Although it was safe to forge anything that was not part of it, and although Zaid ibn Thabit, who compiled it, and other Companions had memorized the Qur’an, they followed a precise and careful approach in collecting the Qur’an during the time of Abu Bakr.

This helped protect the Qur’an from all the suspicion of fabrication and forgery that befell other texts.

This approach can be summarized in the following points.

Everyone who received something from the Qur’an from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had to bring it to Zaid ibn Thabit and those with him.

“Whoever received something from the Messenger of Allah from the Qur’an, let him bring it to us.”

They wrote that on scrolls, tablets, and palm leaves, and he would not accept anything from anyone until two witnesses testified to it.

Nothing would be accepted from anyone until two witnesses testified to it. Meaning: he was not satisfied with merely finding something written down until two witnesses testified to it.

“Sit at the door of the mosque, and whoever brings you two witnesses to something from the Book of Allah, write it down.”

What is meant is that they testify that what was written was written in the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, or what is meant is that they testify that this is one of the ways in which the Qur’an was revealed.

It seems that what is meant by the two witnesses is memorization and writing.

Then he mentioned the possibility of the first two aspects.

Or what is meant is that they testify that this is something that was presented to the Prophet ﷺ in the year of his death.

This is because the Qur’an was memorized in the hearts of many of the Companions, so if they wanted testimony to its memorization, they would have found dozens.

What was brought was written in the pages.

“The pages in which the Qur’an was collected were with Abu Bakr until God took his soul, then with Umar until God took his soul, then with Hafsa bint Umar.”

“Abu Bakr collected the Qur’an on papers.”

“When the Muslims were afflicted in Yamamah, Abu Bakr was alarmed and feared that a portion of the Qur’an would be lost, so the people came with what they had and had with them, until it was collected on paper during the time of Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr was the first to collect the Qur’an on pages.”

Nothing that was brought would be accepted except what fulfilled the following conditions.

It had to be written in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, not merely from memory, with exaggeration in memorization and adherence to this condition.

“Their aim was that nothing should be written except from what was written in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, not merely from memory.”

It had to be from what was proven to have been presented to the Prophet ﷺ in the year of his death, meaning in the final presentation.

The possibility of the testimony that what was written was among what was presented in the final presentation has been mentioned recently.

“When Uthman wanted to write the copies of the Qur’an, he gathered twelve men from the Quraysh and the Ansar, among them Ubayy ibn Ka’b and Zayd ibn Thabit.

He said: So they sent for the four who were in Umar’s house, and they were brought.

He said: Uthman used to look after them, and if they disputed about something, they would delay it.

Muhammad said: So I said to Katheer — who was among those who were writing: Do you know why they delayed it?

He said: No.

Muhammad said: I thought that they were only delaying it to look for the one who had the most recent experience with the final presentation, so that they could write it according to what he said.”

The verses were written in their surahs in the order and precision that the Muslims received from the Prophet ﷺ.

All the previous controls were strictly adhered to in this collection, to the extent that it was narrated that Umar ibn al-Khattab brought the verse of stoning, but it was not accepted from him because he was alone.

“The first to collect the Qur’an was Abu Bakr, and Zayd wrote it down. The people used to come to Zayd ibn Thabit, and he would not write down a verse except with two just witnesses.

The last verse of Surat al-Bara’ah was only found with Khuzaymah ibn Thabit, so he said: Write it down, for the Messenger of God ﷺ made his testimony equal to the testimony of two men, so he wrote it down.

Umar brought the verse of stoning, but he did not write it down, because he was alone.”

This is why Abu Bakr’s collection of the Qur’an stands as evidence of preservation, not suspicion.

(2) Narrated by Ibn Abi Dawud in Kitab al-Masahif, Chapter: Abu Bakr’s Collection of the Qur’an in the Mushafs, p. 12. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: Its men are trustworthy despite its interruption. Fath al-Bari (8/630).

(3) He is the Sheikh, Imam, scholar, Sheikh of the reciters and men of letters, the scholar of religion, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad, the most knowledgeable of people for an age. He was an Imam in Arabic, knowledgeable in the language, knowledgeable in the readings and their causes, skilled in them, skilled in interpretation. Despite the breadth of his knowledge and virtues, he was religious, of good morals, beloved by the people, and of great respect. He had no concern but knowledge and its dissemination. He died in the year 643 AH. Siyar A’lam al-Nubala’ (23/122), Shudharat al-Dhahab (5/222), and Al-A’lam by Al-Zirkali (4/332).

(4) Fath al-Bari (8/630).

(5) Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur’an (1/167), see also the same reference (1/142).

(6) It was previously graduated.

(7) See Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur’an (1/169), and Ibn Hajar mentioned these two narrations in Fath al-Bari (8/631), and indicated that they are the most authentic of what was transmitted regarding the collection of the Qur’an during the reign of Abu Bakr.

(8) Abd al-Rahman ibn Ismail al-Maqdisi al-Dimashqi, Abu al-Qasim Shihab al-Din, the historian and hadith scholar, and the head of Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiyya. He has many writings, and he endowed them all. He died in the year 665 AH. Al-A’lam by Al-Zarkali (3/299).

(9) See Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur’an (1/167), and Fath al-Bari (8/630).

(10) Narrated by Ibn Abi Dawud in Kitab al-Masahif, chapter on the collection of the Qur’an by Uthman, may God have mercy on him, p. 33.

(11) See Fath al-Bari (8/634).

(12) See Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur’an (1/167-168).