/* */

PDA

View Full Version : Analysis of a statement on the internet



OmAbdullah
12-22-2017, 04:29 PM
Analysis of a statement on the internet


Here is a topic from the internet. You can read it yourself. As its topic indicates, the writer has tried to prove that the Holy Quraan was written and compiled by the Prophet (Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him) in his life. But when you read it you will find positive and negative statements following each other. In the first paragraph (down here) as well as in the introduction, I have put some of the text in bold. You can see that these are strongly positive texts. Similarly. In the last paragraph the conclusion given says:Truly, this should conclusively prove that the Qur’an was preserved and compiled during the lifetime of the blessed Prophet – upon him is the peace and blessings of Almighty Allah..


But when you read everything in the middle, the contradictory statements will make you confused. And at the end the conclusive sentences will seem to you like mockery.



To make it clear, I have chosen green colour for the positive statement. That is the statement which is given by the sincere Muslims to prove the topic statement. They have taken ahaadeeth and verses of the Holy Quraan for evidence. So their statement is in accordance with the Holy Quraan and the Ahaadeeth.



And I colored the negative statements red. It is negative in the sense that it goes against the topic /heading of this long article. You can see it and judge.



My comments are in black. Please read this whole article and think then decide. Insha-Allah in my next post the original article will become very clear.



Qur’an Preservation Efforts During the Prophet’s Lifetime

Icraa.org/Quran-preservation-efforts-prophets-lifetime/


One very important question that is raised when it comes to the Noble Qur’an is: how well was it preserved? This is not just important to the enemies of Islam – who seek to disprove its beautiful message – but this is very significant to Muslims as well. If Islam is your religion, then you should want to know how your Divine Message was maintained throughout the years because you want to know if what you are reading is actually the words of Allah- your Lord. Moreover, there are some claims that the Qur’an was compiled many years after the life of the Prophet, but this is a misconception that will be cleared to show that not only was it compiled during the lifetime of the Prophet, but it was done with his supervision. This article will cover some of the concerns that have been raised when it comes to the preservation of the Message, and it will prove – without a doubt – that the Qur’an is indeed the exact words of Allah, unchanged throughout the years.



1- Introduction



Some have spoken against the Qur’an in their bid to create confusion about its impeccable preservation. Here we briefly study the process of the Qur’an’s preservation and compilation during the lifetime of the blessed Prophet – may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.


2- Memorization: The Primary Means of the Qur’an’s Preservation

One thing that ought to be kept in mind regarding the preservation of the Qur’an is that it was done more through memory than through writing. There was and is great wisdom in this. We see that in the case of earlier prophets whose teachings were not committed to memory were lost. Sometimes the invaders destroyed the manuscripts and sometimes the scribes intentionally or unintentionally made mistakes. So to avoid the same happening to the Qur’an, more emphasis was laid on its memorization although it was put into writing as well.


Therefore we read in Sahih Muslim that Allah Almighty said to the blessed Prophet:
وأنزلت عليك كتابا لا يغسله الماء


“I have revealed to you a Book that cannot be washed away with water.”
[1]
This meant that the Qur’an will not be preserved only on scrolls but through some other medium as well. Right from the start, Muslims gave special attention to memorizing the Qur’an so not only the blessed Prophet himself but scores of his Companions learned the complete Qur’an by heart. They include Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood, Talhah, Sa‘d, Hudhayfah, Ubayy bin Ka‘b, ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas, ‘Abdullah bin Zubayr, ‘Abdullah bin Say’b, Zaid bin Thabit, Abu Hurayrah, Abu ad-Darda, Mu‘adh bin Jabal, Anas bin Malik, Abu Moosa al-‘Ashari, Mu’awiyyah, Sayyidah ‘Aishah, Sayyidah Umm Salmah, Sayyidah Hafsah and many more.[2]


Please remember that the Prophet (Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him) didn’t have to memorize the Quraan. Al-Quraan is the proof that Allah took responsibility to make him recite to people and that he would not forget.


3- Preservation in writing during the life of the blessed Prophet



Nevertheless Qur’an was also written down and this was done right during the lifetime of the blessed Prophet. All the later compilations of the Qur’an were based on what was dictated by the blessed Prophet himself. We shall see the details shortly.


The Qur’an repeatedly calls itself “al-kitab” i.e. something written. In fact it is so called right in the beginning of the scripture.
ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ

“This is the Book
(al-kitab) about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah.”[3]


“The Qur’an thus at its very beginning declares itself to be a written, not an oral, Revelation, passing only from mouth to mouth for generations. It is ‘Book’ essentially, and not by accident.
[4]


3.1 In Makkah before emigration



The Qur’an was preserved in writing right from the beginning. Khalid bin Sa’eed was one of the first few people who embraced Islam and was the first scribe of the Prophet.[5]

His daughter Umm Khalid relates:
أبي أول من كتب بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

“My father was the first one to write ‘Bismillahi ar-Rahman ar-Raheem.’”[6]


Also we know the incident of conversion of ‘Umar. He came out to go to the Prophet with an evil design. On his way he met Nu‘aym bin ‘Abdullah who warned him against any misadventure and to divert his attention asked him to take care of his own sister and brother-in-law who had embraced Islam.
فرجع عمر عائدا إلى أخته فاطمة، وعندها خباب بن الأرت معه صحيفة فيها ” طه ” يقرئها إياها


“‘Umar then returned to his sister Fatima where Khabbab b. al-Aratt was; he had with him a manuscript of surat Taha that he was reading to her.”[7]

Other reports tell us that the manuscript also had Surah at-Takweer.[8]

In fact there is categorical proof that whatever was revealed before Hijrah (Emigration to Medina) was put into writing.

Quoting from az-Zubayr bin Bakkar’s Akhbar al-Madina Ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (d. 852 AH) records the following statement reported by ‘Umar bin Hanzala;
وأنّ رافع بن مالك لما لقي رسول اللَّه صلّى اللَّه عليه وآله وسلّم بالعقبة أعطاه ما أنزل عليه في العشر سنين التي خلت، فقدم به رافع المدينة، ثم جمع قومه فقرأ عليهم في موضعه


“When Rafi’ bin Malik met the Messenger of Allah –may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- at al-‘Aqabah, he handed him whatever was revealed in the previous decade. Rafi’ took the same to Madinah, gathered them in their place and recited it to them.”
[10]


It must be noted that if this was all possible in a city where the whole mission was rather secretive and Muslims were being suppressed and oppressed how much more would have been done later in Madina where Muslims were free and sovereign.
With this fact recorded, one can see how absurd is Jeffery’s assertion that, “That certain of these amanuenses were at times called upon to write out special pieces of revelation is not at all impossible.”[11]


If all the verses revealed in entire decade were put to written record how can then one justify the statement that scribes were called “at times” and that too only to write “special pieces” of revelation?


Besides everything else the Jeffery’s expression here is noteworthy. The pseudo-emphasis in the phrase “not at all impossible” is actually not even a hesitant acceptance of the well recorded fact. This is indeed a ‘wonderful’ way to avoid making a positive statement even when it is imperative. Later Orientalists especially Watt championed this deliberate and cunningly meaningful expression.


3.2 After emigration to Madina


When the Prophet migrated to Madina and established a city state, special arrangements were made for writing the Qur’an as and when some part was revealed.

In Madina, it appears from different reports; initially the responsibility was mainly on the emigrants (muhajirin). At-Tabari (d. 310 AH) reports.
على بن ابى طالب و عثمان بن عفان، كانا يكتبان الوحي، فإن غابا كتبه أبي بن كعب وزيد بن ثابت


“‘Ali bin Abi Talib and ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan used to write the revelations. And if they were both absent Ubayy bin Ka’b and Zaid bin Thabit used to write it.”
[12]


Among the Ansar (the Helpers) at Madina, Ubayy was the first scribe of the Prophet.[13]
The blessed Prophet had more than 40 Companions who usually worked as scribes. The names of these Companions have been mentioned in various authentic works.[14]
The arrangement was so special that a person was supposed to replace any of the regular scribes in his absence. al-Jahshari (d. 331 AH) writes;

و كان حنظلة بن الربيع خليفة كل كاتب من كتاب النبى إذا غاب عن عمله


“Hanzala bin Rabi’ was the successor of every scribe of the Prophet when he was not available to write.”[15]
In defiance to these clear historical proofs A. Jeffery said, “It is difficult to take seriously, however, the theory that considers them as a body of prepared scribes waiting to take down revelations as they were uttered.”[16]

While no one claims that some people were always having writing material in their hands, yet the idea of having someone nominated as ready replacement of an absent scribe does show that it was indeed no casual an arrangement even if not a body of “prepared scribes” – whatever that means.

After the initial years in Madinah Zaid bin Thabit seems to have gradually risen to the status of the primary scribe of the Prophet. He lived in the neighborhood of the Prophet and was called for whenever a revelation came. He himself reported:
كنت جار رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فكان إذا نزل الوحي أرسل إلي فكتبت الوحي

“I was the neighbor of the Messenger of Allah. Whenever a revelation came down he called for me and I wrote it down.”[17]
3.2.1 The Prophet dictated and checked for possible scribal errors

How the Qur’an was written and how it was checked by the Prophet is evident from the following example:
عن زيد بن ثابت قال: كنت أكتب الوحي لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، وكان إذا نزل عليه أخذته برحاء شديدة، وعرق عرقا شديدا مثل الجمان، ثم سري عنه ، فكنت أدخل عليه بقطعة الكتف أو كسرة، فأكتب وهو
يملي علي، فما أفرغ حتى تكاد رجلي تنكسر من ثقل القرآن، وحتى أقول: لا أمشي على رجلي أبدا، فإذا فرغت قال: «اقرأه» ، فأقرؤه، فإن كان فيه سقط أقامه، ثم أخرج به إلى الناس

Thabit, one of the chief scribes, relates: “I used to write down the revelation for the blessed Prophet – may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. When the revelation came to him he felt intense heat and drops of perspiration used to roll down his body like pearls. When this state was over I used to fetch a shoulder bone or a piece of something else. He used to go on dictating and I used to write it down. When I finished writing the sheer weight of transcription gave me the feeling that my leg would break and I would not be able to walk anymore. Anyhow when I finished writing, he would say, ‘Read!’ and I would read it back to him. If there was an omission or error he used to correct it and then let it be brought before the people.[18]

This is a categorical proof that Companions used to write Qur’an in the supervision of the blessed Prophet and got it checked from him before making it public.
Making a revelation public also deserves to be highlighted because this ensured people immediately memorized and recorded it in their personal masahif.

Zaid was not the only one to be dictated by the Prophet. In a narration about Qur’an compilation efforts during the time of Uthman we read;
وكان الرجل يجيء بالورقة والأديم فيه القرآن، حتى جمع من ذلك كثرة، ثم دخل عثمان فدعاهم رجلا رجلا فناشدهم لسمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو أملاه عليك؟ فيقول: نعم

“One would come with a parchment or a scrap of leather with a Qur’an verse on it until there was gathered great store of such.’Uthman adjured them one by one, ‘You heard the Prophet recite this while he dictated it to you?’ They would answer that that was so.”
[19]


This shows the Prophet personally dictated so much that a “great store” was gathered and that people to whom he dictated were not few.
It is pertinent to mention here that above translation of the narration is by John Burton[20] with the significant difference that he left out the most important phrase underlined above. While the words Burton did not translate are there on the very page of A. Jeffery’s edition of Kitab al-Masahif[21] that he referred to[22], it is difficult to accept it as an honest mistake.


Please note it that the lies given here by the attackers have no limits. One lie that they made was that the Holy Quraan was written and compiled into a complete book by Abu Bakar rAa and that he then placed the full compiled Quraan with Hafsah rAa. After that now they are making more false statement about the Quraan at the time of Uthmaan rAa. So here, in the above paragraph, they don’t say that a full Quraan was present with Hafsa rAa. Rather they lied more saying that “One would come with a parchment or a scrap of leather with a Qur’an verse on it until there was gathered great store of such…”



3.2.2 Qur’an writing and compilation sessions

There is evidence that it was not only individually that people wrote the Qur’an in front of the Prophet rather there used to be sessions in which rather large number of people copied and compiled the Qur’anic text in his presence..
عن ابن عباس قال: ” كانت المصاحف لا تباع، كان الرجل يأتي بورقة عند النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فيقوم الرجل فيحتسب فيكتب، ثم يقوم آخر فيكتب حتى يفرغ من المصحف “
Ibn ‘Abbas stated: “The masahif were not sold. A person would come to the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, with a parchment and someone would stand and write it for him voluntarily. Then another person would stand up and write until the mushaf was complete.”[23]

In another report we read;
عن زيد بن ثابت، قال: كنا عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم نؤلف القرآن من الرقاع


Zaid bin Thabit said: “We were with the Messenger of Allah collecting the Qur’an on pieces of cloth.”[24]
Mark the plural pronouns here. This shows multiple people used to sit in the company of the Prophet and compile the Qur’anic verses on parchments.
Moreover, this tells us that not only were the verses written as and when revealed; they were also compiled in their specified order with the instructions of the Prophet. al-Bayhaqi writes;
وإنما أراد تأليف ما نزل من الآيات المتفرقة، في سورتها وجمعها فيها بإشارة من النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم

“What is meant is the compilation and collection of different revealed verses into surahs according to the instruction of the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.”
[25]


3.2.2 The Prophet’s encouragement for writing the Qur’an


The reason for large number of people sitting with the Prophet and compiling the Qur’anic verses (revealed up to that time) and making copies of the same voluntarily for others is that the Prophet encouraged the people to write the Qur’an and leave it after them for the next generations. Mark the following narration:
عن أبي هريرة، قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: إن مما يلحق المؤمن من عمله وحسناته بعد موته علما علمه ونشره، وولدا صالحا تركه، ومصحفا ورثه، أو مسجدا بناه، أو بيتا لابن السبيل بناه، أو نهرا أجراه، أو صدقة أخرجها من ماله في صحته وحياته، يلحقه من بعد موته

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allah said: ‘The rewards of the good deeds that will reach a believer after his death are: Knowledge which he taught and spread; a righteous son whom he leaves behind; a copy of the Qur’an that he leaves as a legacy; a mosque that he built; a house that he built for wayfarers; a canal that he dug; or charity that he gave during his lifetime when he was in good health. These deeds will reach him after his death.’”[26]

It is thus clear that blessed Prophet had the clear motive of not only having the complete Qur’an written but also to get the people make and acquire Qur’anic manuscripts and leave it behind them as heirlooms. Such an arrangement had to be made to see what is now achieved.


4. Qur’anic Masahif were well spread during the life of the
The efforts of the Prophet in getting the whole Qur’an written were greatly successful.Prophet
The efforts of the Prophet in getting the whole Qur’an written were greatly successful. Even though there was no official complete copy of the Qur’an yet many companions had varying sizes of personal masahif. In fact the masahif of the Qur’an had become so common in the time of the Prophet that he had to issue special instructions regarding them. For instance:
عن عبد الله بن عمر رضي الله عنهما: أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم نهى أن يسافر بالقرآن إلى أرض العدو

Narrated ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar: “Allah’s Messenger forbade the people to travel to a hostile country carrying (copies of) the Quran.”[27]

Likewise, there is evidence for the manuscripts of the Qur’an in the instruction of the blessed Prophet to Hakim bin Hizam when he sent him to Yemen as a governor. He said:
لا تمس القرآن إلا وأنت طاهر

“Do not touch the Qur’an except when you are in the state of purity.”
[28]
At one stage the Qur’anic manuscripts were so much widespread that Prophet warned people against laxity in memorizing and practicing upon it.
عن أبي أمامة رضي الله عنه يبلغ به النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال لا تغرنكم هذه المصاحف المعلقة إن الله تعالى لا يعذب قلبا وعى القرآن
Abu Umamah conveyed that the Prophet said: “Let these hanging masahif not delude you. Verily Allah does not punish the one who has memorized (and paid heed to) Qur’an.”[29]

وعى القرآن)

These words “wa-aee-Al-Quraan” present in the above Arabic text of a hadeeth of the Prophet (Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him) has vast meaning which include: consciousness, awareness, knowledge, perception, grasp, understanding, attention etc. The Hadeeth actually prohibits the mere hanging of the Quraan in bags or in today’s life, the Holy Quraan Books just placed in cupboards or shelves without reading, understanding and following them. The hadeeth has informed us that a heart which is Quraan conscious will not be punished by Allah. The meaning “memorize” is not the actual meaning of the word wa-aee-Al-Quraan. We know that to understand the Holy Quraan is easier than memorizing it. Every person may not be able to memorize the Holy Quraan.).


Towards the end of Prophet’s life writing Qur’an had become so widespread that people wondered as how knowledge can be taken away from them while they have the masahif.

At the eve of the last sermon when the Messenger of Allah asked people to acquire knowledge “before it is taken away”, a Bedouin asked;
يا نبي الله، كيف يرفع العلم منا وبين أظهرنا المصاحف وقد تعلمنا ما فيها، وعلمنا نساءنا وذرارينا وخدمنا؟

“O Prophet of Allah! How knowledge can be taken away from us while masahif
[30] are with us and we learn their contents and teach it to our women, children and servants?”[31]

Another observation to be made here is that it was a Bedouin who said “masahif are with us” showing that the practice of writing Qur’an had well spread even outside Madina and with people other than Muhajirin (Emigrants) and Ansar (Helpers) were also used to it.


5. Complete Qur’an was preserved without any loss whatsoever


All these arrangements and developments ensured the preservation of the complete Qur’an without any loss whatsoever. Fragmentary Qur’anic manuscripts prepared by various companions under the direct supervision of the blessed Prophet later formed the basis of the official masahif which in turn became the standard unanimously followed by the entire Muslim community. Here is the testimony of a close companion of the Prophet.
عن عبد العزيز بن رفيع، قال: دخلت أنا وشداد بن معقل، على ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما، فقال له شداد بن معقل: أترك النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم من شيء؟ قال: «ما ترك إلا ما بين الدفتين» قال: ودخلنا على محمد ابن الحنفية، فسألناه، فقال: «ما ترك إلا ما بين الدفتين»

Narrated ‘Abdul-‘Azeez bin Rufai’: “Shaddad bin Ma’qil and I entered upon Ibn ‘Abbas. Shaddad bin Ma’qil asked him, ‘Did the Prophet leave anything (besides the Qur’an)?’ He replied, ‘He did not leave anything except what is between the two bindings (of the Qur’an).’ Then we visited Muhammad bin al-Hanafiyyah and asked him (the same question). He replied,

‘The Prophet did not leave except what is between the bindings (of the Qur’an).’”
[32]


6- Claim that the Qur’an was not written completely during the Prophet’s time


Some claim that the Qur’an was not written in full during the lifetime of the blessed Prophet but this is false because the entire Qur’an was indeed written with the supervision of the blessed Prophet (Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him) though it was not compiled into one collection. This is testified by the statement of Zaid bin Thabit, one of the chief scribes. He said:
قبض النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ولم يكن القرآن جمع في شيء

“The Prophet passed away while the Qur’an was yet not gathered in anything.”
[33]
Clearly the word used here is jumi‘a which means ‘gathered’ and not ‘written.’ The wisdom behind the fact that Qur’an was completely written but not compiled at one place during the life of the blessed Prophet is explained by al-Khattabi (d. 338 AH). He said:
إنما لم يجمع القرآن في المصحف لما كان يترقبه من ورود ناسخ لبعض أحكامه أو تلاوته فلما انقضى نزوله بوفاته ألهم الله الخلفاء الراشدين ذلك وفاء بوعده الصادق بضمان حفظه على هذه الأمة فكان ابتداء ذلك على يد الصديق بمشورة عمر

“The Messenger of Allah – may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – did not gather the Qur’an in a mushaf because he had to wait if there was some abrogation of some commands or recitation but when he died and the revelation ceased (and thus abrogation as well); Allah, to fulfill his True Commitment of preservation (of Qur’an) for this Ummah, put this thought into the hearts of the Righteous Caliphs. Then this great task was undertaken by Abu Bakr on the advice of ‘Umar.”
[34]

Truly, this should conclusively prove that the Qur’an was preserved and compiled during the lifetime of the blessed Prophet – upon him is the peace and blessings of Almighty Allah..



Reply

Login/Register to hide ads. Scroll down for more posts
OmAbdullah
12-30-2017, 08:22 PM
Qur’an Preservation Efforts During the Prophet’s Lifetime

Icraa.org/Quran-preservation-efforts-prophets-lifetime/


One very important question that is raised when it comes to the Noble Qur’an is: how well was it preserved? This is not just important to the enemies of Islam – who seek to disprove its beautiful message – but this is very significant to Muslims as well. If Islam is your religion, then you should want to know how your Divine Message was maintained throughout the years because you want to know if what you are reading is actually the words of Allah- your Lord. Moreover, there are some claims that the Qur’an was compiled many years after the life of the Prophet, but this is a misconception that will be cleared to show that not only was it compiled during the lifetime of the Prophet, but it was done with his supervision. This article will cover some of the concerns that have been raised when it comes to the preservation of the Message, and it will prove – without a doubt – that the Qur’an is indeed the exact words of Allah, unchanged throughout the years.


1- Introduction


Some have spoken against the Qur’an in their bid to create confusion about its impeccable preservation. Here we briefly study the process of the Qur’an’s preservation and compilation during the lifetime of the blessed Prophet – may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.


3- Preservation in writing during the life of the blessed Prophet


Nevertheless Qur’an was also written down and this was done right during the lifetime of the blessed Prophet.

The Qur’an repeatedly calls itself “al-kitab” i.e. something written. In fact it is so called right in the beginning of the scripture.
ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ

“This is the Book (al-kitab) about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah.”[3]


“The Qur’an thus at its very beginning declares itself to be a written, not an oral, Revelation, passing only from mouth to mouth for generations. It is ‘Book’ essentially, and not by accident.[4]


3.1 In Makkah before emigration


The Qur’an was preserved in writing right from the beginning. Khalid bin Sa’eed was one of the first few people who embraced Islam and was the first scribe of the Prophet.[5]

His daughter Umm Khalid relates:
أبي أول من كتب بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم


“My father was the first one to write ‘Bismillahi ar-Rahman ar-Raheem.’”
[6]


Also we know the incident of conversion of ‘Umar. He came out to go to the Prophet with an evil design. On his way he met Nu‘aym bin ‘Abdullah who warned him against any misadventure and to divert his attention asked him to take care of his own sister and brother-in-law who had embraced Islam.
فرجع عمر عائدا إلى أخته فاطمة، وعندها خباب بن الأرت معه صحيفة فيها ” طه ” يقرئها إياها


“‘Umar then returned to his sister Fatima where Khabbab b. al-Aratt was; he had with him a manuscript of surat Taha that he was reading to her.”[7]


Other reports tell us that the manuscript also had Surah at-Takweer.[8]

In fact there is categorical proof that whatever was revealed before Hijrah (Emigration to Medina) was put into writing.

Quoting from az-Zubayr bin Bakkar’s Akhbar al-Madina Ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (d. 852 AH) records the following statement reported by ‘Umar bin Hanzala;
وأنّ رافع بن مالك لما لقي رسول اللَّه صلّى اللَّه عليه وآله وسلّم بالعقبة أعطاه ما أنزل عليه في العشر سنين التي خلت، فقدم به رافع المدينة، ثم جمع قومه فقرأ عليهم في موضعه


“When Rafi’ bin Malik met the Messenger of Allah –may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- at al-‘Aqabah, he handed him whatever was revealed in the previous decade. Rafi’ took the same to Madinah, gathered them in their place and recited it to them.”[10]


It must be noted that if this was all possible in a city where the whole mission was rather secretive and Muslims were being suppressed and oppressed how much more would have been done later in Madina where Muslims were free and sovereign.

If all the verses revealed in entire decade were put to written record how can then one justify the statement that scribes were called “at times” and that too only to write “special pieces” of revelation?



3.2 After emigration to Madina


When the Prophet migrated to Madina and established a city state, special arrangements were made for writing the Qur’an as and when some part was revealed.

In Madina, it appears from different reports; initially the responsibility was mainly on the emigrants (muhajirin). At-Tabari (d. 310 AH) reports.
على بن ابى طالب و عثمان بن عفان، كانا يكتبان الوحي، فإن غابا كتبه أبي بن كعب وزيد بن ثابت


“‘Ali bin Abi Talib and ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan used to write the revelations. And if they were both absent Ubayy bin Ka’b and Zaid bin Thabit used to write it.”[12]


Among the Ansar (the Helpers) at Madina, Ubayy was the first scribe of the Prophet.[13]
The blessed Prophet had more than 40 Companions who usually worked as scribes. The names of these Companions have been mentioned in various authentic works.[14]

The arrangement was so special that a person was supposed to replace any of the regular scribes in his absence. al-Jahshari (d. 331 AH) writes;

و كان حنظلة بن الربيع خليفة كل كاتب من كتاب النبى إذا غاب عن عمله

“Hanzala bin Rabi’ was the successor of every scribe of the Prophet when he was not available to write.”[15]



After the initial years in Madinah Zaid bin Thabit seems to have gradually risen to the status of the primary scribe of the Prophet. He lived in the neighborhood of the Prophet and was called for whenever a revelation came. He himself reported:
كنت جار رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فكان إذا نزل الوحي أرسل إلي فكتبت الوحي

“I was the neighbor of the Messenger of Allah. Whenever a revelation came down he called for me and I wrote it down.”[17]


3.2.1 The Prophet dictated and checked for possible scribal errors

How the Qur’an was written and how it was checked by the Prophet is evident from the following example:
عن زيد بن ثابت قال: كنت أكتب الوحي لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، وكان إذا نزل عليه أخذته برحاء شديدة، وعرق عرقا شديدا مثل الجمان، ثم سري عنه ، فكنت أدخل عليه بقطعة الكتف أو كسرة، فأكتب وهو
يملي علي، فما أفرغ حتى تكاد رجلي تنكسر من ثقل القرآن، وحتى أقول: لا أمشي على رجلي أبدا، فإذا فرغت قال: «اقرأه» ، فأقرؤه، فإن كان فيه سقط أقامه، ثم أخرج به إلى الناس

Thabit, one of the chief scribes, relates: “I used to write down the revelation for the blessed Prophet – may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. When the revelation came to him he felt intense heat and drops of perspiration used to roll down his body like pearls. When this state was over I used to fetch a shoulder bone or a piece of something else. He used to go on dictating and I used to write it down. When I finished writing the sheer weight of transcription gave me the feeling that my leg would break and I would not be able to walk anymore. Anyhow when I finished writing, he would say, ‘Read!’ and I would read it back to him. If there was an omission or error he used to correct it and then let it be brought before the people.[18]


This is a categorical proof that Companions used to write Qur’an in the supervision of the blessed Prophet and got it checked from him before making it public.


Making a revelation public also deserves to be highlighted because this ensured people immediately memorized and recorded it in their personal masahif.


3.2.2 Qur’an writing and compilation sessions


There is evidence that it was not only individually that people wrote the Qur’an in front of the Prophet rather there used to be sessions in which rather large number of people copied and compiled the Qur’anic text in his presence..
عن ابن عباس قال: ” كانت المصاحف لا تباع، كان الرجل يأتي بورقة عند النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فيقوم الرجل فيحتسب فيكتب، ثم يقوم آخر فيكتب حتى يفرغ من المصحف “


Ibn ‘Abbas stated: “The masahif were not sold. A person would come to the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, with a parchment and someone would stand and write it for him voluntarily. Then another person would stand up and write until the mushaf was complete.”[23]


In another report we read;
عن زيد بن ثابت، قال: كنا عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم نؤلف القرآن من الرقاع


Zaid bin Thabit said: “We were with the Messenger of Allah collecting the Qur’an on pieces of cloth.”[24]
Mark the plural pronouns here. This shows multiple people used to sit in the company of the Prophet and compile the Qur’anic verses on parchments.


Moreover, this tells us that not only were the verses written as and when revealed; they were also compiled in their specified order with the instructions of the Prophet. al-Bayhaqi writes;
وإنما أراد تأليف ما نزل من الآيات المتفرقة، في سورتها وجمعها فيها بإشارة من النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم

“What is meant is the compilation and collection of different revealed verses into surahs according to the instruction of the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.”[25]


3.2.2 The Prophet’s encouragement for writing the Qur’an

The reason for large number of people sitting with the Prophet and compiling the Qur’anic verses (revealed up to that time) and making copies of the same voluntarily for others is that the Prophet encouraged the people to write the Qur’an and leave it after them for the next generations. Mark the following narration:
عن أبي هريرة، قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: إن مما يلحق المؤمن من عمله وحسناته بعد موته علما علمه ونشره، وولدا صالحا تركه، ومصحفا ورثه، أو مسجدا بناه، أو بيتا لابن السبيل بناه، أو نهرا أجراه، أو صدقة أخرجها من ماله في صحته وحياته، يلحقه من بعد موته

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allah said: ‘The rewards of the good deeds that will reach a believer after his death are: Knowledge which he taught and spread; a righteous son whom he leaves behind; a copy of the Qur’an that he leaves as a legacy; a mosque that he built; a house that he built for wayfarers; a canal that he dug; or charity that he gave during his lifetime when he was in good health. These deeds will reach him after his death.’”[26]


It is thus clear that blessed Prophet had the clear motive of not only having the complete Qur’an written but also to get the people make and acquire Qur’anic manuscripts and leave it behind them as heirlooms. Such an arrangement had to be made to see what is now achieved.


4. Qur’anic Masahif were well spread during the life of the Prophet


The efforts of the Prophet in getting the whole Qur’an written were greatly successful.

In fact the masahif of the Qur’an had become so common in the time of the Prophet that he had to issue special instructions regarding them. For instance:
عن عبد الله بن عمر رضي الله عنهما: أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم نهى أن يسافر بالقرآن إلى أرض العدو


Narrated ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar: “Allah’s Messenger forbade the people to travel to a hostile country carrying (copies of) the Quran.”[27]


Likewise, there is evidence for the manuscripts of the Qur’an in the instruction of the blessed Prophet to Hakim bin Hizam when he sent him to Yemen as a governor. He said:
لا تمس القرآن إلا وأنت طاهر

“Do not touch the Qur’an except when you are in the state of purity.”[28]

At one stage the Qur’anic manuscripts were so much widespread that Prophet warned people against laxity in memorizing and practicing upon it.
عن أبي أمامة رضي الله عنه يبلغ به النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال لا تغرنكم هذه المصاحف المعلقة إن الله تعالى لا يعذب قلبا وعى القرآن

Abu Umamah conveyed that the Prophet said: “Let these hanging masahif not delude you. Verily Allah does not punish the one who has memorized (and paid heed to) Qur’an.”[29]

وعى القرآن)

[These words “wa-aee-Al-Quraan” present in the above Arabic text of a hadeeth of the Prophet (Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him) has vast meaning which include: consciousness, awareness, knowledge, perception, grasp, understanding, attention etc. The Hadeeth actually prohibits the mere hanging of the Quraan in bags or in today’s life, the Holy Quraan Books just placed in cupboards or shelves without reading, understanding and following them. The hadeeth has informed us that a heart which is Quraan conscious will not be punished by Allah. The meaning “memorize” is not the actual meaning of the word wa-aee-Al-Quraan. We know that to understand the Holy Quraan is easier than memorizing it. Every person may not be able to memorize the Holy Quraan.)].


Towards the end of Prophet’s life writing Qur’an had become so widespread that people wondered as how knowledge can be taken away from them while they have the masahif.


At the eve of the last sermon when the Messenger of Allah asked people to acquire knowledge “before it is taken away”, a Bedouin asked;
يا نبي الله، كيف يرفع العلم منا وبين أظهرنا المصاحف وقد تعلمنا ما فيها، وعلمنا نساءنا وذرارينا وخدمنا؟

“O Prophet of Allah! How knowledge can be taken away from us while masahif[30] are with us and we learn their contents and teach it to our women, children and servants?”[31]


Another observation to be made here is that it was a Bedouin who said “masahif are with us” showing that the practice of writing Qur’an had well spread even outside Madina and with people other than Muhajirin (Emigrants) and Ansar (Helpers) were also used to it.


5. Complete Qur’an was preserved without any loss whatsoever


All these arrangements and developments ensured the preservation of the complete Qur’an without any loss whatsoever.

Here is the testimony of a close companion of the Prophet.
عن عبد العزيز بن رفيع، قال: دخلت أنا وشداد بن معقل، على ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما، فقال له شداد بن معقل: أترك النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم من شيء؟ قال: «ما ترك إلا ما بين الدفتين» قال: ودخلنا على محمد ابن الحنفية، فسألناه، فقال: «ما ترك إلا ما بين الدفتين»


Narrated ‘Abdul-‘Azeez bin Rufai’: “Shaddad bin Ma’qil and I entered upon Ibn ‘Abbas. Shaddad bin Ma’qil asked him, ‘Did the Prophet leave anything (besides the Qur’an)?’ He replied, ‘He did not leave anything except what is between the two bindings (of the Qur’an).’ Then we visited Muhammad bin al-Hanafiyyah and asked him (the same question). He replied,

‘The Prophet did not leave except what is between the bindings (of the Qur’an).’”
[32]


6- Claim that the Qur’an was not written completely during the Prophet’s time

Some claim that the Qur’an was not written in full during the lifetime of the blessed Prophet but this is false because the entire Qur’an was indeed written with the supervision of the blessed Prophet (Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him)


Truly, this should conclusively prove that the Qur’an was preserved and compiled during the lifetime of the blessed Prophet – upon him is the peace and blessings of Almighty Allah..


[The above is the statement of the sincere Muslims who tried to prove it with true evidence from the Quraan and Hadeeth. My comments are in black, in the square brackets. The negative contradictory statement from the same will be, insha-Allah posted later.]
Reply

OmAbdullah
01-06-2018, 05:30 PM
[Here are the negative statements in red. My comments are in black between square brackets]
**************************************

2- Memorization: The Primary Means of the Qur’an’s Preservation


One thing that ought to be kept in mind regarding the preservation of the Qur’an is that it was done more through memory than through writing. There was and is great wisdom in this. We see that in the case of earlier prophets whose teachings were not committed to memory were lost. Sometimes the invaders destroyed the manuscripts and sometimes the scribes intentionally or unintentionally made mistakes. So to avoid the same happening to the Qur’an, more emphasis was laid on its memorization although it was put into writing as well.
Therefore we read in Sahih Muslim that Allah Almighty said to the blessed Prophet:
وأنزلت عليك كتابا لا يغسله الماء


“I have revealed to you a Book that cannot be washed away with water.”
[1]

This meant that the Qur’an will not be preserved only on scrolls but through some other medium as well. Right from the start, Muslims gave special attention to memorizing the Qur’an so not only the blessed Prophet himself but scores of his Companions learned the complete Qur’an by heart. They include Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood, Talhah, Sa‘d, Hudhayfah, Ubayy bin Ka‘b, ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas, ‘Abdullah bin Zubayr, ‘Abdullah bin Say’b, Zaid bin Thabit, Abu Hurayrah, Abu ad-Darda, Mu‘adh bin Jabal, Anas bin Malik, Abu Moosa al-‘Ashari, Mu’awiyyah, Sayyidah ‘Aishah, Sayyidah Umm Salmah, Sayyidah Hafsah and many more.[2]


[This statement is partly true / correct. The Holy Quraan was miraculously preserved in the memory of Muhammad salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam. This is proved from the verses of the Holy Quraan in the surah Al-Qiyaamah, Taaha and Al-A’laa. Allah had advised him in these three surahs that he shouldn’t make haste to memorize the revelation by moving his tongue hastily with Jibreel alaihi salaam during revelation. He should listen to him (Jibreel alaihi salaam) quietly and Allah will make him (Muhammad salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam) recite the revealed surahs /verses to people and he would not forget them.]
But the other hufaaz didn’t get it into their memories miraculously. They only used their effort to memorize it. Some are blessed with very good memory so they could memorize it soon while others either could not memorize it or forgot it after memorizing. Thus it is not preserved in the memories of the Muslims and it was never written from the memories of the hufaaz.

************************************************** ******************************************


Zaid was not the only one to be dictated by the Prophet. In a narration about Qur’an compilation efforts during the time of Uthman we read;
وكان الرجل يجيء بالورقة والأديم فيه القرآن، حتى جمع من ذلك كثرة، ثم دخل عثمان فدعاهم رجلا رجلا فناشدهم لسمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو أملاه عليك؟ فيقول: نعم


“One would come with a parchment or a scrap of leather with a Qur’an verse on it until there was gathered great store of such.’Uthman adjured them one by one, ‘You heard the Prophet recite this while he dictated it to you?’ They would answer that that was so.”
[19]
This shows the Prophet personally dictated so much that a “great store” was gathered and that people to whom he dictated were not few.
************************************************** *****************************************8


[Please note it that the lies given here by the attackers have no limits. One lie that they made was that the Holy Quraan was written and compiled into a complete book by Abu Bakar rAa and that he then placed the full compiled Quraan with Hafsah rAa. After that now they are making more false statement about the Quraan at the time of Uthmaan rAa. So here, in the above paragraph, they don’t say that a full Quraan was present with Hafsa rAa. Rather they lied more saying that “One would come with a parchment or a scrap of leather with a Qur’an verse on it until there was gathered great store of such…”


Even though there was no official complete copy of the Qur’an yet many companions had varying sizes of personal masahif.

Fragmentary Qur’anic manuscripts prepared by various companions under the direct supervision of the blessed Prophet later formed the basis of the official masahif which in turn became the standard unanimously followed by the entire Muslim community.
*************************
though it was not compiled into one collection. This is testified by the statement of Zaid bin Thabit, one of the chief scribes. He said:
قبض النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ولم يكن القرآن جمع في شيء
“The Prophet passed away while the Qur’an was yet not gathered in anything.”[33]
Clearly the word used here is jumi‘a which means ‘gathered’ and not ‘written.’ The wisdom behind the fact that Qur’an was completely written but not compiled at one place during the life of the blessed Prophet is explained by al-Khattabi (d. 338 AH). He said:
إنما لم يجمع القرآن في المصحف لما كان يترقبه من ورود ناسخ لبعض أحكامه أو تلاوته فلما انقضى نزوله بوفاته ألهم الله الخلفاء الراشدين ذلك وفاء بوعده الصادق بضمان حفظه على هذه الأمة فكان ابتداء ذلك على يد الصديق بمشورة عمر
“The Messenger of Allah – may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – did not gather the Qur’an in a mushaf because he had to wait if there was some abrogation of some commands or recitation but when he died and the revelation ceased (and thus abrogation as well); Allah, to fulfill his True Commitment of preservation (of Qur’an) for this Ummah, put this thought into the hearts of the Righteous Caliphs. Then this great task was undertaken by Abu Bakr on the advice of ‘Umar.”[34]


[ For comparison, please see the other statement of Zaid bin Thabit at 3.2.2 in the green color. Here is a copy of some of that statement: “Zaid bin Thabit said: “We were with the Messenger of Allah collecting the Qur’an on pieces of cloth.”[24]

Mark the plural pronouns here. This shows multiple people used to sit in the company of the Prophet and compile the Qur’anic verses on parchments.”


[The truth is that Zaid bin Thabit rAa, being a companion and scribe of the Prophet (Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him) would not give two contradictory statements, rather it is the present time liars who have attached the false negative statement to Zaid bin Thabit rAa.]

************************************************** ************************************************** ************************************************** *********************





In defiance to these clear historical proofs A. Jeffery said, “It is difficult to take seriously, however, the theory that considers them as a body of prepared scribes waiting to take down revelations as they were uttered.”
[16]

While no one claims that some people were always having writing material in their hands, yet the idea of having someone nominated as ready replacement of an absent scribe does show that it was indeed no casual an arrangement even if not a body of “prepared scribes” – whatever that means.

It is pertinent to mention here that above translation of the narration is by John Burton
[20]
with the significant difference that he left out the most important phrase underlined above. While the words Burton did not translate are there on the very page of A. Jeffery’s edition of Kitab al-Masahif
[21]
that he referred to
[22]
, it is difficult to accept it as an honest mistake. [/color
[The above statement in green shows sincerity of the Muslims (writers of this article) who are confronting the orientalist A.Jeffery and others.]


Reply

Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.

When you create an account, you can participate in the discussions and share your thoughts. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and make new friends.
Sign Up

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 18
    Last Post: 12-05-2009, 03:35 AM
  2. Replies: 81
    Last Post: 02-02-2008, 07:54 PM
  3. Replies: 12
    Last Post: 10-11-2005, 07:55 PM
  4. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 07-12-2005, 04:25 AM
British Wholesales - Certified Wholesale Linen & Towels | Holiday in the Maldives

IslamicBoard

Experience a richer experience on our mobile app!