[Zaid b. Thabit said:] 'The Prophet died and the Qur'an had not been assembled into a single place.' (p. 118, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 9)

when people came to Medina to learn about Islam, they were provided with copies of the chapters of the Qur'an, to read and learn them by heart. (Hamidullah, "Sahifa Hammam ibn Munabbih", 1070, p. 64)

Salim had already 'collected the Qur'an into a single volume' -- he was the first to collect the Qur'an, and gave it the name mushaf, a word he had heard in Ethiopia, (p. 121, Jalal al Din `Abdul Rahman b. abi Bakr al Suyuti, "al Itqan fi `ulum al Qur'an", Halabi, Cairo, 1935/1354, pt 1, p. 58)

The Muslim sources are thus quite clear that Abu Bakr and `Umar were responsible for the first collection of the Qur'an texts following the death of the Muhammad. Discordant voices were nonetheless heard, Abu Bakr died and the Qur'an had not been collected; `Umar was killed and the Qur'an had not been collected.' (p. 229)

Zaid reports, 'Abu Bakr sent for me on the occasion of the deaths of those killed in the Yemama wars. I found `Umar b. al Khattab with him. Abu Bakr said, "`Umar has just come to me and said, 'In the Yemama fighting death has dealt most severely with the qurra' and I fear it will deal with equal severity with them in other theatres of war and as a result much of the Qur'an will perish [d h b]. I am therefore of the opinion that you should command that the Qur'an be collected.'" Abu Bakr added, "I said to `Umar, 'How can we do what the Prophet never did?' `Umar replied that it was nonetheless a good act. He did not cease replying to my scruples until God reconciled me to the undertaking." Abu Bakr continued, "Zaid, you are young and intelligent and we know nothing to your discredit. You used to record the revelations for the Prophet, so pursue the Qur'an and collect it all together." By God! had they asked me to remove a mountain it could not have been more weighty than what they would now have me do in ordering me to collect the Qur'an. I therefore asked them how they could do what the Prophet had not done but Abu Bakr insisted that it was permissible. He did not cease replying to my scruples until God reconciled me to the undertaking as He had already reconciled Abu Bakr and `Umar. I thereupon pursued the Qur'an collecting it all together from palm-branches, flat stones and the memories of men. I found the last verse of sura al Tawba in the possession of Abu Khuzaima al Ansari, having found it with no one else, "There has now come to you..." to the end of the sura.

The sheets [suhuf] that Zaid prepared in this manner remained in the keeping of Abu Bakr. On his death, they passed to `Umar who then bequeathed them on his death to his daughter Hafsa. (p. 118-119, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 9. Also Sahih Bukhari vol. VI:509, 510)

Zuhri reports that when slaughter befell the Muslims in the Yemama it was Abu Bakr who feared that many of the qarra' would perish. (p. 120, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 12)

It is said that upward of 700 Companions fell in the Yemama. Sufyan reports that when Salim was slain `Umar hastened to Abu Bakr. (p. 120, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 9)

The first to collect the Qur'an between two covers was Abu Bakr. awwal man jama`a al Qur'an baina lawhain. (p. 122, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 6)

`Ali said, 'God bless Abu Bakr! He was the first to collect the Qur'an between two covers', (p. 122, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 6)

'the greatest reward in respect of the masahif will fall to Abu Bakr for he was the first to collect the text between the two covers.' (p. 122, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 5)

Hisham b. 'Urwa reports his father as saying,

'Abu Bakr collected the Qur'an after the death of the Prophet.' (p. 122, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 6)

Elsewhere we are assured that Zaid first wrote out the Qur'an for Abu Bakr on scraps of leather and on palm-branches. On the death of Abu Bakr, `Umar appointed Zaid to transcribe his materials into the sahifa which remained in `Umar's possession. (p. 123, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 12)

Zaid says that they had been accustomed to organising the Qur'an from these scraps in the presence of the Prophet. (p. 123, Jalal al Din `Abdul Rahman b. abi Bakr al Suyuti, "al Itqan fi `ulum al Qur'an", Halabi, Cairo, 1935/1354, pt 1, p. 57)

Abu Bakr ordered `Umar and Zaid to sit in the gate of the mosque and to include in the mushaf only what was vouched for by the testimony of two men. (p. 125, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 11)

On the discovery of two closing verses of Q 9, `Umar is said to have remarked,

'Had they been three verses, I would have made them a separate sura', (Jalal al Din `Abdul Rahman b. abi Bakr al Suyuti, "al Itqan fi `ulum al Qur'an", Halabi, Cairo, 1935/1354, pt 1, p. 61)

a report which disturbed some scholars. (p. 215)

`Umar b. al Khattab enquired about a verse of the Book of God. On being informed that it had been in the possession of so-and-so who had been killed in the Yemama wars, `Umar exclaimed the formula expressing loss, 'We are God's and unto Him is our return.' `Umar gave the command and the Qur'an was collected. He was the first to collect the Qur'an. (p. 120, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 10)

`Umar was the first to collect the Qur'an into a single volume [mushaf]... `Umar desired to collect the Qur'an. He address the people, 'Whoever among you received any part of the Qur'an directly from the very mouth of the Prophet let him bring it here to us.' (p. 122, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 10)

Omitting the words, 'between two covers' or 'into a single volume', and supposing the transmission to be accurate, the meaning of jama`a al Qur'an would be 'memorised the Qur'an.' (p. 122, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 10)

Similarly, where used of ``Umar, the root j m ` signifies asara bi jam`ihi, 'advised its collection.' (p. 122-3, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 10; Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 10)

`Umar decided to collect the Qur'an. He addressed the people, 'Let whoever received direct from the mouth of the Prophet any part of the Qur'an now bring it here to us.' They had written what they had heard on sheets, tablets and palm-branches. `Umar would not accept anything from anyone until two witnesses bore testimony. He was assassinated while still engaged on his collection. His successor, `Uthman addressed the people, 'Let whoever has anything of the Book of God bring it here to us.' `Uthman would accept nothing from anyone until two witnesses bore testimony. Khuzaima b. Thabit said, 'I see that you have omitted two verses. You have not written them.' They asked what they were and he said, 'I had direct from the Prophet: "There has come to you....". `Uthman said, 'And I bear witness that these verses come from God.' He asked Khuzaima where they should enter them. He replied, 'Make them the close of the latest Qur'anic revelation.' Thus was Bara'a sealed with these words. (p. 123, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 10)

When `Umar determined to write out the imam, he ordered a group of the Companions to set to work and advised them that, if they disagreed linguistically, they should write it in the language of Mudar, since it had been revealed to a man of Mudar. (p. 153, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 11)

The collection of the Qur'an ab initio (jam` al Qur'an fi sahifa, fi suhuf, fi mushaf, baina lawhain) is a distinctive activity and has, we have seen, been ascribed to numerous individuals among the Companion generation, including each of Muhammad's four immediate successors as Head of State, Abu Bakr, `Umar `Uthman, and `Ali.

The provision of a textus receptus (jam` al masahif `ala mushaf wahid, jam` al nas `ala mushaf) in which the root j m ` abandons the meaning 'to collect' to take on the force of 'collating', 'reconciling', is a different activity and has been attributed to only one of Muhammad's successors, `Uthman b. `Affan (A.D. 644-56). (p. 139)

The alternative jam` al masahif view requires our assent to the contrary proposition. Not only had the Qur'an texts been organised, preserved and collected at a much earlier date, but this had been done on innumerable occasions and by innumerable persons. On the accession of the Prophet's third successor there existed such an unwieldy body of materials that it was not only possible but essential to establish a textus receptus ne varietur while many of those best qualified to bring this vital undertaking to a successful conclusion were still happily alive. (p. 140)

See section 3 and 4

[On the death of Muhammad, Ali] 'vowed that he would not don outdoor clothes until he had collected the Qur'an into a single volume.' (p. 121, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 10)

In one version of the report on `Ali's vow, we read, 'until I collected the Qur'an between two covers'.

The commentators assure us that this version is erroneous. Only a single transmitter credits `Ali with a collection ab initio. The report is isolate. (p. 122, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 9)

[Note: Khuzaima was credited with the bringing of Q9:128-129 when it was compiled. Either one Khuzaima offered the verses on more than one different occasion or three different Khuzaima's did that.]

They collected the Qur'an into a mushaf in the reign of Abu Bakr, some men writing to the dictation of Ubayy. When they reached Q 9.127 some supposed that that was the last part of the Qur'an to have been revealed. But Ubayy pointed out that the Prophet had taught him two verses more and, since they were the last of the Qur'an to be revealed, the Book should close on the note on which it had begun. (p. 124, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 10)

[Zaid reports:] I found the last verse of sura al Tawba in the possession of Abu Khuzaima al Ansari, having found it with no one else, "There has now come to you..." to the end of the sura. (p. 119, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 9)

Khuzaima b. Thabit said, 'I see that you have omitted two verses. You have not written them.' They asked what they were and he said, 'I had direct from the Prophet: "There has come to you....". `Uthman said, 'And I bear witness that these verses come from God.' He asked Khuzaima where they should enter them. He replied, 'Make them the close of the latest Qur'anic revelation.' Thus was Bara'a sealed with these words. (p. 123, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 10)

A further hadith features one al Harith b. Khuzaima who brought this very verse to `Umar. (p. 125, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 30)

Unhappily, however, the elegance of this rationalisation is marred by uncertainty as to the man's identity.

'Khuzaima was known as du al sahadatain. The Prophet had declared his testimony equal to that of two men. (Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 29)

(p. 128)

'The Prophet had declared his evidence to equal that of two men.' (p. 126, Badr al Din Muhammad b. `Abdullah al Zarkasi, "K. al Burhan fi `ulum al Qur'an, 4 vols., Halabi, Cairo, 1957/1376, vol. 1, p. 234)

Zaid's words, 'I did not find with anyone else', were interpreted to mean that he had not found the verse in writing with anyone else. (Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 12)

That task, whoever first accomplished it, was merely one of assembling the Qur'an which 'already in the lifetime of the Prophet was recorded in writing. Abu Bakr's contribution was to arrange for the transfer of these sheets, then scattered about Medina, into a single volume.' God informs us that in Muhammad's day the Qur'an was written on 'pure sheets from which he recites.' (Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 10) Q 98.2 may or may not refer to Muhammad. In either event, the remark is exegetical rather than historical. (p. 121)

'They collected the Qur'an from the codex prepared by Ubayy.' (Masahif, p. 30)

They collected the Qur'an into a mushaf in the reign of Abu Bakr, some men writing to the dictation of Ubayy. When they reached Q 9.127 some supposed that that was the last part of the Qur'an to have been revealed. But Ubayy pointed out that the Prophet had taught him two verses more and, since they were the last of the Qur'an to be revealed, the Book should close on the note on which it had begun. (p. 124, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da'ud, "K. al Masahif", ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 10)

Other attributions [ie. compiled Qur'an] include the Prophet's widows: `A'isha, Hafsa and Umm Salama. Among the Companions were named Miqdad (or Mu`ad), Abu Musa, `Abdullah, `Ubada and Zaid b. Thabit. (p. 165, A. Jeffery, "Materials for the History of the Text of the Qur'an, Leiden, 1937, p. 17. CF. Abu Muhammad `Abdullah b. `Abdul Rahman al Darimi, "K. al Sunan", Cairo, 1966/1386, p. 55)

We are told by Muslim traditionists that other people also memorized and collected large portions of the Qur'an. Among the Ansaris were Ubayy ibn Ka`b, Mu`adh ibn Jabal Abu Zaid, Abu Zaid and Abu-ad-Darda (Sahih Bukhari, vol. 6, pp. 488-489)

`Abdullah ibn Mas`ud, who had been with Muhammad from the very beginning in Mecca, had collected more than ninety of the one hundred fourteen surahs, learning the rest from Mujammi ibn Jariyah (Ibn Sa`d, "Kitab al Tabaqat", vol. 2, p. 457)

Narrated Qatada: I asked Anas bin Malik: 'Who collected the Quran at the time of the prophet?' He replied, 'Four, all of whom were from the Ansar: Ubai bin Ka`b, Muadh bin Jabal, Zaid bin Thabit and Abu Zaid.'" (Sahih Bukhari, vol. vi, no. 525)