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Refutations

Why Was the Quran Not Compiled During the Prophet's Lifetime? The Doubt Answered

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Why Was the Quran Not Compiled During the Prophet’s Lifetime?

Table of Contents

The Doubt Presented

A recurring doubt circulated against Islam claims: the Quran was not compiled during the life of the Prophet ﷺ, but was only compiled after his death — and the Companions disagreed in its compilation and arrangement. This doubt is raised to cast uncertainty over the authenticity and preservation of the Quran.

Before responding, it is worth noting that the Quran itself informed us of civilizational laws that do not change, running through life like the sun and the moon:

“If you support Allah, He will support you.” — Surah Muhammad 47:7
“Allah has promised those who believe among you and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors upon the earth, just as He made successors those before them, and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has approved for them.” — Surah An-Nur 24:55
“And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able.” — Surah Al-Baqarah 2:217

Since the call of Islam first emerged and confronted the forces of ignorance, it has continuously encountered plots, hostility, and ambush from its enemies — and the weaving of doubts is among the most persistent of these tools.

Why the Quran Was Not Written Down During the Prophet’s Lifetime

There is no doubt that the Noble Quran was not compiled in its entirety as a single book during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. Rather, it was preserved in the hearts of the Companions, with parts of it written on pieces of paper, palm branches, stones, and whatever means of writing were available in that era. The reasons for this are twofold:

The First Reason — Abrogation: The phenomenon of abrogation occurred regarding some verses of the Noble Quran during the Prophet’s lifetime. Had the Quran been fully written down and then abrogation came, this would have led to differences and confusion in the religion. Allah therefore preserved it in the hearts of the Companions until the period of abrogation had passed, and then enabled the Companions to collect it. Allah also secured His Messenger ﷺ from forgetfulness:
“We will make you recite, and you will not forget.” — Surah Al-A’la 87:6
The Second Reason — Incompleteness of Revelation: The Quran may not yet have been complete during much of the Prophet’s lifetime, and additionally a large number of the Companions had already memorised it entirely in their hearts. The conditions that would necessitate a written compilation had not yet arisen. When they did arise — namely, the Prophet’s death and the Wars of Riddah that followed — the Companions moved swiftly to act.

The Role of Memorisation and Written Records

The Noble Quran was preserved in its entirety in the hearts of men during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, and was composed in the order in which it exists in the hands of people today. Parts of it were also written on scattered materials — palm leaves, thin white stones, and scraps of paper held by various Companions. Most of the verses were written with the Companions, and what was not written was preserved in their memories. This dual method — memorisation supported by written records — was the foundation of Quranic preservation.

Abu Bakr’s Decision to Compile the Quran

When the Wars of Riddah resulted in the martyrdom of a large number of the Companions who had memorised the Quran, the urgency of a written compilation became undeniable. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) commissioned Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) to undertake this task. The hadith of al-Bukhari records the account:

Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Abu Bakr sent for me after the killing of the people of Yamamah, and Umar was with him. Abu Bakr said: Umar came to me and said: The killing has intensified on the day of Yamamah of the reciters of the Quran…” — Narrated by al-Bukhari
Zayd continued: “…so I searched for the entire Quran from the ‘usub — palm leaves — and the lakhaf — thin white stones — and the chests of men, until I found the end of Surah At-Tawbah with Abu Khuzaymah al-Ansari. I did not find it with anyone else: {‘There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; he is anxious over you.’} (At-Tawbah: 128) until the end of Surah Bara’ah.”
Abu Bakr’s compilation of the Quran was not a new or divergent act — it was a transfer of what already existed in the chests of men and on scattered written materials into a single collected volume, for fear of its loss with the death of the Companions. Nothing in the Quran was added, removed, or altered. It was the greatest decision in the history of the Islamic call, preserving the constitution of the Muslim nation’s life.

Responding to the Claim of Companion Disagreement

Some raise the objection that the Companions disagreed in the compilation and arrangement of the Quran, presenting this as evidence of human interference and inconsistency.
If some Companions initially had reservations about the project of compilation, this initial hesitation gave way to complete agreement and consensus on the necessity of collecting the Quran in one Mushaf. Initial deliberation leading to consensus is not a sign of weakness or doubt — it is a sign of scholarly rigour and care. There is nothing in this process that calls for suspicion of the Companions’ integrity regarding the Quran.

The Arrangement of Verses

As for the arrangement of the verses within each surah, this was entirely by the command of the Prophet ﷺ — the Companions had no independent role in it whatsoever. Jibreel (peace be upon him) would descend with revelation and instruct the Prophet ﷺ to place a given verse in a specific location within a specific surah. There is no scholarly disagreement on this point. Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) confirmed this:
“Verses were revealed to the Prophet ﷺ, and he would call one of those who used to write for him and say: ‘Put this verse in the surah in which such and such is mentioned.’” — Narrated in al-Musnad and al-Sunan, on the authority of Ibn Abbas

The Arrangement of Surahs

The arrangement of the surahs is a matter on which the scholars held differing positions:

The majority view holds that the arrangement of surahs was the result of the Companions’ informed effort (ijtihad), inspired by the recitation and indications of the Prophet ﷺ during his lifetime. Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) — among those who held this view — stated: “They only composed the Quran based on what they heard from the Prophet ﷺ.”
A second group of scholars held that the arrangement of surahs was also based on prophetic revelation. Ibn al-Anbari said: “Allah sent down the entire Quran to the lowest heaven, then divided it into sections over twenty-some years. Gabriel would inform the Prophet ﷺ of the location of the verse and the surah. So the order of the surahs was like the order of the verses and letters, all from the Prophet ﷺ. Whoever brings a surah forward or backward has corrupted the order of the Quran.”
A third position, favoured by Ibn Atiyyah, holds that the arrangement of many surahs — such as the seven long surahs, the Ha-Meem surahs, and the Mufassal — was known and established during the life of the Prophet ﷺ, while the arrangement of other surahs may have been delegated to the nation after him.
Al-Zarkashi noted in al-Burhan that the disagreement between those who say the arrangement was based on revelation and those who say it was based on ijtihad is largely a verbal disagreement. Even those who say ijtihad acknowledge that the Companions were guided entirely by what they heard from and observed of the Prophet ﷺ. The most likely position is that the current arrangement, or something very close to it, was known during the time of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Names of the Surahs

The names of the surahs were well known and established during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, as numerous hadiths confirm. Al-Suyuti stated in al-Itqan that the names of the surahs were confirmed by revelation: “All the names of the surahs have been confirmed by revelation from the hadiths and reports, and if it were not for the fear of making this long, I would have explained that.” Several hadiths attest to this:
Al-Nawwas ibn Sam’an al-Kalabi said: “I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: ‘The Quran will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, along with its people who used to act upon it. Surah Al-Baqarah and Al-Imran will precede it.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave them three examples: ‘They are like two black clouds or two shades between which there is an easterly cloud, or like two flocks of white birds pleading for their companion.’” — Narrated by Muslim
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do not make your homes into graves, for Satan flees from a home in which Surah Al-Baqarah is recited.”
On the authority of Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him): “I prayed with the Prophet ﷺ one night, and he began with Al-Baqarah. I said: He should bow at the hundredth, then he went on. I said: He should pray one rak’ah with it. He went on. I said: He should bow with it. Then he began with An-Nisa’ and recited it. Then he began with Al-Imran and recited it…”
In the two Sahihs, regarding the man who wished to marry a woman while having no wealth: “The Prophet ﷺ said to him: ‘What do you have of the Quran?’ He said: ‘I have such and such a surah with me.’ He said: ‘Do you recite them by heart?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Go, for I have given her to you for what you have of the Quran.’”
In Sahih al-Bukhari, Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid said: “I heard Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) say about Bani Isra’il, al-Kahf, and Maryam that they are among the freed ones.”

Evidence That the Arrangement Was Known During the Prophet’s Time

Among the clearest evidence that the arrangement of surahs was substantially known during the Prophet’s lifetime is the hadith narrated by Ahmad on the authority of Aws ibn Abi Aws on the authority of Hudhayfah al-Thaqafi. When asked how the Companions divided the Quran into portions for recitation, he responded with a precise division that mirrors the current arrangement:
“The three are: Al-Baqarah, Al-Imran, and An-Nisa. The five are: Al-Ma’idah, Al-An’am, Al-A’raf, Al-Anfal, and At-Tawbah. The seven are: Yunus, Hud, Yusuf, Ar-Ra’d, Ibrahim, Al-Hijr, and An-Nahl — and so on…”

This division corresponds precisely to the order of the Quran as it exists today, indicating that this arrangement was not invented after the Prophet’s death but was already established and known among the Companions during his lifetime.

Conclusion

The Noble Quran was not compiled in a single written volume during the Prophet’s lifetime for sound and deliberate reasons — the ongoing phenomenon of abrogation, the incompleteness of revelation, and the sufficiency of widespread memorisation among the Companions. When the reasons for full written compilation arose — the Prophet’s death and the martyrdom of many memorisers in the Wars of Riddah — the Companions acted swiftly under the leadership of Abu Bakr, collecting what already existed in written fragments and in the chests of men. The arrangement of verses was entirely by prophetic command. The arrangement of surahs was either prophetically established or carried out by the Companions in direct accordance with what they had heard and observed from the Prophet ﷺ. Initial deliberation among the Companions gave way to complete consensus, and the Quran was preserved exactly as it had been received. The doubt raised against this process collapses entirely upon honest examination of the evidence.