Compilation Of The Qur’an In The Prophet's Time

The first step taken by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) for the  preservation of the Qur’an was the order that the Qur’an should be learned from an authorized teacher; the second was to preserve it in writing so that one could refresh one's memory in case one forgot; and the third was to commit the Qur’an to memory. A difficulty arose in carrying out the three directives in that the entire Qur’an, as we have already pointed out, was not revealed at one time. It was revealed gradually over a period of twenty-three years. And the Prophet (Peace be upon him) did not compile it mechanically in the chronological order of revelation. It was compiled under the direction of revelation and Prophetic wisdom.

The first five verses of the surah al-'Alaq are the first in order of revelation, but they appear in the ninety-sixth chapter (the total number of the Qura’nic chapters being 114). The chapters which appear in the beginning of the Qur’an were revealed in Madinah after the Migration. In other words, the Qur’an was not compiled in chronological order but followed another pattern.

A few difficulties could arise on this score. For example, a chapter which is revealed [one] day is assigned a particular place by the Prophet (Peace be upon him). Another is revealed the next day and the Prophet (Peace be upon him) directed that it should be written before or after a particular chapter.

It was necessary, therefore, to conduct periodic checks on that account. We come across instances of correction and revision of personal manuscripts after the Migration. There is a tradition that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to repeat aloud the whole Qur’an, (i.e. revealed till that year), during the month of Ramadan. The Companions who could read and write would bring along their personal manuscripts and would compare them with the recited version of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) so that they could correct the mistakes in the text, if any, and check the proper order of the chapters. This practice was called 'ardah, which means ‘presentation.’ Historians (Imam Bukhari, for example), have clearly recorded that in the last year of his life, a few months before his death, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) read out the complete text of the Qur'an twice during the month of Ramadan. He declared that his end was approaching and that he had been directed by Gabriel to recite the Qur'an twice so that people could correct mistakes of writing, if any.

This is how the last Divine Message given to the Last Prophet (Peace be upon him) was preserved for posterity. This is how Providence provided us with the authentic text of the Holy Qur’an.