*Compilation of the Qur’an*


After Hazrat Umar, Hazrat Uthman was elected Caliph. During his time, Armenia and Azerbaijan were conquered. On the occasion of this battle, Hazrat Hudhayfah bin Yaman saw people reciting the Qur’an in different ways and dialects. He feared that differences might arise in the Qur’an. So he came to Hazrat Uthman and said: “O Amir al-Mu’minin, before this Muslim Ummah falls into disagreement about the Book of Allah like the Jews and Christians did, you should take care of it.” 


So Hazrat Uthman sent his representative to Hazrat Hafsah saying: “Send me the Qur’an that is with you. We will prepare many copies from it, and we will return your copy to you.” Hazrat Hafsah sent that copy of the Qur’an. 


Hazrat Uthman formed a committee of four men to prepare further copies of the Qur’an. The members of that committee were: 

1. Hazrat Zayd bin Thabit 

2. Hazrat Abdullah bin Zubair 

3. Hazrat Sa’id bin al-As 

4. Hazrat Abdur-Rahman bin Harith 


Hazrat Zayd bin Thabit was an Ansari, and the other three were Qurayshi, meaning Muhajireen. Hazrat Uthman told those three Qurayshi companions: “If there is any disagreement between you and Zayd bin Thabit on any part of the Qur’an, then write it according to the dialect of the Quraysh, because the Qur’an was revealed in their language.” 


The companions prepared copies of the Qur’an according to Hazrat Uthman’s instructions. Hazrat Uthman returned Hazrat Hafsah’s copy, and sent the remaining copies to all the Islamic provinces. And he ordered his governors that recitation of the Qur’an should be done according to that copy only. If anyone had any other copy of the Qur’an besides this one, it should be burned.


From this narration, five things become known: 


First: Hazrat Uthman did not order the collection and arrangement of the Qur’an like Hazrat Abu Bakr did, but rather he ordered it to be copied.


Second: In the Qur’an that was compiled by Hazrat Abu Bakr’s order, there was no restriction to only the dialect of Quraysh. And it is understandable that even with one language, dialects can differ. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The Qur’an was revealed in seven dialects.” But to leave no room for disagreement, Hazrat Uthman ordered the Qur’an to be written according to the language of Quraysh, because the Prophet (peace be upon him) belonged to that tribe. Meaning, Hazrat Uthman had the Qur’an written according to the dialect of Muhammad (peace be upon him).


Third: Even though the Qur’an had already been collected in one place before Hazrat Uthman, people used to recite the Qur’an according to their own memory and their own written notes, and there was no uniform order among them, as is known from a narration of Hazrat Aisha.


Fourth: Hazrat Uthman ordered all the written notes up to that time to be burned so that the people would have consensus on one Qur’an. Burning old copies to save the Qur’an from disrespect is not disrespect to the Qur’an, as common people think — rather, it is protection of the Qur’an.


Fifth: Hazrat Uthman had the copies of the Qur’an prepared according to a specific script that was used at that time. This is called “Rasm Uthmani,” and it is still followed today.


In summary, the collection and arrangement of the Noble Qur’an had three stages: 

1. The first arrangement was in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) — it was only written down, but not gathered in one place. 

2. The second arrangement was in the era of Hazrat Abu Bakr — all the writings were gathered in one place. 

3. The third arrangement was in the period of Hazrat Uthman — it was gathered in one place and in one dialect. 


After that, in the time of Hazrat Ali, Abul Aswad, the Qadi of Basra, formulated the grammatical and morphological rules for the Qur’an. Then, by the order of Hajjaj bin Yusuf, Nasr bin Asim al-Laythi put dots on the Qur’anic words. Before that, dots were not placed on letters in writing.

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