QURAN | Page 4

good use
This
divine
message
was
revealed
to
confirm
and
renew
the relationship
between
man
and
his
Creator
and
to
reinstate
the
sincere and correct worship of the one true God, AllŒh (subúŒnahu wa taÔŒlŒ), who says:
﴿ﹶﻥ
ﻭ
ﺪ
ﺷﺮ
ﻳ ﻢ
ﻬﱠ
ﻠ
ﻌﹶ
ﻟ ﻲﹺ
ﺑ ﺍﻮ
ﻨ
ﻣﺆ
ﻴﻟ
ﻭ ﻲ
ﻟ ﺍﻮ
ﺒﻴﹺ
ﺠ
ﺘﺴ
ﻴﻠﹶ
ﻓ﴾
"Then
let
them
respond
to
Me
and
believe
in
Me
that they may be [rightly] guided."13
12IúsŒn has
been
defined
by
the
Prophet
()
as
"worshipping
AllŒh
as
if you see Him" or generally, doing more than one's duty and expecting less than one's right.13S´rah al-Baqarah,2:186.

viii
HISTORY OF QURÕN COMPILATION
1.In
addition
to
its
memorization
in
entirety
by
many
of
the §aúŒbah(the
Prophet's
companions),
written
recording
of
the QurÕŒn began during the Prophet's lifetime. As it was recited by him, his scribes
wrote
down
the
revelation
on
pieces
of
leather, bone
and
palm
leaves,
and
its verses
were
ordered
and
arranged as AllŒh revealed. Initially, the QurÕŒn was not compiled in one volume, although some of the §aúŒbahhad made personal copies for themselves after memorizing it from the Prophet ().
2.Collecting
and
compiling
the
QurÕŒn
followed
soon
after
the Prophet's
death,
during
the
caliphate
of Ab´
Bakr
a§-êiddeeq. Upon
the
advice
of
ÔUmar
bin
al-Kha‹‹Œb,
Ab´
Bakr
charged Zayd
bin
ThŒbit
to
bring
all
of
the
QurÕŒn
together
on
written
sheets
(§uúuf).
T
hese
were
checked
for
accuracy
against
what had
been
memorized
by
a
great
number
of
the §aúŒbah. After the
death
of
Ab´
Bakr
and
then
ÔUmar,
the
collection
remained with ÔUmar's daughter, îaf§ah, who was also the Prophet's wife.
3.The standardization of one authentic volume (mu§úaf) took place during
the
caliphate
of
ÔUthmŒn
bin
ÔAffŒn.
T
he
copy
kept
by îaf§ah
was
obtained
and,
upon
the
order
of
ÔUthmŒn,
it
was transcribed
with
great
care
by
four
of
the
most
knowledgeable scribes:
Z
ayd
bin ThŒbit,
ÔAbdullŒh
bin
az-Zubayr,
SaÔeed
bin al-ÔAa§ and ÔAbdur-RaúmŒn
bin al-îŒrith
bin
HishŒm.
C
opies were
sent
to
each of
the
various
Islamic
territories
to
replace
all other collections in circulation. ÔUthmŒn kept a copy in Mad¥nah,and the original §uúufwere returned to îaf§ah. There is consensusby the §aúŒbahthat what is contained in this standard copy is the true revelation received by Muúammad()from AllŒh, the Exalted.
4.The mu§úafof
ÔUthmŒn
had
no
dots
or
vowel
marks,
as
they were
unnecessary
for
those
who
knew
the
pure
Arabic
tongue. With
the
spread
of
IslŒm
among
other
peoples,
there
arose
a need
to
guard
against
incorrect
reading
and
misinterpretation
of the QurÕŒn. At first, scholars were reluctant about these additions,but it was finally agreed that they did not affect the text itself and

ix
were
merely
aids
to
proper
pronunciation
and
understanding. They were introduced in three stages:
Short
vowel
sounds
were
first
represented
by
dots
positioned above,
below
and
to
the
left
of
the
letter.
T
his
system
was introduced during the caliphate of MuÔŒwiyah bin Ab¥ SufyŒnby
Abul-Aswad
ad-DuÕl¥
after
he
had
heard
serious
errors
in recitation of the QurÕŒn.
Similarly written letters were differentiated by another system of dots above and below them during the caliphate of ÔAbdul-Malik
bin
MarwŒn.
A
t
the
caliph's
order,
his
governor,
al-îajjŒj, appointed two scholars, Na§r bin Ô§imand îayy bin YaÔm´r, to implement this improvement.
The presently used system of short vowel symbols was devisedby
al-Khaleel
bin
Aúmad
al-FarŒheed¥
during
the
Abbasine period.

x
MERITS OF PARTICULAR SçRAHS
AND VERSES
1.Ab´ SaÔeed RŒfiÔ bin al-MuÔallŒsaid: "AllŒh's Messenger ()said,'Shall
I
not
teach
you
the
most
superior s´rahin
the
QurÕŒn before you leave the mosque?' He took me by the hand. When we were about to leave, I said, 'O Messenger of AllŒh, you said you
would
teach
me
the
most
superior s´rahin
the
QurÕŒn.' The
Prophet ()said, '"Praise
to
AllŒh,
Lord
of
the
worlds"[i.e., S´rah al-FŒtiúah]; it is the seven repeatedly recited verses and the magnificent QurÕŒn which was given to me.'" (Narrated by al-BukhŒr¥.)
2.Ibn ÔAbbŒs
narrated:
"
While
Gabriel
was
sitting
with
the Prophet(),he heard a creaking sound above him, and raising his head he said, 'This is a gate opened in Heaven today which has never been opened before.' Then when an angel descended through
it,
he
said,
'This
is
an
angel
that
came
down
to
earth who
has
never
come
down
before.'
H
e
gave
a
salutation
and said, 'Rejoice in two lights brought to you which have not been brought
to
any
prophet
before
you:
FŒtiúat
al-KitŒband
the last verses of S´rah al-Baqarah. You will not recite a letter of them
without
being
given
the
blessing
it
contains.'"
(Narrated by Muslim.)
3.Ab´
Hurayrah
narrated
that
the
Prophet ()said: