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The Quran is the backbone of Islam. On this Sacred Book of Allaah depends the Islamic call, state, society and the civilisation of the Muslim world. It is the last Divine revelation, which was sent down to Prophet Muhammad 
, the last and final of all Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention.
His task was to convey the message of worshipping the One God, Allaah,
without ascribing any partners to Him. The Noble Quran, which is the
source of guidance and mercy to mankind, is divided into one hundred
and fourteen (114) Soorahs (chapters) of varying lengths. Ninety-three
chapters were revealed in Makkah, while the remaining twenty-one were
revealed in Madeenah. The first revelation that
the Prophet 
received was Soorat Al-'Alaq, which was in Makkah where Soorat An-Najm
was to later became the first to be recited openly to the people. In
Madeenah, Soorat Al-Mutaffifeen was the first one revealed after the
Hijrah (migration). The Prophet 
had to flee to Madeenah to save his own life and the lives of his
followers, upon the command of Allaah. The last verse
sent down to the Prophet 
was the saying of Allaah which means: “…This day I have perfected for
you your religion and completed My favour upon you and have approved
for you Islam as religion...” [Quran: 5:3] Some
chapters in the Quran focus on the call to Islam as guidance for
humanity. They focus upon monotheism and the fight against polytheism
and idolatry. Thus, stress is laid on all that is related to faith. In
other chapters, attention is given to legislation, acts of worship,
relationships among people and the laws that regulate matters within
the Muslim community, government, and family. A
number of chapters inform about Resurrection, the Hereafter and the
unseen; others relate the stories of various prophets and their calls
to their people to return to Allaah. We see how the previous nations
were severely punished when they disobeyed Allaah and denied the
messages of previous prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention.
In addition, several chapters focus on the story of
creation and the development of human life. In fact, Makkan revelations
made the Muslims' faith in Allaah firmly established. On the other
hand, Madeenan revelations were meant to translate the faith into action
and give details of the Divine Law. Allaah will
forever preserve the Quran against all attempts to destroy or corrupt
it. Being guarded by Allaah, it will always remain pure. There does
not exist a single copy with any variation from the recognised text.
Any attempt of alteration has resulted in failure.
Upon the command of the Prophet 
his Companions would write down what was revealed of the Noble Quran.
They used, for this purpose, palm branches stripped of leaves,
parchments, shoulder bones, stone tablets, etc. About forty people were
involved in this task. Among them was Zayd Ibn Thaabit  who showed his work to the Prophet  .
Thus, the Quran was correctly arranged during the Prophet’s life, but
it was not yet compiled into one book. In the meantime, most of the
Prophet’s Companions memorised the Quran. When Abu
Bakr  became Caliph after the Prophet  died, a large number of the Companions were killed during the War of Apostasy. 'Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab 
went to the Caliph and discussed the idea of compiling the Quran into
one volume. He was disturbed, as most of those who memorised it had
died. Then, Abu Bakr 
called for Zayd and commissioned him to collect the Quran into one
book, which became known as the 'Mus-haf.' After Zayd
 accomplished this great task and organized the Quran into one book, he submitted the precious collection to Abu Bakr  who kept it in his possession until the end of his life. During the caliphate of 'Umar  it was kept with his daughter Hafsah  who was also a wife of the Prophet  . During the Caliphate of 'Uthmaan  Islam reached many countries, and readers began to recite the Quran in different ways (dialects). 'Uthmaan 
then had various copies made and sent them out to the different Muslim
lands, lest these dialects would cause alterations to the Quran, and
kept the original copy with Hafsah  .
Thus, the Quran remained preserved and the Caliph was very much pleased
with his achievement. Today, every copy of the Quran
conforms with the standard copy of 'Uthmaan  .
In fact, Muslims over the ages excelled in producing the best
manuscripts of the Noble Quran in the most wonderful handwriting. With
the introduction of printing, more and more editions of the Noble Quran
became available all over the world... |
