ulum-al-quran

'... this is indeed a Qur'an most honourable, in a book (kitab) well guarded, which none shall
touch but those who are clean: a revelation from the Lord of the worlds' (56: 77-80).
The same fact, i.e. that the Qur'an did exist as a written document in the lifetime of the Prophet is proved by the
following ahadith:
From Ibn 'Umar: ... 'The messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: "Do not take the Qur'an on a
journey with you, for I am afraid lest it should fall into the hands of the enemy". [Muslim, III, No. 4609,
also 4607, 4608; Bukhari, IV, No. 233.]
The correctness of the assumption that the reference is to a written document is supported by one of the transmitters:
Ayyub (i. e. one of the narrators in the chain of transmission of this report) said: The enemy may seize it and may quarrel
with you over it. [Muslim, III, No. 4609.]
Furthermore, the chapter-heading used by Bukhan for the section, (which usually contains additional information,)
explains:
'Ibn 'Umar said: No doubt the Prophet and his Companions travelled in the land of the enemy and they
knew the Qur'an then.' [i.e. they knew that the Quran was carried - as a scripture - by the Muslims.
Bukhan, IV, p. 146, Ch. 129.]
Collection of Revelation during the Prophet's Lifetime
During his last pilgrimage, at the sermon which he gave to the large gathering of Muslims, the Prophet said: 'I have left
with you something which if you will hold fast to it you will never fall into error- a plain indication, the book of God and
the practice of his prophet. [Ibn Hisham, p. 651.]
This advice from the Prophet to the Muslims implies that the revelation was available as kitab (writing) before his death,
for otherwise he would have referred to it in some other term.
From other reports also, we can conclude that the Prophet himself took care of the actual arrangement of the revelation,
when it was written down.
Zaid is reported to have said:
'We used to compile the Qur'an from small scraps in the presence of the Apostle.' [Itqan, I, p. 99; Salih,
p.69.]
'Uthman said, that in later days, the Prophet 'used to, when something was revealed to him, call someone from among
those who used to write for him and said: Place these ayat in the sura, in which this and this is mentioned, and when
(only) one aya was revealed to him, he said: Place this aya in the sura in which this and this is mentioned'. [Jeffery, A.:
Materials for the history of the text of the qura'n, (incl. Kitab al-masahif by Ibn Abi Dawud (abbr. as Ibn Abi Dawud,
masahif) Leiden, 1937, p. 31.]
This indicates that not only was the revelation written down during the lifetime of the Prophet, but that he himself gave
instructions for the arrangement of the material. According to some other reports, it is also clear, that this proper
arrangement and order of the ayat was well known to the Companions of the Prophet, and they were not prepared to
tamper with it.
'Narrated Ibn Az-Zubair: I said to 'Uthman "This verse which is in Sura al-Baqara: 'those of you who die
and leave wives behind ... without turning them out' has been abrogated by another verse. Why then do
you write it in the Qur'an" 'Uthman said: Leave it (where it is) O son of my brother, for I will not shift
anything of it (i . e. the Qur'an) from its original position.' [Bukhari, VI. No. 60.]
Similarly quite a number of reports mention the various Suras by their names or beginnings. Two examples may suffice to
make this point:
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet used to recite the following in the Fajr prayer of Friday: Alif Lam Mim
Tanzil (Sajda) (32) and Hal-ata 'ala-l-Insani (al-dahr) (76). [Bukhari, II, No. 16.]
Abu Huraira said: God's messenger recited in both rak'as of the dawn prayer: "Say O unbelievers (99)
and Say, He is God, one God (112).' [Robson, J. (transl.): Mishkat al Masabih, Lahore, 1963, I, pp. 172-3
- Tabrizi: Mishkatal-masabih, Beirut, 1961, I, No. 842.]