THE HOLY QUR’AN

September 4, 2012 General, September 2012 Leave a comment

The Holy Qur’an is the basic, fundamental, ultimate and the most important source of Islam. All the Islamic laws and tenets are having their origin from the Holy Qur’an. It is the last book sent by the Allah Almighty for the guidance of humanity that was revealed upon the last prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) in a span of 23 years. The term Qur’an means recitation. It is a complete code of life that provides guidance in each and every sphere of life.

The Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah or traditions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) are the basic and primary source of Islamic Shariah. All the other sources of Islamic Shariah such as Ijma’ a or Consensus of opinion, Qiyas or Analogical deduction, Ijtihad, Istidlaal or Reasoning, Istihsaan etc. are the secondary sources because they are derived from and based upon the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUP). The Holy Qur’an is the basic, fundamental, ultimate and the most important source of Islam. All the Islamic laws and tenets are having their origin from the Holy Qur’an. It is the last book sent by the Allah Almighty for the guidance of humanity that was revealed upon the last prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) in a span of 23 years. The term Qur’an means recitation. It is a complete code of life that provides guidance in each and every sphere of life. Being the last revealed book, its teachings are for eternity and for whole humanity and are not confined to a particular age or specific community.

The basic theme and topic of Holy Qur’an is humanity and it covers a wide range of issues such as articles of Faith, rituals or modes of worship, moral values, civil and criminal laws, rules of economics, stories of previous prophets, etc. It provides a way for the eternal success of human beings. The life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is nothing else but the practical form of the Holy Qur’an. The Holy Qur’an is a living miracle of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and it is available in the form and shape in which it was revealed about 1400 years ago. The Allah Almighty himself took responsibility for its preservation and protection as the Allah Almighty declares in verse No. 9 of the Surah Hajr, Chapter the Rock. ‘Verily We have revealed this Remembrance/Qur’an and verily We are it’s guardian’. For this purpose the Holy Prophet (PBUH) devised a strategy under divine commandment for collecting and preserving the Holy Qur’an in a fool-proof manner.

Whenever the text of the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet (PBUH), he would recite it in the assembly of Muslim men. Later he would repeat the same text in the special assembly of women.
First of all, whenever the text of the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet (PBUH), he would recite it in the assembly of Muslim men. Later, he would repeat the same text in the special assembly of women. This practice establishes that the Prophet (PBUH) was as much concerned with the education of women as he was with that of men. Secondly, he would direct one of his literate companions to write it down by dictating the same to him. Immediately after dictation he would ask the scribe to read out what he had taken down. The idea was to ensure perfect accuracy. Thirdly, after dictation, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) would ask his companions to memorise the text. Fourthly, he directed the Muslims to recite the verses of the Holy Qur’an in their five time daily prayers. Fifthly, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) used to recite aloud the whole Qur’an (i.e. revealed till that year) during the month of Ramadhan. The companions who could read and write would bring along their personal manuscripts and would compare them with the recited version of the Prophet (PBUH). This practice was called Ardah which means presentation. Under divine commandment, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) recited the whole of Holy Qur’an twice in front of companions during the last Ramadhan of his life in order to leave no room for mistakes in its text. Sixthly, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) directed the Muslims to learn the Holy Qur’an from an authorised teacher. On account of these measures, the Holy Qur’an was preserved for posterity. During the life time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) there were a large number of companions who had committed the Holy Qur’an to memory and there were also a number of Muslims who were having the verses of Holy Qur’an in black and white. In this regard there are certain references in Islamic History such as the incident of accepting/embracing of Islam by Hazrat Umar-e-Farooq (may Allah be pleased with him) in the house of his sister and brother-in-law Hazrat Saeed bin Zaid when they were reciting the verses of the Holy Qur’an from a written text. Similarly, at the second covenant of Aqabah the Holy Prophet (PBUH) gave a complete written copy of the Qur’an revealed until then to the tribe of Banu Zurayq.

The procedure of further consolidation and preservation of the Holy Qur’an continued after the demise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). During the reign of the first caliph of Islam, Hazrat Abu Bakar (may Allah be pleased with him) the battle of Yamamah was waged against the apostate Musaylamah the liar and his supporters. It was a fierce battle. Although the Muslims won the battle, but a large number of Muslims nearly 6000 were martyred in that battle and some of them were those companions who had memorised the Holy Qur’an. Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) feared that the number of those companions who had memorised the Qur’an would dwindle either owing to natural death or martyrdom in future battles. So on the advice of Hazrat Umar, the first caliph of Muslims Hazrat Abu Bakr  constituted a commission under Hazrat Zayd ibn Thabit for the purpose of writing down the whole of Qur’an as he had not only memorised the Holy Qur’an but was also an important and trusted compiler of the Holy Qur’an during the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). At least 25 companions, who had committed the Qur’an to memory, were alive at the time of Prophet’s (PBUH) death including a woman Umm Waraqah. Their services were also utilised for this purpose.

The people having verses of the Holy Qur’an in written form presented those before the Commission and after an hectic and careful exercise, compilation of the Holy Qur’an was completed during the regime of Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and the manuscript was presented to him. So the first complete and perfect manuscript of the Holy Qur’an was compiled one year after the demise of Holy Prophet (PBUH).

This manuscript remained with Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) till his death. Then it came in the custody of second caliph Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). After his martyrdom it came in the possession of Hazrat Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her) the daughter of Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and wife of Holy Prophet (PBUH).

Under divine commandment, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) recited the whole of Holy Qur’an twice in front of companions during the last Ramadhan of his life in order to leave no room for mistakes in its text.
During the regime of third Caliph of Muslims, Hazrat Usman-e-Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him) a dispute arose among a group of Muslims over the recitation of the Holy Qur’an in a distant part of Islamic state. Some wanted to recite few verses of the Holy Qur’an in one way and some wanted to recite the verses in another way. The matter was reported to the caliph. In order to resolve this conflict once for all, he requested Hazrat Hafsa to give him the manuscript that was prepared during the reign of Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). On receiving it, he handed it over to Hazrat Zayd ibn Thabit (the head of commission that had compiled it earlier), with the request that copies should be prepared, compared and corrected. Hazrat Usman (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered that in case of a difference in pronunciation of a certain word, the pronunciation of the people of Makkah would be given priority. So Hazrat Zaid ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) with the support of literate and trusted assistants prepared about seven copies of the manuscript that were presented to the third caliph. Under his directives, each of the seven copies was read aloud from beginning to end in Prophet’s Mosque to ensure transparency and accuracy. Afterward one copy each was sent to various provincial capitals of his vast empire with instruction that in future copies of the Holy Qur’an would be made only from the official authentic text. Thus, he united all the Muslims on one pronunciation of the Holy Qur’an, owing to which he has been given the title Jame-ul-Qur’an. Some of those copies are still extant. One is preserved in Tashkand Museum and one is preserved in Istanbul. The Istanbul copy is stained with the blood of third caliph of Muslims because he was reciting it at the time of his martyrdom.

On account of the said measures the Holy Qur’an was preserved for future generations and was protected from alterations and amendments. According to teachings of Islam, the practice of learning the Holy Qur’an by heart entails great reward and since the time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), the Muslims are having such people known as Hufaaz as they are held in high esteem in true Muslim society.  Their number is increasing with each passing day in Islamic world.

Unlike the Holy Qur’an, the other divine books were altered and amended by their followers as there was no modus operandi for their preservation. They were not preserved for future generations because they were revealed on prophets none of whom was the last prophet and because they were confined to a particular age and particular community; whereas the Holy Qur’an is for eternity and for the whole humanity.

It provides the way for the perfect and eternal triumph of all human beings. The Allah Almighty has used various titles for the Holy Qur’an such as guide, blessing, cure, advice, light etc. In verse No. 2 of Surah Al-Baqara, Chapter the Cow, the Allah Almighty says, ‘This is the book of Allah, there is no doubt in it; it is a guidance for the pious’.  In verse No. 82 of Surah Bani Israel/Chapter the Children of Israel the Allah Almighty says, ‘What We are sending down in the course of revealing the Quran is a healing and a grace for those who have faith; but it adds only to the ruin of the wrong-doers’. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) declared to the Muslims on the occasion of his last sermon, I am leaving two things among you. One is the Holy Quran and the other is my Sunnah. Until you adhere to these, you would never be misled.

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