Page 44 - World Religions I - Islam

• Zaid ibn Thabit set out to find all existing Qur'anic material.
o Two principle sources for the compilation of recitations:
 "Fragmentary scripts" written down (on parchments, bone, palm leaves, animal skins, and rocks)
 Hearts of the companions of Muhammad (memorized texts). Unwittingly, this tradition
contradicts popular Muslim belief that the entirety of the Qur'an had been unerringly memorized
by a number of Muhammad's followers, whose versions all coincided. After all, two of the verses
were only found to be known by a single person! Additionally, the fact that Zaid had to
undertake this search indicates that there was no unanimity among the qurra' over the
complete text of the Qur'an. Otherwise, all Zaid would have had to do was to record the
recitations of one memorizer rather than gather and sift those of many.
o Out of all the available sources, two verses (9:128-129) were generally not known and were found only
with Abu Khuzaima.7
• Once Zaid ibn Thabit finished compiling his version of the Qur'an, it was hidden by Abu Bakr for safe keeping rather
than imposed on the larger community.
o It was neither recopied nor presented to the growing empire as
o the correct and standard text.
o Abu Bakr died after only two years in power (AD 632-34).
• Abu Bakr's successor, Umar ibn al-Khattab, also kept the text of Zaid under wraps.
o Umar's caliphate lasted ten years (AD 634-44) and was marked by the rapid military expansion of Islam
and the consequent influx of great wealth to be managed and distributed.
o Because Umar did not nominate a successor before his death, the compiled Qur'anic text remained with
his daughter, Hafsa, who was one of Muhammad's widows. For more information on Hafsa, see Appendix
F: The Wives of Muhammad.
• Following the death of Umar, Uthman became the third caliph of the Islamic empire.
o During Uthman's rule, rapid expansion of the Islamic world was making centralized rule more difficult.
o Increasing sectors of the conquered population knew little or nothing of the movement's defining
beliefs and practices and felt scant allegiance to Muhammad's successors.
• In the years since the death of Muhammad, other compilations of the Qur'an had been championed in different
regions of the empire.
o Four other major recensions of the Qur'an were based on the memory of highly respected members of
the qurra'.
 The version of Ubay bin Ka'b in Damascus. Ibn Mas'ud was considered the most knowledgeable
memorizer of revelations. He was loathe to hand over his codex for destruction when
commanded to do so, as he felt that his text was the most accurate.
 The version of Ibn Mas'ud in Kufa.
 The version of Mikdad bin Amr in Homs.
 The version of al-Ash'ari in Basra.
o These recensions were brought to Caliph Uthman's attention by the military leader Hudhaifa bin al-
Yaman who, having spent time in the Kufa region of Iraq, reported that the Qur'an was being recited with
extensive variations throughout the empire.8
o Aside from the four major recensions, the traditions indicate that there were significant numbers of
whole collections or fragmentary manuscripts of the Qur'an in existence during the reign of both Abu Bakr
and Umar.
• Uthman collected Zaid ibn Thabit's manuscript from Hafsa and commissions Zaid and three other Quraishi men
(members of the tribe of Muhammad who spoke the same dialect) to recompose the manuscript.9 This
recomposing acknowledges an implicit understanding by Uthman, Zaid, and others, that Zaid's initial work was
not perfect but in need of amending.
o In recomposing the Qur'an, the scribes were ordered to make sure it reflected the Quraish (Meccan)

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