Gregorian calendar (609 – 632 A.D)
First post date – Eid Al Fitr – 01st Shawwal 1439 (AH) / 15th June 2018
The Companions (sahaba) of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) served in transferring the Islamic Holy Book – Quran.”
The Quran was compiled (not written- only put together) into a book in the time of the first caliph, Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (The first Caliph of Islam)
12 People
During the 23 years of Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) time as a prophet, the verses of the Quran were memorized as they were revealed, and about 42 scribes wrote the verses on different materials such as paper, cloth, bone fragments and leather.
During the time of Caliph Abu Bakr, when 70 people who knew the Quran by heart (qari), were killed in the Battle of Yamama, Umar ibn al-Khattab became concerned and appealed to Abu Bakr in order to compile the Quran into a book.
Abu Bakr formed a delegation under the leadership of Zaid ibn Thabit, one of the leading scribes.
This delegation of 12 people, including famous figures such as Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Talha ibn Ubaydullah, Abdullah ibn Masood, Ubayy ibn Kab, Khalid ibn al-Walid, Hudhaifah and Saleem, came together in Umar’s house and collected all the materials on which verses from the Quran were written.
In addition, the verses memorized by the companions were heard as well. Each of them was asked to show two witnesses for the verse they read.
Mushaf
Thus, all the verses of the Quran that describe the creation of the universe and people, judgment day, exemplary stories of the people who lived before and the beliefs, worship, morals and legal bases that believers should obey were collected together into a single-volume book. Each of the verses was taught by the archangel Gabriel and declared by Prophet Muhammad. The verse is the name given to each sentence of the Quran and the surah is the name given to each part of the holy book. There are 6,236 verses, 114 surahs and about 323,000 letters in the Quran.
Saeed ibn al-Aas, who was renowned for the beauty of his handwriting, wrote them down on gazelle skin. The writing used was the Arabic script of the time, which was already old and used commonly at that time in Hejaz.
The companions reached a consensus that this writing, which was used by Prophet Ismail in Hejaz, is the writing of Muslims.
The copy of the Quran was recited to the companions at a general meeting. There was no objection. So, a book called “mushaf” emerged, which means written verses.
A total of 33,000 companions agreed that every letter of the Quran was in the right place. Then this mushaf was sent to Umar ibn al-Khattab. After his death, this book passed on to Hazrat Hafsah, the daughter of Umar and a wife of Prophet Muhammad.
The verses were written in the Quraysh dialect. *
The surahs were arranged in rows, separated from each other regarding their length and alignment with each other.
The order of the surahs was not based on the order the archangel Gabriel gave them to Prophet Muhammad, but on the consensus of the companions.
The Quran was written during Muhammad’s lifetime, while its compilation was done during the caliphate of Abu Bakr and it was copied during the caliphate of Uthman.
Uthman also established special schools for the correct recitation and writing of the Quran.
During the caliphate of Ali, saw the introduction of diacritical marks*
During the time of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik, vowel marks were also added.*
*More on this. You may research yourself.
