Compiling the Qur’an after the martyrdoms of Yamamah
During the era of Hazrat Abu Bakr’s (ra) Khilafat, 70 Huffaz-e-Quran [those who had committed the entire Quran to memory] were martyred during the Battle of Yamamah. In regard to this, Hazrat Zaid (ra) bin Thabit Ansari relates that upon the martyrdom of the Muslims at Yamamah, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) called for him. At the time, Hazrat Umar (ra) was with Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra). Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) stated, “Umar has come to me and informed me that many people have been martyred in the Battle of Yamamah. He has expressed his concern lest more qaris [reciters of the Holy Quran] pass away owing to the battles and in this way, a large part of the Holy Quran will be lost, unless we collate all the manuscripts of the Quran in one place. He suggests that I should gather these various manuscripts in one place.”
Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) then stated, “I told Umar that how can I do something which the Holy Prophet (sa) did not do himself. However, Umar (ra) has stated, ‘By Allah, this action of yours is a very noble deed.’ Umar continuously said this to me until Allah the Almighty granted my heart contentment to carry out this work and now I deem what Umar said to be the most appropriate course of action.” At the time, Hazrat Umar (ra) was sat next to him and was completely silent. Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) then said to Hazrat Zaid (ra) bin Thabit, “You are a very young and wise man. We do not find any ill in you. You used to write down the revelations that the Holy Prophet (sa) would receive, therefore wherever you find the manuscripts of the Holy Quran, you should gather them in one place.”
Hazrat Zaid (ra) bin Thabit stated, “By Allah, if he had asked me to move a mountain from one place to another, I would have found that easier than this task which he had commanded me to carry out, in other words, to collate the various manuscripts of the Holy Qur’an. I then said to them, ‘How can you two carry out such a task which the Holy Prophet (sa) did not do himself?’ Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) replied, ‘By Allah, this is a noble deed.’”
Hazrat Zaid (ra) bin Thabit stated, “I kept asking them this question until Allah the Almighty granted my heart contentment to carry out this task as he had granted to Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and Hazrat Umar (ra). I then stood up to go and search for the various manuscripts of the Holy Quran. I then began to gather these which were inscribed on parchments made from animal skin, the shoulder bones of the animals and the branches of the date palm trees as well as that which was memorised by the people. There were two verses of Surah al-Taubah which I only found with Hazrat Huzaimah Ansari (ra) and no one else had these verses with them. These verses are as follows:
لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُوْلٌ مِّنْ اَنْفُسِكُمْ عَزِيْزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيْصٌ عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ رَءُوْفٌ رَّحِيْمٌ
“Surely, a Messenger has come unto you from among yourselves; grievous to him is that you should fall into trouble; he is ardently desirous of your welfare and to the believers he is compassionate and merciful.”
(Ch.9: V.128)
In this narration, only this verse has been written; however, the hadith mentions that there were two verses, perhaps the other verse was the one that follows after this verse.
It is mentioned that these manuscripts of the entire Quran remained in the possession of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) until his demise and then they were in the possession of Hazrat Umar (ra) until his demise, they were then in the possession of Hazrat Hafsah (ra) bint Umar and then given to Hazrat Usman (ra) as mentioned once before.
(Sahih Bukhari, Kitab Al-Tafsir, Hadith no. 4679)