Preservation of the Quran P2

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

After the death of Prophet (sal) in 632 CE many groups rebelled against Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. There were some people who refused to pay Zakah to any one other than the prophet (sal). And these people were joined by the hypocrites. Further, the 3rd category consisted of the false prophets and prophetess like Tulayha, Musailimah and Sajjah who tried to change the laws of Islam. Actions were taken against these groups through a series of wars called Riddah (aka wars of Apostasy-(Arabic: حروب الردة)) . 
Note : The wars included the battle of Yamama that was fought against the army of the false prophet Musaylima.

During these wars many of those who has memorized the Quran were martyred. Umar (R) realized that the Quran has to be preserved for the  future generation as eventually all those who had memorized the Quran will die either by martyrdom in battles or naturally. So he suggested to Abu Bakr (R) who was the caliph at that time to compile the Quran into 1 volume. Initially he was hesitant as he feared he was bringing something new to the religion but later after some persuasion from Umar(R) he realized that it would only be completing something that was already started by the prophet and not adding anything new as many parts were already  written down during the prophet's time.

A committee was formed under the leadership of Zaid Ibn Thabith (R). Initially he too refused for the same reasons put forward by Abu Bakr (R) . And he was reported to have said that he would have felt easier to carry a mountain on his shoulder than to undertake such a great responsibility. However, later he realized that Umar(R) was right. Now one might wonder as to why Zaid (R) was chosen for this task out of all the other companions . And the reason for choosing him are as follows:

• He was one of the few who had memorized the entire Quran during the lifetime of prophet.
• He was one of the best reciters.
• He was one of those who the prophet had asked to write down the Quran.
• He was one of the few who was present when prophet recited the whole Quran during the last Ramadhan of prophet's life.

The committee also comprised of around 20-25 other companions who had memorized the Quran. Great care was taken when compiling the Quran. After continuous checking , rechecking and several verification the compilation was finally complete.

This script was kept with the Caliph Abu Bakr untill he died. Then it was transferred to the 2nd caliph Umar(R) who kept it with him until he passed away. It was then turned over to his daughter Hafsa (R) who was also a widow of prophet(sal). This copy of Quran came to be known as Mushaf al Hafsa. She kept it with her in Madina and made it available for anyone who wanted to refer to it.