The Qur'an and Its Study. Adnan Zarzour

chosen as his successor as leader of the Muslim state on the same day. The pledge of loyalty to him was taken on both this day and the one that followed. He gave his famous address after the midday Ẓuhr Prayer of that day, when the Prophet’s body was still laid a few metres away, in ‘Ā’ishah’s rooms. This means that the Prophet (peace be upon him) chose Abū Bakr to lead congregational prayers during his illness, and Abū Bakr led that congregation in 17 obligatory prayers. One day later, Abū Bakr was doing the same but with the Prophet now dead. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was buried later that day, after ‘Ishā’ Prayer. The collation of the Qur’an took place towards the end of the same year, early in year 633 CE which started on Friday 13 Shawwal 11 AH. During this year the apostates were defeated by the Muslim armies in the Battles of Dhūl-Qaṣṣah and Bahrain. Ṭulayḥah al-Asadī was also defeated in the Battle of Buzākhah, and Musaylimah was defeated and killed in the Battle of Yamāmah, the hardest of all battles the Muslims fought against the apostates. Ibn Kathīr said: ‘According to Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ, Muhammad ibn Jarīr and other early scholars, the Battle of Yamāmah was in year 11, Ibn Nāfi‘ says it was at the end of year 11, while al-Wāqidī and others maintain that it was in year 12. These reports may be reconciled by saying that it started in year 11 and ended in year 12, but God knows best.’ (Ibn Kathīr, Al-Bidāyah wal-Nihāyah, vol. 6, p. 344.) I feel that Ibn Kathīr was right. This means that the collation of the Qur’an was done in the early months of year 12 AH, March 633 CE, but God knows best.

      97.The Battle of Yamāmah was fought by the Muslim state against Musaylimah, the Liar, and his apostate followers. The number of Muslim casualties was 1,200, 70 of whom knew the Qur’an by heart. One of these was Sālim, the ally of Abū Ḥudhayfah, who came forward to lift the Muslim army’s flag which had fallen to the ground after its holder, Zayd ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, ‘Umar’s brother, was killed. Other Muslim soldiers said to him: ‘Sālim, we fear that you may be a weak point.’ He said: ‘A bad bearer of the Qur’an I am if I prove a weak point.’ When the Muslims were in retreat, Sālim shouted to them: ‘This is not the way we did when we were with God’s Messenger.’ He dug his feet in the ground and stood firm holding the al-Muhājirīn’s flag, fighting hard until he was killed. The Anṣār’s flag was held by Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shammās, who had prepared himself for burial in case he was killed. He also fought hard until he was so killed. The battle was very hard, with the Muslims fighting a much larger force, and they were in retreat three times. Then they appealed to those of them who memorised the Qur’an to be in the front. The Prophet’s Companions urged one another to fight harder, reminding themselves that they had learnt the second surah – the longest in the Qur’an. Abu Hudhayfah shouted encouragements, saying: ‘People of the Qur’an, let your deeds be an adornment for the Qur’an.’ They did and there were many casualties. ‘The Prophet’s Companions fought most determinedly and continued to move forward until God granted them victory.’ Ref: al-Haythamī, Majma‘ al-Zawā’id, vol. 9, p. 322.

      98.Al-Bukhārī, vol. 6, pp. 98–99. Ḥafṣah, the Prophet’s wife, was chosen by ‘Umar, her father, to look after what he left of endowments and to act as the executor of his will.

      99.A.M. al-Aqqad, ‘Abqariyyāt ‘Umar, p. 101.

      100.Al-Zarkashī, Al-Burhān, vol. 1, p. 238.

      101.Ibn Ḥajar, Fatḥ al-Bārī, vol. 9, p. 12.

      102.M.N. al-Muṭi‘ī, Al-Kalimāt al-Ḥisān fī al-Aḥruf al-Sab‘ah wa Jam‘ al-Qur’an, p. 12.

      103.Ṣ. Al-Ṣāliḥ, ‘Ulūm al-Qur’an, p. 76.

      104.Al-Zarkashī, Al-Burhān, vol. 1, p. 234.

      105.Related by Ibn Abī Dāwūd in Al-Maṣāḥif with a good chain of transmission, vol. 1, p. 166. It is also related by Ibn Abī Shaybah, Aḥmad, al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, as well as Ibn Ḥajar in Fatḥ al-Bārī.

      106.One of these is the absolute trust shown by Abū Bakr and ‘Umar in Zayd. This trust was not just based on the fact that he was a scribe who wrote the Qur’anic revelations as dictated by the Prophet (peace be upon him). Rather, he himself was worthy of it because of his piety. His feelings and statements in reaction to the task assigned him prove so. Moreover, he was a man of great integrity and intelligence, someone who worked hard paying meticulous attention to accuracy and detail.

      107.It is confirmed by several reports that al-Shifā’ bint ‘Abdullāh, a Companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him) from the Qurayshī clan of ‘Adiyy and one of the Muhājirīn, was the one who taught Ḥafṣah reading and writing. Ref: N. Al-Albānī, Al-Aḥādīth al-Ṣaḥīḥah, Hadith no. 1790; M.R. Riḍā, Ḥuqūq al-Nisā’ fī al-Islām, p. 17.

      108.A full and detailed study of these collections is provided by Dr ‘Abd al-Ṣabūr Shāhīn in Tārīkh al-Qur’an, pp. 125–189. Reference may be also made to Ibn Ḥazm, Al-Fiṣal fī al-Milal wal-Niḥal, vol. 2, pp. 76–80.

      109.Muqaddimatān fī ‘Ulūm al-Qur’an, pp. 32–33.

      110.Ibn Qutaybah, Ta’wīl Mushkil al-Qur’an, p. 47.

      111.Al-Bukhārī, vol. 6, p. 99. According to Qāḍī ‘Iyāḍ they washed all other writings with water, then burnt them. Al-Qurṭubī gives this comment on ‘Uthmān’s action as reported by al-Bukhārī: ‘‘Uthmān did so after having called a public meeting of the Muhājirīn and the Anṣār, as well as the majority of the population in Madinah. He consulted with them on what to do. They all agreed on the collation of the Qur’an according to the authentic ways of pronunciation learnt from the Prophet, and to discard the rest. They all agreed with his view, which was certainly a well considered and correct view.’ Vol. 1, p. 52.

      112.Al-Zarkashī, Al-Burhān, vol. 1, p. 139; Al-Suyūṭī, Al-Itqān, vol. 1, pp. 102–103; M. A. Draz, Madkhal ilā al-Qur’an al-Karīm, p. 38. English edition, Introduction to the Qur’an, p. 17. According to some reports, ‘Uthmān asked: ‘Who is the most eloquent person?’ People mentioned Sa‘īd ibn al-‘Āṣ. He then asked who was the best writer and they mentioned Zayd ibn Thābit. ‘Uthmān said: ‘Let Zayd write and let Sa‘īd dictate.’ Al-Maṣāḥif, vol. 1, p. 217. Sa‘īd ibn al-‘Āṣ was the closest person to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in his pronunciation. He was a man of great integrity, very generous, sagacious, patient and noble. He died in 80 AH/700 CE.

      113.M. A. Draz, ibid., pp. 36–38. English edition, Introduction to the Qur’an, pp. 16–17.

      114.Muqaddimatan fi ‘Ulūm al-Qur’an, p. 44. Also, al-Suyūṭi, Al-Itqān, vol. 1, p. 103.

      115.Al-Suyūṭi, ibid.

      116.Ibid, vol. 1, p. 104.

      117.M. A. Draz, Madkhal ilā al-Qur’an al-Karīm, p. 43. English edition, Introduction to the Qur’an, p. 19.

      118.Perhaps al-Zarkashī is pointing to this distinction when he says: ‘The Qur’an and its variant recitals are two separate things. The Qur’an is the revelation vouchsafed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) to put the message clear, while the variant recitals are concerned with the pronunciation of the said revelation, and the features of articulation of its different sounds, etc.’ Al-Burhān.

      119.This prevails in the overwhelming majority of cases, but some aspects of other dialects or accents are found in authentic recitals, particularly the articulation of the glottal stop. The Quraysh did not articulate this sound, but linguists worked out rules for its articulation even though the Quraysh did not observe these. Professor ‘Abd al-Salām Hārūn said: ‘Numerous reports make clear that the Quraysh did not articulate the glottal stop. Al-Raḍiyy says in his book Sharḥ al-Shāfiyah, vol. 3, p. 31: “Some Arabs, including the majority of the people of Hijaz, particularly the Quraysh, did not pronounce it. It is reported that ‘Alī said: The Qur’an was revealed in the Quraysh’s tongue and they did not articulate the glottal stop. Had it not been for the fact that Gabriel articulated it as he brought the Qur’an down to the Prophet we would not have articulated it.” In his book, Ham‘ al-Hawāmi‘, al-Suyūṭī said: “The scribes wrote largely as not