The Qur'an

Prophet Muhammad reportedly received his first revelation in the year 610 CE. Thereafter, revelations continued on an episodic basis until the close of his life in 632 CE. As such, the Qur'an can be said to have an earthly birth during the years 610 through 632 CE. Throughout these 22 years, the companions of Prophet Muhammad listened to his recitations of the revelations, memorized them, and wrote them down on stones, palm leaves, and whatever other writing surface on which they could lay their hands. Those companions who successfully memorized the entire Qur'an were known as Hafez.

Upon the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE, Abu Bakr was chosen as the first Caliph of Islam. Approximately a year later, i.e., circa 633 CE, Abu Bakr appointed Zayd ibn Thabit to produce a written copy of the entire Qur'an, as revealed to Prophet Muhammad by Allah. Zayd ibn Thabit, himself a Hafez, and one who had served as the principle secretary to the Prophet, produced a complete copy of the Qur'an just about a year after the demise of the Prophet. Zayd completed this task by using: his own memorization of the entire set of revelations, as well as those of other Hafez:, and the available written fragments of the revelations.

This single, authenticated copy of the Qur'an was preserved dearly by Abu Bakr until his death in 634 CE. Soon thereafter, the possession passed to 'Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second Caliph of Islam. 'Umar entrusted this copy of the Qur'an to his daughter, Hafsah, who was one of the widows of Prophet Muhammad. After 'Umar's death in 644 CE, the third Caliph of Islam, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, directed Zayd ibn Thabit to utilize the copy of the Qur'an that had been entrusted to Hafsah, and to make a final recension of the Qur'an. This final recension consisted primarily of standardizing minor differences in dialect among the various Arab-speaking Muslims of the time.

Within the Qur'an, there are divisions into Surat (chapters) and Ayat (signs or verses). Further, with some degree of accuracy, one can separate the Qur'an into earlier revelations and later revelations, into revelations received at Makkah and revelations received at Madinah, and into content areas such as sacred history, community rules and laws, and instruction on the proper belief in and worship of Allah. Nonetheless, the Qur'an remains a single, unitary book of revelation, i.e., a verbatim recording of Muhammad's recitation of the revelations he received. 

It is thus clear that the Qur'an is a single document, representing a single source, which is dependent only on the revelations received by Muhammad. There has been no cut-and-paste compiling, layering of diverse material from different times, or editorial re-writes or redactionistic revisions of the Qur'an. In this regard, the provenance of the Qur'an as tracing solely to the Prophet Muhammad is historically indisputable. Whether or not Muhammad's statements of received revelation are seen by contemporary readers as being divine revelations from Allah through Jibril is a religious verdict. However, the strictly historical verdict is unambiguously clear. The provenance of the Qur'an traces only to Prophet Muhammad.

A sharp distinction needs to be made between the sayings of Muhammad, whether on religious or non-religious issues and his recitation of the revelations he received. The former are Ahadith, while the latter is the Qur'an. Within Islam, only the Qur'an has the status of canonical scripture. However, as a source of religious information and instruction, Muslims rank the Ahadith of Muhammad as second in authority only to the Qur'an. If the Qur'an is a Muslim's primary textbook for the final examination of life, the Ahadith, on the other hand, represent the practical, supplemental reading, which may well help make the difference between passing and failing that all important examination.

Each Hadith is comprised of two parts: an Isnad, and a Matn (i.e., narrative). The Isnad consists of a complete listing of the narrators of the Hadith, and is an attestation as to the provenance of the Hadith. As a hypothetical example, an Isnad might state that the written recorder of the Hadith received the narration from X, who received it from Y, who received it from Z that the Prophet Muhammad said... No Hadith is accepted as authoritative without a complete and unbroken Isnad. Furthermore, each Isnad is minutely examined in order to make sure: that X actually met Y; that Y actually met Z; that Z actually met the Prophet Muhammad; that X, Y, and Z had excellent memory skills; and that X, Y, and Z were individuals of high moral character and religious repute. Only if the Isnad passes this rigorous test is the Hadith accepted as authoritative. 

The second part of the Hadith consists of the Matn or narrative content of what the Prophet Muhammad reportedly said or did. This narrative content is also minutely examined to assure consistency with the Qur'an, and compliance with other, already verified, Ahadith. Assuming that the Hadith has already passed muster in regard to an examination of its Isnad, it is still not accepted as authoritative unless this narrative examination is also satisfactorily cleared. 

Summary

Islam makes a sharp distinction between its canonical scripture, i.e., the Qur'an, and its supplementary books of religious instruction, i.e., the Ahadith. The Qur'an is primary, the Ahadith are secondary, but both are religiously authoritative. 

In regard to the structural composition of the Qur'an, it is a single, unitary document, which was revealed over a time span of about 22 years between 610 and 632 CE. As stated earlier, there is no cut-and-paste composition, no layering, and no editorial redaction. It has a single source, and a complete, unbroken, and unambiguous provenance back to the Prophet Muhammad. Furthermore, it was compiled into a single, written document within one year of the death of the person who had originally received the revelations, viz., Prophet Muhammad. No variant versions of the Qur'an exist, resulting in the time interval between revelation and "final" compilation being the same. (The 'Uthman recension of the Qur'an merely standardized dialectic differences, and the chain of possession of the Qur'an reiterates the fact that the first compilation of the Qur'an also happens to be its last compilation.) The short time interval between revelation and the first compilation of the Qur'an, and the care exercised by Zayd ibn Thabit and other Hafez involved in producing the complete written text, make it amply clear that there is complete and unbroken provenance between the original revelation and the initial compilation of the Qur'an. Further, as the first compilation of the Qur'an was also its last, the provenance of this book is totally complete and indisputably unbroken.