A critical analysis of the Modernists and the Hadeeth ... - Islam House

preserve it. The enormously significant task was given to Zayd ibn
Thaabit �who
began to collect the Qur'aan from what was written on
palm stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it by
heart.
Zayd ibn Thaabit, despite being a memorizer of the Qur'aan
himself, was methodical in his compilation and would not agree to
write down any verse until two of the Sahabah testified that they had
heard it from the Messenger of Allah �.
In this manner, the entire
Qur'aan was verified and written on leather, and remained with Abu
Bakr until his death and then with Umar until the end of his life, and
then with Hafsah the daughter of Umar and the wife of the Prophet �.
At the time of Uthmaan ibn Affan, the Islamic empire had
spread far and wide and people were being taught to recite the
Qur'aan in seven different dialects (the Qur'aan was revealed in seven
dialects). This began to cause confusion in far off provinces, and a
decision was taken to make an official standardized copy from the
manuscript of Abu Bakr and limit the people to its recitation.
More copies were made from this copy known as 'Mushaf
Uthmaan,' and sent to different parts of the Islamic empire. This
Mushaf was unpointed (i.e., it had no diacritical marks). The addition
of diacritical marks to the Mushaf happened in the era of Abd al-Malik
ibn Marwaan to ease recitation.
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