The last prophet, Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca. He became prophet at the age of 40. He continued to receive revelation for 23 years, 13 years of this in Mecca and 10 years in Medina.
Prophet Muhammad, the last messenger of Allah, received the first verses of the Qur'an, the last divine book, on Mount Hira. The revelation of the Qur'an was completed in 23 years.
Since the Qur'an is the last divine book, it is natural that it has different characteristics from earlier books. One of these characteristics is that the Qur'an is under the protection of Allah.
Allah Almighty says:
“Surely We have revealed the Reminder and We will most surely be its guardian.” (Al-Hijr, 9)
The Qur'an, because of being under the protection of Allah, will not be corrupted, no word of it will be changed and it will last and be valid until the Day of Judgment, as its language has been preserved as it descended to Prophet Muhammad.
At times, the hostility towards the Qur'an launched by Abu Jahl turned into a state terror. Yet, nobody was able to change a word of it, as we will see below. While the enemies of the Qur'an have decayed under the ground, the book has stood as it was sent for some 1,400 years.
Another characteristic of the Qur'an is that while other divine books were revealed only once to their prophets, the Qur'an was revealed in surahs and ayats, and took a total of 23 years to be revealed.
Prophet Muhammad had the revelations immediately recorded by scribes. Then, he dictated them to the people around, word by word, usually repeating the relevant ayat three times.
Those who heard the new revelations from Prophet Muhammad spread what they had learned and conveyed the message to those who were not present.
While the literate companions memorized the new ayats from the text, the illiterate ones listened and thus memorized them.
The revelation of the Qur'an in terms of short pieces like ayats and surahs and over a long period of 23 years ensured that every ayat was written down, memorized, understood and applied to daily life, and thus the Muslims confirmed with the messages of the Qur'an.
There was no possibility for any ayat to be forgotten, because every ayat was recited in the daily prayers. The Qur'an was part of the daily lives of the Muslims. All aspects of their personal and social lives, beliefs, even the way they ate, drank, got married and inherited were regulated according to the Qur'an. Even children playing in the streets warned their friends if they did not behave properly.
Prophet Muhammad applied the Qur'an in his daily life, caused it to be written down and memorized word by word, and conveyed its message by reciting it in daily, Jum'a and festival prayers; later he asked his companions three times: “Did I convey it to you properly?” The companions responded: “Yes.” Upon this, he lifted his hands and said: “Witness, o Lord!”
Prophet Muhammad passed away in the month of Rabi-al Awwal after his return from pilgrimage.
After passing away from this world to the Hereafter, the prophethood finished and the period of the caliphs began. The caliphs were entitled to carry on the Islamic state and convey the message of the Qur'an and Sunnah to coming generations.
While Prophet Muhammad lived the revelation continued, only to be finished near the end of his life.
At the time of Abu Bakr, 70 people who had memorized the Qur'an were martyred at the battle of Yamama. Umar was concerned for the future of the Qur'an. In fact, this was not an issue at that time, as there were thousands of companions and scribes who had fully or partly memorized the Qur'an. Yet, what would happen after them? They would die, as well. This was the concern of Umar.
Umar expressed his concern to Abu Bakr and stressed that while thousands of companions and scribes were still alive, the ayats and surahs should be written in a certain order and turned into a complete book.
Abu Bakr shared this concern. It would be dangerous to wait for this vital task to be completed by coming generations. After some consultation, he requested that a commission be formed and Zaid Ibn Thabit was to head this commission.
Who was Zaid Ibn Thabit?
Zaid was one who had memorized the Qur'an and who had written the divine revelation down.
He was from the Ansars (those who lived in Medina). He converted to Islam at the age of 11 before the Hijra (emigration) at the invitation of Mus'ab Al Umayr. Assisting Mus'ab, he had memorized all the ayats he heard from him and taught them to the children of Medina.
After the Hijra, he became the scribe of the Prophet as his handwriting was very good. He not only recorded divine revelations, but also managed official correspondence.
After the Islamic State had been recognized by other states, Prophet Muhammad began to receive letters from foreign statesmen. These needed to be translated into Arabic and answered.
Prophet Muhammad asked Zaid, who had a good memory, to learn Hebrew and Syriac. Taking the Prophet's wish as a sacred duty, Zaid learned these two languages well in a short time.
The Commission
The commission headed by Zaid Ibn Thabit began to work according to the instructions of the Caliphate:
a- The Commission’s work would be open to public and anybody who wished to observe the work of the commission would be free to do so.
b- No ayat that had been memorized would be accepted unless it was certified.
c- Only written text that had two witnesses to testify that it had been written as dictated by the Prophet in their presence would be accepted. They ayats must have been memorized as well.
d- The surahs would be placed in order according to the order dictated by Prophet Muhammad, not the order of revelation.
After a long and spiritually accountable work, the commission completed its job and finished the compilation of the Qur'an, the last divine book. The original copy was bonded and presented for the companions to examine.
It was examined again and again, and approved unanimously by tens of thousands of companions. This Qur’an was called the Umm al-Mushaf (Mother Qur'an) and delivered to Abu Bakr on behalf of the caliphate.
During the caliphate of Uthman, the boundaries of Islamic State were broadened. Huzaifa, who participated in the conquest of Azerbaijan and Armenia, told Uthman after his return:
“I suggest you send the copies of the original Qur'an to some Islamic cities to make sure that new converts to Islam and those far away from Medina may benefit from ‘Umm al-Mushaf.’