21/05/2025
The foundation of the pillars of Islam is based on the sacred revelation, a portion of which is obligatory to recite in the daily prayers. In some parts of the prayer, the recitation of this sacred revelation is obligatory, and in others, it is Sunnah. From the earliest times, there has been a consensus among Muslims on this, and they derived their religious rulings from this sacred revelation.
Due to this need (for prayer), every Muslim in the early days of Islam would memorize some portion of the Qur'an, considering it a precious treasure of their life. For the Arabsâwho were accustomed, even during the pre-Islamic era, to memorizing poetry, genealogies, and traditionsâmemorizing the verses of the Qur'an was even easier. However, despite this extraordinary memory capacity of the Arabs, we cannot accept that the Qur'an remained preserved solely due to this one faculty. Rather, we have clear evidence showing that many of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had written down the various chapters of the Qur'an during his lifetime, and these collections contained nearly the entire Qur'an.
This is clear proof that the Qur'anic verses and chapters memorized by Muslims were also being documented in written form. It is also established that when people from the Bedouin tribes embraced Islam, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) would send one or more of his companions to guide and educate them. It is also proven that these missionaries carried written documents that included portions of the Qur'an. The Qur'an itself affirms its documentation, and the books of Seerah (biographies of the Prophet) also support this. For instance, in the story of the conversion of Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), it is mentioned that a written copy of Surah Ta-Ha was in the possession of his sister.
During the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the Qur'an existed both in the hearts of those who had memorized it and in various written fragments. How, then, can one believe that there was any discrepancy between these two forms (memorization and writing)? Especially when the Qur'an was the most precious asset of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and Muslims regarded it as the word of God during his lifetime. If anyone had any doubt about its text, they would immediately refer the matter to the Prophet himself.