Virtues of the Qur'an

Ubayd Allah ibn Musa related to us, from Shayban, from Yahya, from Abu Salama, who said: Aisha and Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) informed me: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) remained in Mecca for ten years while the Quran was being revealed to him, and in Medina for ten years.

Musa ibn Ismail related to us; Mutamir related to us, saying: I heard my father, from Abu Uthman, who said: I was informed that Gabriel came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while Umm Salama was with him, and he began speaking. The Prophet said to Umm Salama, ‘Who is this?’—or words to that effect. She said, ‘This is Dihya.’ When he got up and left, she said, ‘By Allah, I thought he was none other than him until I heard the Prophet’s sermon, in which he told the story of Gabriel’—or words to that effect. My father said: I asked Abu Uthman, ‘From whom did you hear this?’ He said, ‘From Usama ibn Zayd.’

Abdullah ibn Yusuf related to us; al-Layth related to us; Said al-Maqburi related to us, from his father, from Abu Hurayra, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘There is no prophet except that he was given something like which people believed. What I was given is revelation that Allah revealed to me, and I hope to have the greatest number of followers on the Day of Resurrection.’

Amr ibn Muhammad related to us; Yaqub ibn Ibrahim related to us; my father related to us, from Salih ibn Kaysan, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) informed me that Allah Most High caused revelation to come upon His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) repeatedly until He took him in death; the period when the greatest amount of revelation came was before that. Then the Messenger of Allah died afterward.

Abu Nuaym related to us; Sufyan related to us, from al-Aswad ibn Qays, who said: I heard Jundub say: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fell ill and did not rise during the night for one or two nights. A woman came to him and said, ‘O Muhammad, I see that your devil has surely left you.’ Then Allah, Mighty and Majestic, revealed: ‘By the morning brightness, and by the night when it grows still: your Lord has neither forsaken you nor detested you.’

Abu al-Yaman related to us; Shuaib related to us, from al-Zuhri, who said: Anas ibn Malik informed me: Uthman instructed Zayd ibn Thabit, Said ibn al-As, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, and Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham to copy it into codices. He told them, ‘If you and Zayd ibn Thabit disagree about any Arabic expression of the Quran, write it in the language of Quraysh, for the Quran was revealed in their language.’ So they did.

Abu Nuaym related to us; Hammam related to us; Ata related to us. Musaddad also said: Yahya related to us, from Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ata informed me: Safwan ibn Yala ibn Umayya informed me that Yala used to say, ‘If only I could see the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when revelation comes down to him.’ When the Prophet was at al-Jiirrana, with a cloth shading him and some of his Companions with him, a man came heavily perfumed. He said, ‘Messenger of Allah, what do you say about a man who entered ihram wearing a tunic after dousing himself with perfume?’ The Prophet looked for a while, then revelation came to him. Umar gestured to Yala to come closer. Yala came and put his head in, and there he saw the Prophet’s face reddened as he breathed heavily for a while. Then he was relieved and said, ‘Where is the man who asked me just now about umra?’ The man was sought and brought to the Prophet, who said, ‘As for the perfume on you, wash it off three times. As for the tunic, remove it. Then do in your umra what you do in your hajj.’

Musa ibn Ismail related to us; from Ibrahim ibn Sad, from Ibn Shihab, from Ubayd ibn al-Sibaq: Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Abu Bakr summoned me after the people of al-Yamama had been killed, and Umar ibn al-Khattab was with him. Abu Bakr said: Umar came to me and said, ‘The killing of Quran reciters was severe at al-Yamama, and I fear that further heavy losses among the reciters in other places may cause much of the Quran to be lost. I think you should order that the Quran be gathered.’ I said to Umar, ‘How can you do something the Messenger of Allah did not do?’ Umar said, ‘By Allah, this is good.’ Umar kept urging me until Allah opened my heart to it, and I saw the wisdom in it that Umar had seen. Zayd said: Abu Bakr said to me, ‘You are a young, intelligent man, and we do not suspect you. You used to write revelation for the Messenger of Allah, so trace the Quran and gather it. By Allah, if they had charged me with moving a mountain, it would not have been heavier for me than what they commanded me to do: gathering the Quran.’ I said, ‘How can you do something the Messenger of Allah did not do?’ He said, ‘By Allah, it is good.’ Abu Bakr kept urging me until Allah opened my heart as He had opened the hearts of Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both). I then traced the Quran and gathered it from palm stalks, flat stones, and the memories of men, until I found the end of Surat al-Tawba with Abu Khuzayma al-Ansari. I had not found it with anyone else: ‘There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves; your suffering is grievous to him…’ through the end of Bara’a. The sheets remained with Abu Bakr until Allah took him, then with Umar throughout his life, then with Hafsa bint Umar (may Allah be pleased with her).

Musa related to us; Ibrahim related to us; Ibn Shihab related to us: Anas ibn Malik informed him that Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman came to Uthman while he was campaigning with the people of Syria to conquer Armenia and Azerbaijan, together with the people of Iraq. Differences in their recitation alarmed Hudhayfa, so he said to Uthman, ‘Commander of the Faithful, save this community before they differ over the Book as the Jews and Christians differed.’ Uthman sent word to Hafsa: ‘Send us the sheets so that we may copy them into codices, then return them to you.’ Hafsa sent them to Uthman. He ordered Zayd ibn Thabit, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, Said ibn al-As, and Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham to copy them into codices. Uthman told the three Qurayshi men, ‘If you and Zayd ibn Thabit disagree about anything in the Quran, write it in the language of Quraysh, for it was revealed in their language.’ They did so. When they had copied the sheets into codices, Uthman returned the sheets to Hafsa, sent a codex from their copies to every region, and ordered that all other Quranic material on any sheet or in any codex be burned.

Ibn Shihab said: Kharija ibn Zayd ibn Thabit informed me that he heard Zayd ibn Thabit say: While we were copying the codex, I missed a verse from al-Ahzab that I had heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recite. We searched for it and found it with Khuzayma ibn Thabit al-Ansari: ‘Among the believers are men who were true to the covenant they made with Allah.’ We inserted it into its surah in the codex.

Yahya ibn Bukayr related to us; al-Layth related to us, from Yunus, from Ibn Shihab, that Ibn al-Sibaq said: Zayd ibn Thabit said: Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) summoned me and said, ‘You used to write revelation for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so trace the Quran.’ I searched until I found the last two verses of Surat al-Tawba with Abu Khuzayma al-Ansari. I found them with no one else: ‘There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves; your suffering is grievous to him…’ through the end of the surah.

Ubayd Allah ibn Musa related to us, from Israil, from Abu Ishaq, from al-Bara, who said: When ‘Those believers who stay behind are not equal to those who strive in the path of Allah’ was revealed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘Call Zayd for me and let him bring the writing tablet and inkpot and shoulder blade—or the shoulder blade and inkpot.’ Then he said, ‘Write: “Those who stay behind are not equal…”’ Amr ibn Umm Maktum, who was blind, was behind the Prophet. He said, ‘Messenger of Allah, what do you command me, for I am blind?’ Then this phrase was revealed in its place: ‘Those believers who stay behind are not equal to those who strive in the path of Allah, except those with a disability.’

Said ibn Ufayr related to us; al-Layth related to me; Uqayl related to me, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Ubayd Allah ibn Abdullah related to me that Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) told him that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Gabriel recited to me in one ḥarf, and I asked him for more. I kept asking him for more, and he kept granting me more, until it reached seven aḥruf.’

Said ibn Ufayr related to us; al-Layth related to me; Uqayl related to me, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Urwa ibn al-Zubayr related to me that al-Miswar ibn Makhrama and Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari told him that they heard Umar ibn al-Khattab say: I heard Hisham ibn Hakim reciting Surat al-Furqan during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I listened to his recitation and found him reciting in many forms that the Messenger of Allah had not taught me. I nearly attacked him during the prayer, but I held myself back until he finished. Then I seized him by his cloak and said, ‘Who taught you this surah that I heard you reciting?’ He said, ‘The Messenger of Allah taught it to me.’ I said, ‘You have lied, for the Messenger of Allah taught it to me differently from the way you recited it.’ I took him by the hand to the Messenger of Allah and said, ‘I heard this man reciting Surat al-Furqan in forms you did not teach me.’ He said, ‘Release him. Recite, Hisham.’ He recited the way I had heard him. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘It was revealed this way.’ Then he said, ‘Recite, Umar.’ I recited the way he had taught me, and the Messenger of Allah said, ‘It was revealed this way. This Quran was revealed in seven aḥruf, so recite whatever of it is easy for you.’

Ibrahim ibn Musa related to us; Hisham ibn Yusuf informed us that Ibn Jurayj informed them. He also said: Yusuf ibn Mahak informed me: I was with Aisha, Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), when a man from Iraq came and asked her, ‘Which shroud is best?’ She said, ‘Woe to you! What difference does it make?’ He said, ‘Mother of the Believers, show me your codex.’ She asked, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Perhaps I will arrange the Quran according to it, since it is recited without being arranged.’ She said, ‘What difference does it make which part you read first? The first revelation from it was a surah from al-Mufassal, which mentioned Paradise and the Fire. When people had settled into Islam, the lawful and unlawful were revealed. If “Do not drink wine” had been the first revelation, they would have said, “We will never give up wine.” If “Do not commit fornication” had been revealed first, they would have said, “We will never give up fornication.” In Mecca, while I was still a young girl at play, this was revealed to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): “Rather, the Hour is their appointed time, and the Hour is more grievous and more bitter.” Surat al-Baqara and Surat al-Nisa were revealed while I was with him.’ He then brought out her codex, and she dictated to him the verses of the surahs.

Adam related to us; Shuba related to us, from Abu Ishaq, who said: I heard Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid say: I heard Ibn Masud say of Banu Israil, al-Kahf, Maryam, Ta Ha, and al-Anbiya: ‘They are among the ancient first ones, and they are among my inherited treasures.’

Abu al-Walid related to us; Shuba related to us; Abu Ishaq informed us; he said: I heard al-Bara (may Allah be pleased with him) say: I learned ‘Glorify the name of your Lord’ before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived.

Abdan related to us, from Abu Hamza, from al-Amash, from Shaqiq, who said: Abdullah said, ‘I know the paired surahs that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite two by two in each rakah.’ Abdullah stood up, and Alqama went in with him. When Alqama came out, we asked him. He said, ‘They are twenty surahs from the beginning of al-Mufassal, according to Ibn Masud’s arrangement. The last of them are the Hawamim, Ha Mim al-Dukhan, and “About what do they ask one another?”’

Yahya ibn Qazaa related to us; Ibrahim ibn Sad related to us, from al-Zuhri, from Ubayd Allah ibn Abdullah, from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was the most generous of people in doing good, and he was at his most generous in Ramadan, because Gabriel would meet him every night of Ramadan until it ended. The Messenger of Allah would present the Quran to him. When Gabriel met him, he was more generous in doing good than a freely blowing wind.