Quran Per Islam

The Gathering of the Qur'an Into One Volume (before the Death of the Prophet)

The influence of the Qur'an, which was revealed in separate chapters and verses, increased day by day. Its eloquence and miraculous clarity transfixed the Arabs who attached great importance to fine language; they came from far and wide to hear and learn a few verses from the Prophet. However, the notables of Mecca and the leaders of Quraysh, who were idolators and bitter enemies of the Prophet and of Islam, tried to prevent the people from getting close to the Prophet; they tried to frighten off the Arabs by telling them the Qur'an was magic. Despite this people came, unknown to friends, family and servants, in the dark of night to a place near the Prophet's house and listened to the Prophet reading the Qur'an.

The efforts of the early Muslims in listening to, memorizing and recording the Qur'an were stimulated by another motive: they valued the Qur'an as a sacred document, being the word of God; they were also obliged to read the chapter "a!F?tihah" and a portion of another part of the Qur'an during their prayers.

It was also the Qur'an through which the Prophet had been commanded to instruct people in the laws of Islam This study and devotion to the Qur'an became more ordered and comprehensive after the Prophet emigrated to Medina and formed an independent Muslim community He ordered a considerable number of the companions to recite the Qur'an and to learn and teach the laws which were being revealed daily So important was this activity that, according to special permission granted by God in chapter "Repentance," verse 122, these scholars were relieved of their obligation to fight jihdd (so called Holy War) Since most of the Prophet's companions, (in particular those who had emigrated from Mecca to Medina), were unable to read or write, the Prophet ordered them to learn from the Jewish prisoners-of-war the simple writing of the time.

Thus a group of the companions gradually became literate Those of this group who engaged in the recitation of the Qur'an, learning by heart the chapters and verses were called qurth'; it was from amongst this group that forty (some report seventy) died as martyrs in an accident called Bi'r Ma'ünah The Qur'an was recorded, as it was revealed,

on tablets, bones and the wide flat end of the date palm fronds There is no doubt that most chapters were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shi'ah sources, relating the Prophet's use of the Qur'an as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation Similarly, one comes across names of chapters in traditions which describe the time when the Prophet was still alive, namely the very long chapters and "al-F?tibah"

After the Death of the Prophet

After the death of the Prophet, 'All who, (according to a tradition of absolute authority), was more knowledgeable of the Qur'an than any other man, retired to his house and compiled the Qur'an in one volume in the order corresponding to its revelation Before six months had elapsed after the death of the Prophet,

the volume was completed and carried by camel to show to other people Just about a year after the death of the Prophet The war of Yam?mah took place in which seventy of the Reciters were Killed and the Caliphs conceived the idea of collecting the different chapters and verses into one volume They feared that should a future battle take place and the rest of the qurrd' be killed, the whole Qur'an would disappear with them Thus, on the orders of the Caliph, a group of the qurni' from amongst the companions including Zayd ibn Th?bit, collected the chapters and verses (written on tablets, bones and date palm fronds and kept in the Prophet's house or the houses of reciters),

and produced several hand-written copies of the complete Book They then sent copies of this compilation to all areas of the Muslim domain After a time, during the rule of the third Caliph, it came to the attention of the Caliph himself that differences and inconsistencies were appearing in the copying down of the Qur'an; some calligraphers lacked precision in their writing and some reciters were not accurate in their recitation Since the word of God seemed threatened with alteration, the Caliph ordered that five of the qurrd' from amongst the cornpanion~, (one of them being Zayd ibn Th?bit who had compiled the first volume), produce other copies from the first volume which had been prepared on the orders of the first Caliph and which had been kept with Haf~ah, the wife of the Prophet and daughter of the second Caliph.

The other copies, already in the hands of Muslims in other areas, were collected and sent to Medina where, on orders of the Caliph, they were burnt (or, according to some historians, were destroyed by boiling) Thus several copies were made, one being kept in Medina, one in Mecca, and one each sent to Sham (a territory now divided into Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan), Kufa and Basra.

It is said that beside these five, one copy was also sent to Yemen and one to Bahrein. These copies were called the Imam copies and served as original for all future copies. The only difference of order between these copies and the first volume was that the chapters "Spirits of War" and "Immunity" were written in one place between "The Heights" and "Jonah. "

The Importance Muslims Attached to the Qur'an

As we have pointed out above, the verses and chapters of the Qur'an were in oral use amongst Muslims at the time of its first and second compilation into one volume. They were extremely careful in preserving what they had learnt by heart. Moreover, a large group of companions and their followers were engaged only in recitation and learning the Qur'an by heart.

The collecting together of the Qur'an into one volume took place under their scrutiny. They all accepted, without objection, the volume when it was given to them and then made copies of it. It happened that when some men tried to record verse 34 in "Repentance," "And those who hoard up gold and silver" without the "and" in the 'Uthmanic (second compilation) volume, they were prevented from doing so. The companion Ubayy ibn Ka'b swore that if anyone left out the "and" he would fight him with the sword.

As a result, the word "And" was recorded. One day the second Caliph, during the time of his own caliphate, read the verse, and the first to lead the way of the Muhdjirun and 4n. ~dr and Those who follow them in goodness IX: 100 Without the word "and"; he was opposed and forced in the end to read it with the "and".

The Qur'an that had been compiled by 'All was rejected by several people when he showed it to them. Despite this, Au made no objection or resistance and accepted the Qur'an in circulation for as long as he lived, even during the time of his own Caliphate. Likewise, the Imams of the Prophet's family, the successors and sons of the Prophet did not mention their objection to the Qur'an to the intimates amongst their Shi'ah followers. The always referred to the Qur'an in common use and in their commentaries and ordered the followers to recite it as the people did.

Au's silence in the matter of the difference of order between the two volumes was in keeping with the preference of the Shi'ah Imams for commentary of the Qur'an by the Qur'an; for them the order of the Medinan and Meccan chapters has no influence on the meanings of the Qur'an; commentary of each verse is made by comparing it to another group of verses Moreover the Qur'an is eternal and valid for all times and places; such local and temporary particularities as this time, place and circumstances of revelation can have no effect on the higher scale of meanings contained in the Qur'an.

It is true that there are benefits to be gained by knowing certain details of revelation; they help one to discern the development of divine wisdom, social laws or stories of the past prophets and nations; also an understanding of the reasons for revelation show how the call to Islam progressed during the twenty-three years of the Prophet's mission.

We would like to make clear, however, that it was in order to preserve the unity of the Muslims that caused the Shi'ites to be silent in this matter.

The Quran ' is Protected from any Alteration

The transmission of the Qur'an, from the day of its revelation up to the present day, is flawless The chapters and verses have been in constant use amongst Muslims and have been passed on perfectly intact from one generation to the other The Qur'an we know today is the same Qur'an, which was revealed to the Prophet some fourteen centuries ago.

The Qur'an does not stand in need of historical proof for its identity or authenticity, (although history too confirms its validity). Since a book, which claims to be the actual unalterable word of God and attests to this in its own text, does not need to resort to others to prove its authenticity. The clearest proof that the Qur'an we have with us today is the same that was revealed to the Prophet and that no alteration has taken place in its text is that very superiority which the Qur'an claimed for itself at the time of its revelation and which still exists.

The Qur'an says that it is a book of light and guidance, a book which shows man the truth and reality of existence; it says that it explains all things, that is, everything necessary for man to live in accordance with his own natural character; it says that it is the word of God and challenges man and jinn to produce similar words; it invites them to find someone like the Prophet, who could neither read nor write and grew up in an age of ignorance as an orphan without instruction; the Qur'an challenges them to find any inconsistency in its method, Sciences, or laws, such as one might find in any ordinary book.

They obviously cannot for the superiority of the Qur'an remains after its revelation. Likewise, the guidance for man contained in the Qur'an is still valid; it still expounds a complete worldview, which is in accord with the purest of intellectual proofs and is the source of man's well being in this world and in the next. By the benevolence and care shown by the Creator for His creation in the Book, it still invites man to belief. The Qur'an cares for the needs of man by giving him a vision of reality based on Divine Unity. All knowledge and belief spring from this view of reality At no point does the Qur'an fail to explain in the most comprehensive fashion the reality of this oneness.

It devotes much attention to explaining the behavior and transactions expected of the individual in society and shows how correct action is that which accords with the natural character and capability (fitrah) of man The Qur'an leaves the detailed description of man's behaviour to the Prophet whose daily life was an example of how man was to apply what was contained in the Qur'an Together the Book of God and the example (or Sunnah) of the Prophet delineated an astoundingly comprehensive life-pattern for man, namely, the way of living in tune with the reality, which is Islam.

The Qur'an deals precisely with all aspects of individual and social life and, despite having been revealed in another age, does not contain the slightest inconsistency or incompatibility even today It describes a din, a comprehensive way of life, which's programmed of living is beyond the imagination of the world's most capable lawyers and sociologists. The miracle of the Qur'an has in it clarity and eloquence, rooted, as it is, in the language of a nation famed for the purity and power of its language.

The Qur'an is a miraculous sun whose light shines far brighter than the finest poetry of the time, indeed of any age. During the Islamic conquests of the first century after Hijra, the resulting admixing of non-Arabic words with the Arabic lessened the purity of Arabic language used in the Qur'an causing it to disappear from the every-day speech of the people. The Qur'an does not merely challenge man by the use of its language but . also by the depth of its meaning. Those familiar with the Arabic language (both prose and verse writings) are reduced to silence and astonishment when they attempt to describe it.

The Qur'an is neither poetry nor prose but rather seems to draw qualities from both; it is more attractive and dazzling than poetry and clearer and more flowing than prose. A single verse or phrase from the Qur'an is more illuminating, more penetrating, and more profound than the complete speech of most eloquent speakers. The profundity of meaning in the Qur'an remains as miraculous as ever; its complex structure of beliefs, morals and laws stands as proof that the Qur'an is the word of God. Man, and in particular someone who was born and raised in circumstances similar to those of the Prophet, could never have created such a system; the Qur'an is a harmonious whole despite having been revealed during twenty-three years in greatly varying circumstances.

God Himself confirms that the Qur'an has been preserved from change; in chapter XV: 9 He says, "Indeed We, even we, reveal the Reminder and indeed we are truly its guardian, "and in chapter XLI: 41-42 He says, '7or indeed it is an unassailable Book. Falsehood cannot cur - 'it it from before or behind it. (It is) a revelation from the Wise, the zer of Praise. " Only a divine Book could remain preserved for fourteen centuries in a world where the enemies of truth and of Islam are numerous.

The Recitation, Memorization and Transmission of the Qur'an There were a number of Reciters engaged in learning and teaching the Qur'an In Medina Anyone learning from one of them would transmit that individual's particular style of recitation when he transmitted it to others as a tradition. Various ways of recitation occur. One may attribute this, firstly, to the fact that the script used at the time was the kufic style and had no diacritical points; each word could be read in various way Secondly, most people were illiterate and, when learning the Qur'an, had no alternative but to commit it to memory and transmit it orally. This method continued to be used for many generations.

The Different Groups of Reciters

the first group of Reciters was those companions who were engaged in learning and teaching the Qur'an during the time of the Prophet Among them was a group which mastered the whole Qur'an; one of this group was a woman by the name of Umm Waraqah bint 'Abd Allah ibn H?rith Study was also undertaken by four of the Ansars (or helpers, that is Medians who became Muslim and welcomed the Muslims from Mecca)

They learned the whole Qur'an by heart but were not concerned with the ordering of the verses and chapters; other scholars were responsible for memorization of the order Some traditions say that the position of each verse and chapter was defined at the orders of the Prophet himself but this is generally refuted by the rest of the traditions According to some later scholars, (namely al-Suyüti in his book al-Izqdn, in the chapter dealing with the qualities of the men responsible for transmission), several of the qurr?' became famous, among them 'Uthm?n, 'All, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Zayd ibn Th?bit, 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'üd and Abü Müs? al-Ash'arl

The second group of Reciters was the students of the first group They were generally t?bi'ün (followers of the companions of the Prophet) and the more famous amongst them had centers of recitation and teaching in Mecca, Medina, Kufa, Basra and Sham The 'Uthmanic volume was used in these five places In Mecca were 'Ubayd ibn 'Amir and 'At?' ibn Abi Rab?ti, Ta'us, Muj?hid, 'Ikrimah ibn Abi Mulaykah and others In Medina were Ibn Musayyib, 'Urwah, S?lim, 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, Sulayman ibn Yas?r, 'At?' ibn Yas?r, Mu'?dh al-Qari', 'Abd Allah ibn al-A'raj, Ibn Shih?b al-Zuhri, Muslim ibn Jundub and Zayd ibn Aslam

In Kufa were 'Alqamah, al-Aswad, Masrüq, 'Ubaydah, 'Amr ibn Shurakibil, H?rith ibn al-Qays, 'Amr ibn Maymün, Abü 'Abd al-Raiim?n al-Sulami, Zarr ibn Hubaysh, 'Ubayd ibn Naflah, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, al-Nakha'l, al-Sha'bi, AbU aJ-'Aliyah, Abü al-Raj?' Nasr ibn al-'Asim, Yahy? ibn Ya'mur, Hasan a1-Basrl, Ibn Sirin, Qatadah, Mughirah ibn Abi Shih?b, 'Uthm?n, Khalifah ibn Sa'd, Abü Dard?'

The third group lived during the first half of the second century after HUrah; it included a number of Imams famous for their Qur'anic recitation who received this knowledge from the second group

In Mecca were 'Abd Allah ibn Kathir (one of the seven qurrd'), Humayd ibn Qays aI-A'raj and Muhammad ibn Abi Muhaysin In Medina were, Abü Ja'far Yazid ibn al-Qa'qa', Shaybah ibn Nass?h and Nafi ibn Nu'aym (one of the seven qurra') In Kufa were Yahy? ibn Wathth?b, 'Asim ibn Abi al-NajjUd (one of the seven qurrd'),

Sulaym?n aI-A'mash, Hamzah (one of the seven qurrd') and al-Kis?'i (also one of the seven reciters) In Basra were 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Ishaq, 'Isa ibn 'Umar, Abü 'Amr ibn al-'Al?' (one of the seven reciters), 'A~im al-Jabdari and Ya'qub al-Hadrami In Sham 'AbcI Allah ibn 'Amir (one of the seven reciters), 'Atiyah ibn Qays al-Kall?'i, Ism?'il ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Muh?jir, Yahya ibn H?rith and Shurayh ibn Yazid al-Hadrami

The fourth group consisted of the students of the third group, like Ibn 'Ayy?sh, Hafs and Khalaf and many of the most famous may be classed in the next section The fifth group comprised those concerned with academic research and writing including Abü 'Ubayd Qasim ibn Sal?m, Ahmad ibn Jubayr al-KUfi and Ism?'il ibn Ish?q al-M?likl from the companions of Qalün al-R?wl Included also are Abü Ja'far ibn Jarir al-Tabari and Muj?hid The field of research was widened after them by men like a)Dani (44) and al-S h?tibi(45) who wrote a great number of books on poetry The Seven Reciters

Seven members of the third group achieved considerable celebrity; they became a focus of learning for others Each of the reciters appointed two narrators who each propagated a particular style of recitation The following is a list of these seven: First Ibn al-Kathir, (46) whose narrators were Qanbal and al-Bazzi, with only one intermediate relator in the chain from Ibn 'Abb?s from the leader of the Faithful, 'Ali The second was Nafi" (47) and his narrators Qalün and Warsh The third was 'Asim"(48)and his narrators were Abü Bakr Shu'bah ibn al-'Ayyash and Hafs: the Qur'an recitation which is in common use among Muslims today is according to the reading of 'Asim by a narration of Hafs The fourth was Hamzah,(49) and his narrators were Khalaf and Khalld The fifth was al-Kis?'i(50) and his narrators were al-Dawn and Abü 'All al-ljrith The sixth was Abü 'Amr ibn al-'Ala(51) and his narrators al-Dawn and al-Süsi with one intermediate narrator The seventh was Ibn 'Amir(52) and his narrators were Hish?m'(53) and Ibn Dhakw?n with one intermediary narrator Following the seven famous recitations are the three recitations of Abü Ja'far (54) , Ya'qüb'(55) and Khalaf'(56) The majority of Scholars recognize the seven types of recitation as mutawitir, that is, as having been related in unbroken chains of transmissions One group of narrators have equated the tradition that the Qur'an was revealed in seven jarf (literally, "word" in Arabic), with the seven different recitations; this tradition is well known amongst Muslim scholars in general but is not recognised as being trustworthy (57) Al-Zarkshi(58) says in his book al-Burh?n, "It is true that these seven recitations from the seven reciters have come to us via unbroken chain of transmission but their chain of transmission from the Prophet are open to inspection, since the chains of transmission of the seven reciters are all of the type of single transmission, that is , related by one single man to another single man

Al-Makki says in his book, "Anyone who imagines that the recitation of such men as Naji' and 'Aiim are the same seven 'harf mentioned in the saying of the Prophet is committing a grave mistake

" Moreover, the implication of this saying is that recitations, other than these seven, are not correct; this also is a grave mistake since early Islamic Scholars like Abü 'Ubayd al Qasim ibn Sal?m and Abü H?tim al-Sijist?ni, Abü Ja'far al-Tabari and Ism?'il al-Qacli have recorded several other recitations besides these seven At the beginning of the second century {A.H} the people of Basra used the recitation of Abü 'Amr and Ya'qüb and in Kufa the recitations of Hamzah and 'Asim

In Sham they used that of Ibn 'Amir and in Mecca that of Ibn Kathir In Medina that of Nafi' was used This situation remained unchanged until the beginning of the third century A H when Ibn Muj?hid removed the name of Ya'qub and put the name of al-Kis?'i in his place The reason why scholars paid so much attention to the seven reciters, despite there being many others of equal or better standing, was that the number of recitations had multiplied so quickly that they lost interest in learning and recording all the traditions about recitation Thus they decided to choose several of the recitations which complied with the orthography of the Qur'an and which were easier to learn and record Thus for the five copies of the Qur'an which 'Uthman had sent to the towns of Mecca,

Medina, Kufa, Basra and Sham, five reciters were chosen from the five areas and their recitations were then used Ibn Jubayr writes about these five recitations from the five forms Ibn Mujhid records a tradition which asserts that 'Uthmn sent two other copies to Yemen and Bahrain, that the number of 'Uthm?n copies thus numbered seven and that they chose seven narrators Since precise information about this tradition (which states that copies were sent to Yemen and Bahrain) was not available,

they added two of the reciters of Kufa; to make up the number they had previously chosen, to seven Others who had no knowledge of the matter then used this number, which corresponds with the above-mentioned saying and affirmed that the Qur'an was revealed in seven recitations> They mistakenly supposed that what was meant by the seven harf which the Prophet spoke of,

was the seven recitations The only trustworthy recitations are those whose text is sound and whose meaning corresponds to what is written in the Qur'an Al-Qurab says in his al-Shafi, "We should too/c for the seven recitations amongst the qurra' not from among others " This view is neither tradition nor sunnah but rather it originated from some of the later Scholars who collected the seven recitations These seven recitations became so well known that people imagined that other recitations should not be used This however, has never been claimed

The Number of Verses in the Qur'an

The enumeration and delineation of the verses date from the time of the Prophet In a saying the Prophet mentions ten verses from the "Family of 'Imran," seven in the chapter "al-F?tiliah" and thirty in the chapter "The Sovereignty There are six views concerning the total number of verses in the Qur'an, as related by al-Dani Some have said that the total is 6,000, some 6,204 and some 6,219 From these six estimations, two are from the reciters of Medina and four from the other areas to which the 'Uthmanic copies were sent, namely, Mecca, Kufa, Basra and Sham All these scholars support their claims by traditions reaching back to the companions and thus not directly linked, in a chain of transmissions, to the Prophet

Such traditions are called mawquf in the science of the traditions From Medina, those who specialized in enumeration and delineation of the verses, were Abu Ja'far Yazid ibn aI-Qa'qa', Shaybah ibn Nass?h, Ism?'il ibn Ja'far ibn Abi Kathir al-Ans?ri, Ibn Kathir, Muj?hid, Ibn 'Abb?s, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Ijamzah, al-Kisa'i, Khalaf, Ibn Abi Layl?, Abü 'Abd al-Rabm?n al-Sulami, 'Ali, 'Asim ibn al-'Ajj?j al-Jabdari, Ibn Dhakw?n, Hish?m ibn 'Amm?r The reason for the different opinions concerning the total number of verses is related to the method of delineation and separation of the verses and letters

The Names of the Chapters

The division of the Qur'an into chapters, like its division into verses, is mentioned in the Qur'an itself In several places God uses the actual words surah and ayat In (XXIV:!) He says "(Here is) a surah which we have revealed," in "Repentance", verse 86, "And when a surah is revealed," in "The Cow" verse 23, "Then produce a surah like it and other similar verses

The name of the chapter is sometimes derived from a name or form occurring in the chapter or from a subject treated by the chapter; for example "The Cow", "The Family of 'Imran", "The Night Journey" and "The Unity" We may note here that in the old Qur'ans it is usual to observe the following at the beginning of each chapter: "The surah in which the Cow is mentioned" or "the surak in which the family of Imran is mentioned

" Sometimes the chapter becomes known by its first phrase; take for example, the chapter "Read in the name of your Lord" (or "the Clot") or the chapter, "Truly we revealed it" (The Night of Power) or the chapter "Those who disbelieve" (also called "The Clear Proof")

Sometimes the chapter becomes known by a certain position or quality it possesses; thus the chapter "The Opening of the Book" or "The Mother of the Book" or "The Seven Oft-repeated verses" (all describing the first chapter, or the "al-Fatibah") The chapter "The Unity" is also called by the name 'a1-Ikhl?s" (meaning that it describes the absolute unity of God) or by the name Nisbat aI-Rabb" (meaning the chapter which describes the divine nature of the Lord in relation to the slave)

This method of naming the chapters was also used in the early days of Islam and is attested to by the traditions There are traditions, whose chains of authority reach back to the Prophet, which assert that the name of such chapters as "The Cow", "The Family of 'Imr?n", "Hüd" and "The Event" were used by the Prophet himself

We may conclude from this that many of these names came into being at the time of Prophet as a result of being in common use Calligraphy, Orthography and Diacritical Marks Used in the Qur'an

The first and second copies of the Qur'an were written in Kufic script at the time of the Prophet The very basic nature of the script, without diacritical marks, was suitable for the reciters, relators and scholars who had learned the Qur'an by heart, since only they knew the precise pronunciation of the words

Others found great difficulty if they opened the Book and tried to read correctly It was for this reason that at the end of the first century after Hrah Abü al-Aswad al-Du'a11(59), one of the companions of 'All, with the guidance of the latter, wrote out the rules of the Arabic language and on the orders of the Umayyad Caliph 'Abd al-Malik produced a Qura'nic text with diacritical marks

This, to a certain extent, removed the difficulty of reading the Kufic script Several difficulties remained, however; the diacritical marks for vowels, for example, were for a time only points Instead of a fathah, a point was placed at the beginning of the letter and, instead of kasrah, a point below and, for a dammah, a point above at the end of a letter This led to ambiguity. It was not till Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Far?hidi set about explaining the maddah , i e the lengthening of certain words, the doubling of letters, the diacritical marks of vowelling and the pause, that ,the difficulty of reading the script was finally removed