The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 391
IX - Repeated Treachery of the Jews, Compilation and Sequence of the Holy Qur ’ā n, Marriage of Ḥaḍrat Zainab ra , the Great Calumny and Mischief of the Hypocrites 391 divine inspiration and memorize it himself, but would instruct many other Companions to commit it to memory as well. Moreover, the Holy Prophet sa had assigned the duty to such Companions as were more skilled in this respect, to teach others as well. 1 As a further act of precaution, he would also have it committed to writing along the way. As such, it is ascertained from the Aḥādīth that the very same Zaid bin Thābit ra , who later compiled the Holy Qur’ān in the form of a single volume, and who was a man of extraordinary intelligence, was commissioned to record Qur’ānic revelation in the era of the Holy Prophet sa. 2 In addition to him, other Companions would also render this service. For example, there was Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra , Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra , Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān ra , Ḥaḍrat ‘Alī ra , Zubair bin Al-Awwām ra , Sharjīl bin Ḥasanah ra , ‘Abdullāh bin Sa‘d bin Abī Sarah, Ubayy bin Ka‘b ra , ‘Abdullāh bin Rawāḥah ra , and others. 3 Therefore, the actual task of compilation and arrangement had already taken place in the very life of the Holy Prophet sa under his own guidance. This is not merely conjecture; rather, it is explicitly mentioned in the Aḥādīth. A narration is related by ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Abbās ra , that Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān bin ‘Affān ra , the third Khalīfah , would state: “It was a practice of the Holy Prophet sa that when a revelation would be received by the Holy Prophet sa , the Holy Prophet sa would summon one of his scribes and instruct him to record it and would also instruct that it should be placed in the following Sūrah at the following place. In this manner, the Holy. . . . . continued total number of days which span the prophetic era of the Holy Prophet sa , which according to the lunar system, equate to approximately 7,970 days, this equals 0. 78, i. e. , less than one verse per day. This is the very explanation of ً رَتَّلْنَاہ ُ تَرْتِیْلا , (Sūrah Al-Furqan, Verse 33), meaning, ‘We did not send down the Qur’ān at once, rather, revealed it slowly and gradually in parts. ’ 1 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābu Faḍā’ilil-Qur’ān, Bābu Kāna Jibrīlu Ya‘ridul-Qur’āna ‘Alan-Nabiyyi sa , Ḥadīth No. 4997, 4998 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābu Faḍā’ilil-Qur’ān, Bābul-Qurrā’i Min Aṣḥābin-Nabiyyi sa , Ḥadīth No. 4999, 5003, 5004 2 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābu Faḍā’ilil-Qur’ān, Bābu Kātibin-Nabiyyi sa , Ḥadīth No. 4989-4990 3 * Fatḥul-Bārī Sharḥu Ṣaḥīḥil-Bukhārī, By Al-Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥajar Al-‘Asqalānī, Volume 9, p. 27, Kitābu Faḍā’ilil-Qur’ān, Bābu Kātibin-Nabiyyi sa , Ḥadīth No. 4990, Qadīmī Kutub Khānah, Ārām Bāgh, Karachi * Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 4, p. 559, Fī Imrā’ihī Wa Rasūlihī Wa Kuttābihī. . . . . , Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)