The First Codex: Abu Bakr’s Compilation of the Qur’an
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Introduction
How exactly did the Qur’an come to be preserved in writing? The Islamic tradition provides a considerably detailed narrative of the Qur’an’s textual preservation. The Qur’an was written down by scribes during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ on various materials. It was the first caliph of Islam, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (rA, d. 13/634, r. 11-13/632-634) who compiled the earliest complete official codex of the Qur’an, according to the traditional narrative found in canonical hadith sources.
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Despite this, for a variety of reasons, the compilation of Abū Bakr remains understudied as considerably greater academic attention has been paid to the codices assembled by the third caliph, ʿUthmān b. ibn ʿAffān (rA, d. 35/656, r. 23-35/644-656). Yet, Abū Bakr’s compilation was a major event in the history of the Qur’an’s preservation. It brought together all the written fragments on which the Qur’an was previously written during the Prophet’s lifetime in order to produce a single official unified compilation. The present article analyzes what the hadith literature and historical sources tell us about the nature of this compilation, the reasons and circumstances that led to it, the process by which it was compiled, and some of the scholarly differences of opinion concerning it. Through examining these narratives, a clear picture emerges as to the precision and meticulous detail with which the Qur’an has been preserved.
The initial challenge confronting researchers is that there is considerably more information available for the codices compiled by the third Muslim Caliph, ʿUthmān, in comparison to Abū Bakr’s compilation. For the ʿUthmānic codices, a list has been recorded in the Islamic tradition of approximately forty total differences between the codices and this can be correlated precisely with the surviving material evidence in the form of Qur’anic manuscripts.
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With respect to the compilation of Abū Bakr, there was only a single codex and no reports concerning variant readings. There are no data that can be used to analyze manuscripts in relation to Abū Bakr’s compilation. The task of a historian interested in Abū Bakr’s compilation is therefore largely confined to analyzing the content of narrations recorded in the works of hadith, Qur’anic sciences, and Islamic history, as well as the discussions of Muslim scholars. Nonetheless, the historicity of Abū Bakr’s compilation may also be argued for on the basis of considerations beyond these literary sources.
Given the Qur’an’s centrality in the spreading and teaching of Islam, it would be highly improbable for Muslims to forgo having any official written copy of the Qur’an during the reigns of Abū Bakr (r. 11-13/632-634) and ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (rA, d. 24/644, r. 13-24/634-644).
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Given that congregational night prayers in Ramadan became organized and regularly practiced under the reign of ʿUmar, the presence of an authoritative written copy of the Qur’an could potentially be viewed as a prerequisite. Moreover, the efficiency with which the ʿUthmānic codices were produced with minimal variation and rapidly disseminated throughout the Muslim world is better accounted for if the companions were already familiar with the process of producing a codex, having undertaken the process during Abū Bakr’s reign. That the ʿUthmānic codex was based upon, or verified with, Abū Bakr’s codex would also boost its authority, one of many factors in its widespread acceptance. Taken collectively, the historical factors lend credence to the account presented in the Islamic literary sources concerning the historicity of Abū Bakr’s compilation, as shall be detailed below.
11In addition to the canonical hadith literature, there are quite a few additional historical sources at our disposal that mention Abū Bakr’s compilation. These include Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām (d. 224/838), Ibn Saʿd (d. 230/845),
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al-Fasawī (d. 277/890),
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al-Yaʿqūbī (d. 284/897),
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Baḥshal (d. 292/905),
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and Ibn Abī Dāwūd (d.316/928),
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in addition to numerous authorities from later centuries. While individual historical reports must be treated with caution, elements that are attested across sources can be taken with greater confidence. These sources collectively provide details that corroborate and elaborate on the accounts found in the primary hadith literature. Harald Motzki has noted that most Western academics do not accept the historicity of Abū Bakr’s compilation because of skepticism concerning the details of such accounts.
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However, on closer scrutiny many of these objections appear unfounded. Rather, a close reading of the Islamic sources alongside the elaborations provided by Muslim scholars allows one to reconstruct a coherent account that resolves the perceived discrepancies. These objections will be discussed under the circumstances preceding the compilation. Moreover, reports transmitted from Ibn Shihāb al-Zuḥrī (d. 124/742) which provide a detailed account of Abū Bakr’s compilation were shown by Motzki to reliably date back to the first Islamic century using an isnād-cum-matn analysis. He concludes that claims in Western scholarship that the compilation of Abū Bakr was a later fabrication can therefore be dismissed as untenable. Furthermore, a review of hadith reports on the subject demonstrates that, in addition to the famous account from Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī–ʿUbayd b. Sabbāq–Zayd b. Thābit, narrations on Abū Bakr’s compilation have also been transmitted through independent chains, including Ibn Abī al-Zinād–Hishām b. ʿUrwah–ʿUrwah b. al-Zubayr and al-Suddī–ʿAbd Khayr–ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (rA), among others.
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The contents of these accounts and reports will be analyzed below. Given the existence of mutually corroborating independent reliable chains of transmission for reports that describe Abū Bakr’s compilation, as well as the ability to reconcile any perceived discrepancies between such reports, the historicity of Abū Bakr’s compilation can be confidently established.
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He concludes that claims in Western scholarship that the compilation of Abū Bakr was a later fabrication can therefore be dismissed as untenable. Furthermore, a review of hadith reports on the subject demonstrates that, in addition to the famous account from Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī–ʿUbayd b. Sabbāq–Zayd The contents of these accounts and reports will be analyzed below. Given the existence of mutually corroborating independent reliable chains of transmission for reports that describe Abū Bakr’s compilation, as well as the ability to reconcile any perceived discrepancies between such reports, the historicity of Abū Bakr’s compilation can be confidently established
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