligatory alms--2.5 percent is paid annually, to the poor and needy, on the lunar-year-long savings); and some eloquent people, both male and female, proclaimed to be the prophets of Allah. Abu Bakr R.A. declared war against apostates. In one war: War of Yamama, seventy or more companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, all memorizers of the Qur'an, were martyred.

Though Muhammad. peace be upon him, had dictated  whole of the Qur'an in his lifetime, it was on scattered sheets and the Holy Book was not compiled in one volume. However, Muhammad, peace be upon him, had managed a two-fold arrangement for the preservation of the book. One  that the Companions used to write it and, secondly, most of them used to memorize it as well. Many Ayyam al-Urdaat: ????? ??????? (Days of Presentation) are reported in our history, when, after an announcement, the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, visited a place, or a tribe; and the people presented their written materials for approval before the Prophet, peace be upon him, to ensure that they had written the Qur'an correctly. The details in this regard can be seen in Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani and in Al-Itqan  fi ‘ulum al-Qur’an by ‘Allama Al-Suyuti. The enthusiasm of the Companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to memorize the Qur’an was very high. In very early days of the caliphate of ‘Umar R.A, it is reported in hadith books that the second caliph ‘Umar R.A. wrote a letter to the governors of all provinces to send him the lists and details of the Huffaz (memorizers of the Qur’an) in their provinces. In response to the letter, Abu Musa al-‘Ash’ari R.A., the governor of a province, sent a list of more than 300 huffaz from his province.

After War of Yamama, ‘Umar b. al-Khattab R.A. recommended the preparation of a Canon Version under official patronage. In the beginning the Caliph Abu Bakr R.A. was reluctant and afterwards he conceded to the suggestion. (The details can be seen in Jami‘ al-Bukhari). For preparation of the Canon Version of the Holy Qur’an under patronage of the state, Abu Bakr R.A. appointed a Qur'an Commission, comprised of at least 6-7 senior companions, under chairmanship of Zayd b. Thabit R.A., who was a great scholar of the Qur’an and had mastery over various dialects of the Arabic language. The Caliph Abu Bakr R.A. advised the Qur’an Commission to take an oath from those who come to the Commission; then, to accept a Qur'anic verse if it was presented with at least two ‘Urdaat : ???????? (written pieces presented to the Prophet, peace be upon him, for approval), or two valid evidences from the Companions R.A.; as is required by the Islamic Law of Evidence. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is reported to have said:

                          ." ?????? ???????? ?????????? ?????? "

(The Qur’an has been revealed in seven reading styles). The special peculiarity of this Scripture was that it was not restricted to any specific dialect as it encompassed all dialects allowed by the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, i.e. Seven Styles of reading the Qur’an. It should also be remembered that the first four caliphs of the first Islamic State: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali R.A. were also very good memorizers of the Qur’an.

Dear readers! The dialectical variations in vocalizing and pronouncing a word is a natural phenomenon in all natural languages of the world. The behavior of the vocal cords changes with the change in climate, geography and other conditions of life. Since the audience whom Muhammad, peace be upon him, addressed were Bedouins, un-lettered people, women and children from different tribes and clans, he, peace be upon him, allowed them to recite the Qur’an in their local or tribal dialects. It is reported in books of Qur’anic readings that in Surah Al-Fatiha-the opening chapter of the Qur’an, some of the companions used to read the word “iyyaka” as “wiyyaka” and some others as “hiyyaka” since in their tribal dialects “alif” was changed with “waw” or with “ha”. It is also interesting to note that the complete Surah al-Fatiha was revealed in early days of the prophet hood in Makkah. Now, an Australian-American orientalist Arthur Jeffery d. 1959 CE, though declares it to be the ‘Cento of the Qur’an’, and tries to prove it to be a counterpart to the Lord’s Prayer of Christianity and claims: “It is possible, of course, that as a prayer it was constructed by the Prophet himself, but its use and its position in our present Qur’an are due to the compilers, who placed it there, perhaps on the fly-leaf of the Standard Codex”. However, Arthur Jeffery does not support these contentions by any reference or historical  proof. (Please see for details: Muhammad Akram Chaudhary, “Orientalism on Variant Readings of the Qur’an: The Case of Arthur Jeffery, The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 12:2, pp. 173-175). There was a growing interest among the companions R.A. to read the Qur’an as the Holy Prophet used to read it in Madina. Nevertheless, all seven reading styles were considered to be valid since these reading styles were allowed by the Prophet, peace be upon him. Therefore, the first Canon/Official version of the Qur’an encompassed all these admissible readings/ dialects.

Additionally, the prepared Canon was placed in the Mosque of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the companions R.A. were asked to recite it for six months; and, the history did not record even a single objection about the compilation of the Holy Book; or, any addition or deletion in any verse of the Qur’an. No Companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him, ever objected that we had heard such and such verse which is not here; or we have never heard such and such verse from the Prophet, peace be upon him, and it has been included in the Canon Version.

Dear readers! As far as the orthography and the script of the Canon Version is concerned, the first Canon Version was written in Hiri script which ultimately became the basis for the development of Kufi script in which the ‘Uthmanic Recension was presented.

Dear readers! The most salient feature of the Holy Qur’an, during the last millennium and a half, as known in the Qur’anic exegesis: "?????????? ???????? ????????????" that it has been rendered to us through continuous transmission by one generation to the other and so on. Right from the early days, there were millions of memorizers of this book, who transmitted it to the next generation. Even it had not been written, it would have been safe from adulteration and corruption. This promised preservation is such a merit of this last message of Allah: al-Qur’an al-Karim, which other revealed scriptures do not share this honor.

For details and further explanation in the Urdu language, please click the following link:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ajc7o_lecture-5-qur-an-e-karim-ki-hifazat-abu-bakr-r-a-kay-ehad-mein-prof-dr-m-akram-chaudhary-former-vice_school

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpCWsN7enSM&list=PLCRJJ1gnWed9-M3H1OXAU96-7MofbqUVR