Bukhari 4986 — collecting the Qur'an under Abu Bakr

Summary

In the Book of the Virtues of the Qur'an, the chapter on the collection of the Qur'an: the report of Zayd ibn Thabit (may God be pleased with him) himself. After the killing of the reciters at Yamama, Umar warned Abu Bakr, who hesitated before Umar pressed him. The report describes the material used for the collection. It is the founding text for the history of the codex. ¹

Place in the museum

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari. Mentions Zayd ibn Thabit, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Umar ibn al-Khattab and Khuzayma ibn Thabit. Built on in the chapter on the compilation of the Qur'an in Abu Bakr's caliphate.

The Compilation of the Qur'an under Abu Bakr

Zayd ibn Thabit: Abu Bakr sent for me after the Yamama dead, Umar at his side — 'the killing ran through the people on Yamama's day; I fear it running through the reciters in the stations and much of the Qur'an going — you must compile it'. 'How do a thing the Prophet did not do?' — 'By God, it is good' — till God opened his breast. 'You are a young man of sense, unaccused, who wrote the revelation: follow the Qur'an and gather it' — 'were I tasked to carry a mountain it were no heavier'. So he gathered it from the riqa', the shoulder-bones, the palm-stems and the breasts of men, till he found Bara'a's two closing verses with Khuzayma ibn Thabit alone.

Bukhari 4986 — collecting the Qur'an under Abu Bakr

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The Compilation of the Qur'an under Abu Bakr