Compilation of the Holy Quran

Compilation of Quran:

After the conferment of prophethood on the Holy prophet, Allah revealed at intervals so as to familiarise the Muslims with the commandments of Allah and enable them to follow these in practice and memorize them.

Quran explained the verses:

As the words of the Quran continued to be revealed, Hazrat Jibrael explained the verses and the order of their composition to the Holy Prophet, After the revelation, the Holy Prophet used to recite the verses to his companions. This continued for twenty-three years which is the duration of the period of revelation.

Quran written message:

The Quran is not a written message in which subject and topic may be fixed and chapters arranged in a given order. It is a spoken message that Allah revealed to the prophet according to the manner and arrangement thought fit by him. Some surahs were named according to the event or object occurring in the Surah. for example, the second surah is named Al-Baqarah because it explains the story of a cow.

Ayat and Surahs:

When all the Ayats of a Surah were revealed, the Holy Prophet named the Surah and fixed its beginning and end under Allah’s Guidance. After completion, the Surahs were arranged in the proper sequence for the Holy Quran. The Holy Prophet used to recite the Quran in this order. in the month of Ramazan every year, he recited the Quran before Hazrat Jibrael. This created fear in the minds of his companions who thought that these might be the last recitations of the Holy Prophet’s life this proved to be true.

After the death of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Abu Bakr became the khalifa during his khilafat. Many hypocrites and unbelievers decided to attack Islam in the battle that followed a large number of people who had learned the Quran by heart were killed. Under these circumstances, Hazrat Umar drew the attention of Hazrat Abu Bakr towards the compilation of the Holy Quran in book form. Hazrat Abu Bakr agreed to the idea and proclaimed that whoever of the Holy Prophet’s companions who had heard the Holy Quran’s verses directly from the Holy Prophet and noted them down should present them to the khalifa Zaid bin Sabit. Who had been appointed by the Holy Prophet to write down the revelations received by him, was selected the gather and compile the Quran. The Holy Quran was compiled in the form of a book and the copy was handed over to Hazrat Abu Bakr, after his death, this copy remained with the second Khalifa Hazrat Umar and after him, it was kept in the custody of Hazrat Hafsa.

During the khilafat of Hazrat Umar, Islam spread to distant countries among them Iran and Iraq. During the khilafat of Hazrat Usman, when Hazrat Huzaifa went to these countries, he heard the local people reciting the Quran in their local accent. On his return to Madinah, he explained the situation to Hazrat Usman who called for a copy of the Holy Quran from Hazrat Hafsa. he directed Hazrat Zaid bin Sabit to make copies of this volume, and to help him he appointed a group of companions so that not even a minor error should occur and the Holy Quran could be recited in the correct tone and accent. after this, a copy of the Holy Quran was sent to each province and it was ordered that any copy not conforming to the official copy be destroyed.
The Quran read today is precisely the same as the one officially prepared in the time of Hazrat Abu Bakr.