Revelation and Collection of the Quran

Revelation and Collection of the Quran

Excerpted from At-Tasheel li-Uloom at-Tazeel by Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi –al-Gharanti

Allah revealed the Quran to Messenger Muhammad in Mecca when He sent him as a messenger and prophet. Messenger Muhammad was forty years old then. The revelation continued when Messenger Muhammad emigrated to al-Madinah until he died. Thus, the Quran was revealed for about twenty years and it was said for about twenty-three years. This difference is due to disagreement on, was Messenger Muhammad sixty or sixty-three years old when he died? Sometimes an entire surah was revealed to him and sometimes some ayat, and then Messenger Muhammad would combine them so that a whole surah was formed.

The first surah revealed to Messenger Muhammad was surah al-Alaq [the Clot], then surah al-Mudathir [the cloaked] and al-Muzammil [the One Wrapped in Garments] and it was said that surah al-Fatihah [the Opening].

However, the correct opinion is the first one because Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, mentioned that in a narration about the beginning of the revelation to Messenger Muhammad. She narrated that Messenger Muhammad said, ‘The angel came to me while I was in Hira’ cave. Then he said, ‘Read.’ I said, ‘I do not know how to read.’ Then he held and pressed me until I could not bear it. Then he released me and said, ‘Read.’ I said, ‘I do not know how to read.’ Then he held me for the second time until I could not bear it and then he released me. Then he said, ‘Read.’ I said, ‘I do not know how to read.’ Then he held me for the third time, released me, and said, [Read in the name of your Lord who created. He created man from a clinging clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who taught by the pen. He taught man that he knew not.’ [Surah al-Alaq] Then Messenger Muhammad returned to his house and his heart was trembling. Then he said, ‘Cover me! Cover me!’ They covered him until his fear was over.’ [Sahih al-Bukhari]

In another narration reported by Abdul Allah bin Jabir, ‘He said, ‘Cover me!’ Then Allah revealed, [O you covered with his clothes.] [Surah al-Muddaththir] [Sahih al-Bukhari]

As for the last surah that was revealed, it was surah an-Nasr, it was also said that it was the ayah about usury in surah al-Baqarah, and it was also said that it was the ayah that was before it.

During the lifetime of Messenger Muhammad, the Quran was written in leaves and memorized by the companions of Messenger Muhammad. After Messenger Muhammad died, Ali bin abi Talib began to collect it in chronological order according to the time of revelation. If what he collected should be found, great knowledge would have found therein. However, it was not found. 

Then many companions of Messenger Muhammad died in the battle of Umamah while fighting Musaylimah, the Liar. Thereupon, Umar bin al-Khattab advised abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them, to collect the Quran lest it might be lost because of the death of those who memorized it. Thus, abu Bakr collected the Quran in leaves and the surahs did not have a specific order. These leaves remained with abu Bakr, then Umar, and finally with Hafsah, the mother of the believers and the daughter of Umar bin al-Khattab.

Meanwhile, leaves wherein some surahs of the Quran were written by the companions of Messenger Muhammad spread in different Islamic regions. These leaves contained some differences. Thus, Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman advised Uthman bin Affan to write a copy of the Quran so that people would depend on the same copy of the Quran lest disagreement should take place among them. 

Uthman delegated and commanded Zayd bin Thabit to collect the Quran and there were three persons from the tribe of Quraysh with him. They were Abdul Allah bin az-Zubayr, Abdur-Rahman bin al-Harith, and Sa’id bin al-As. Uthman told them that if they should disagree about how to write anything, then they should write it according to the dialect of Quraysh. Those men depended on the written copy of the Quran that was kept with Hafsah, may Allah be pleased with her. Uthman used to observe and help them in this task. When the collection of this copy finished, Uthman sent copies of it to different Islamic regions and commanded to burn or cut all other copies of the Quran. Accordingly, the arrangement of the surahs in the present Quran was done by Uthman and Zayd bin Thabit and those who helped him to write the Quran. It was also said that the arrangement was done by Messenger Muhammad, which is a weak opinion that narrations about this issue contradict it. 

As for adding dots and diacritical marks, Abdul Malik bin Marwan ordered al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf to add them. Al-Hajjaj also divided the Quran into parts called hizb. It was also said that the first person, who added dots to the written copy of the Quran, was Yahya bin Ya’mur, and it was also said that he was abu al-Aswad ad-Du’ali.