3.2.2 Compilation of the Qur’an

Preservation through Compilation

The compilation of the Qur’an is one of the clearest signs that Allah Himself guaranteed its protection as a final revelation for all humanity. Allah said:

“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder, and indeed, We will surely guard it.”
(Qur’an 15:9)

This divine promise took shape through specific historical events in the time of the Prophet ﷺ and the rightly guided caliphs. For a beginner, it is important to see that the Qur’an was not collected randomly or by human opinion alone, but through a careful process, led by people of knowledge, under the guidance of revelation and the practice of the Prophet ﷺ.

Written and Gathered in the Time of the Prophet ﷺ

From the very beginning of revelation, the Prophet ﷺ did not only convey the Qur’an by recitation, he also ensured it was written. Whenever verses were revealed, he would call the trusted scribes and dictate to them exactly where to place each verse within its surah.

“And indeed, it is surely the revelation sent down by the Lord of the worlds.
The Trustworthy Spirit has brought it down
upon your heart, so that you may be of the warners,
in a clear Arabic tongue.”
(Qur’an 26:192‑195)

The Prophet ﷺ himself arranged the order of verses and surahs by Allah’s instruction. The companions did not decide the order on their own. They memorized the Qur’an and recited it in the specific sequence taught to them. In Ramadan, the Prophet ﷺ would review the Qur’an each year with Jibrīl عليه السلام, and in his final year he did this twice.

Ibn ‘Abbās reported: “The Prophet ﷺ was the most generous of people, and he was even more generous in Ramadan when Jibrīl met him. Jibrīl would meet him every night in Ramadan and review the Qur’an with him.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al‑Bukhārī)

The Qur’an at that time existed in two strong forms. First, in the hearts of the companions as memorization. Second, in written form on different materials such as leather, parchment, flat stones, and palm stalks. However, it was not yet collected into one single bound volume.

The Shock of Battle and the Need for a Single Copy

After the death of the Prophet ﷺ, Islam spread rapidly, but the Muslim community was also tested with major battles. In the battle of Yamāmah against false claimants to prophethood, many companions who had memorized the Qur’an were martyred. This caused great concern among the senior companions.

‘Umar ibn al‑Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه feared that if many of the memorizers died, some people might become neglectful and the Qur’an might not remain as carefully preserved in its memorized form among the community. He went to the first caliph, Abū Bakr aṣ‑Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه, and suggested an official compilation of the Qur’an into one written collection.

At first, Abū Bakr disliked the idea because the Prophet ﷺ had not done this specific step during his lifetime, and he was careful not to introduce something new without evidence. However, ‘Umar continued to explain the danger of losing many Qur’an memorizers. Eventually, Allah opened Abū Bakr’s heart to accept this as a necessary means to preserve what Allah had revealed.

Zayd ibn Thābit said: “Abū Bakr sent for me when the people of Yamāmah had been killed... ‘Umar was with him. Abū Bakr said, ‘‘Umar has come to me and said, “Casualties were heavy among the Qur’an reciters on the day of Yamāmah... I am afraid that more heavy casualties may take place among the reciters on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qur’an may be lost. Therefore I suggest you order that the Qur’an be collected.”’ Abū Bakr added, ‘I said to ‘Umar, “How can I do something which Allah’s Messenger did not do?” ‘Umar said, “By Allah, it is something good.” ‘Umar kept on urging me about it until Allah opened my chest to that, and I saw in it what ‘Umar saw.’”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al‑Bukhārī)

This shows that the compilation was not an innovation in belief or worship, but a careful method to protect the original revelation that had already been memorized and written in separate parts.

The Task of Zayd ibn Thābit

Abū Bakr then appointed Zayd ibn Thābit رضي الله عنه, one of the main scribes of revelation during the life of the Prophet ﷺ, to lead the work of compilation. Zayd was both a memorizer of the Qur’an and an eyewitness to its writing, and he had personally written down many revelations from the Prophet ﷺ.

He described the task as extremely heavy because of its importance.

Zayd said: “By Allah, if they had ordered me to shift a mountain, it would not have been heavier for me than ordering me to collect the Qur’an.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al‑Bukhārī)

Zayd did not rely only on his own memory, even though he was a ḥāfiẓ of the Qur’an. The companions adopted strict conditions to protect the text from any mistake. They required both written evidence and memorized confirmation.

Method of Verification in the First Compilation

The companions set a careful method. Verses had to be brought in written form, exactly as they had been written in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, and they also had to be confirmed by the memorization of trustworthy companions. In this way, the Qur’an was preserved through two chains, the written record and the living memory.

The hadith of Zayd ibn Thābit in Ṣaḥīḥ al‑Bukhārī explains this method, describing how he gathered the Qur’an from various materials and from the hearts of men until he had collected all of it. For each passage, there had to be clear proof that it had indeed been recited by the Prophet ﷺ in the final arrangement.

Through this work, the entire Qur’an was collected into one volume. This first compiled copy was kept with Abū Bakr during his life. After his death, it passed to ‘Umar رضي الله عنه. When ‘Umar was martyred, the copy remained with his daughter Ḥafṣah bint ‘Umar رضي الله عنهما, who was also a wife of the Prophet ﷺ.

This collection did not introduce anything new. It simply gathered all the existing, verified verses of the Qur’an into a single, complete manuscript, in the arrangement taught by the Prophet ﷺ.

The Expansion of Islam and the Second Compilation

During the caliphate of ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān رضي الله عنه the Muslim empire expanded further. People from different regions, with different Arabic dialects, entered Islam. The Qur’an was revealed in clear Arabic, but it allowed for some variation in pronunciation within the limits taught by the Prophet ﷺ. As Islam spread, disputes arose among new Muslims about correct recitation, especially between people from Iraq and Syria.

Ḥudhayfah ibn al‑Yamān رضي الله عنه, who had been on the front lines in these regions, became very worried. He returned to ‘Uthmān and warned him that if this was not dealt with, the Muslims might fall into division about the Book of Allah, similar to the divisions of earlier religious communities.

‘Uthmān then consulted the senior companions and decided to produce a standard, unified copy, based on the original compilation kept with Ḥafṣah. His purpose was to unite the Muslims on one written text that matched the recitation that had been agreed upon and practiced widely by the companions.

Anas ibn Mālik reported: “Ḥudhayfah came to ‘Uthmān at the time when the people of Syria and the people of Iraq were waging war to conquer Armenia and Azerbaijan. Ḥudhayfah was afraid of their (the people of Syria and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Qur’an, so he said to ‘Uthmān, ‘O leader of the believers, save this nation before they differ about the Book as the Jews and Christians did.’”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al‑Bukhārī)

This was not a change of the Qur’an. It was a protection of its correct recitation and its written form in the face of the rapid spread of Islam.

The Committee under ‘Uthmān and the ‘Uthmānic Muṣḥaf

‘Uthmān requested the original compiled manuscript from Ḥafṣah رضي الله عنها. He then assigned a committee of learned companions, led again by Zayd ibn Thābit, to produce official copies. With him were three Qurayshī companions, such as ‘Abdullāh ibn az‑Zubayr and others, who helped ensure that the writing followed the dialect of Quraysh, since the Qur’an was first revealed in that dialect.

The Prophet ﷺ was from Quraysh, and Allah said:

“And indeed, this is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds,
which the Trustworthy Spirit brought down
upon your heart, so that you may be of the warners,
in a clear Arabic tongue.”
(Qur’an 26:192‑195)

The committee worked from the original compilation and followed strict rules similar to the first collection. Their task was to produce several identical master copies, free from personal marking or special dialectal features that could create confusion. These copies are called the ‘Uthmānic muṣḥaf.

When the official copies were completed, ‘Uthmān sent them to major Islamic centers such as Kūfah, Baṣrah, and Shām. He also ordered that any private copies or personal written fragments that differed from this official text be removed. This was not to hide anything, but to prevent future disagreement based on unofficial or incomplete manuscripts.

The Community’s Agreement on the Muṣḥaf

The companions, including the most knowledgeable reciters, accepted the ‘Uthmānic copies. There is no authentic report of any companion claiming that a verse was missing or removed from these muṣḥafs. Their silence and agreement is itself a strong proof that the muṣḥaf they handed to the next generation was complete and accurate.

Allah Himself praises the Qur’an as a book that is clear, preserved, and recited:

“Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it. [It is] a revelation from the Wise, the Praiseworthy.”
(Qur’an 41:42)

The Prophet ﷺ also said that there will always remain a group in his community who are firm upon the truth. One of the greatest truths they preserved is the exact text of the Qur’an.

“There will never cease to be a group from my Ummah manifest upon the truth. Those who oppose them will not harm them until the command of Allah comes while they are still upon that.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

The unanimous acceptance of the compiled Qur’an by the companions and the next generations is part of this promise.

Compilation and the Promise of Preservation

The stages of compilation, first under Abū Bakr and then under ‘Uthmān, are a practical expression of Allah’s promise to guard His final revelation. Through memorization and writing during the Prophet’s life, through the careful collection after Yamāmah, and through the standardization under ‘Uthmān, the Qur’an has remained protected from alteration.

Today, all authentic printed muṣḥafs in the world share the same surahs and the same verses, tracing back to the ‘Uthmānic copies. Differences among recognized recitations relate to modes of pronunciation and recitational details, not to added or missing verses. Their agreement in content across centuries and regions reflects the success of the early compilation.

“Indeed, those who disbelieve in the Reminder when it comes to them, and indeed, it is surely a mighty Book,
falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it. [It is] a revelation from the Wise, the Praiseworthy.”
(Qur’an 41:41‑42)

In this way, the compilation of the Qur’an is not only a historical event. It is a living part of the Muslim belief that the Book they read and memorize today is the same revelation that was recited by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to his companions, preserved by the promise and protection of Allah.