Modernists And Hadith Rejecters by Sajid A. Kayum

of the
Allah says, "He, it is Who, sent among the unlettered ones a
Messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves."
Munafiqun (63): 2]
[Soorah al-
Being mostly unlettered, the primary mode by which the
Arabs preserved their knowledge like poetry and history was by
memorization. When the Qur'aan was revealed it too, was memorized
by the Sahabah and in addition some of the sahabah were assigned by
the Prophet rto write down the Qur'aan.
At the time of the Prophet's death r, all of the Qur'aan had
been verified and written on various materials like cloth, stone, datepalm
leaves, etc., and remained scattered as loose fragments in the
possession of various Sahabah.
It had not been compiled in the form of a book because during
the lifetime of the Prophet r the Qur'aan was continually being
revealed, and the order of the verses is not chronological. There was
also no pressing need for it because of the large number of accurate
memorizers and reciters of the Qur'aan.
During the Caliphate of Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq, many
memorizers of the Qur'aan were killed in battles and a collective
decision was taken to compile the Qur'aan in a single book in order to
- 95 -