Page 88 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

68 THE HISTORY OF THE QUR'ANIC TEXT

a statement echoed by az-Zuhri." 'Abdullah b. Sa'd b. Abl as-Sarh, the one
scribe officially engaged in recording the Qur'an during this period," is
accused by some of fabricating a few verses in the Qur'an - accusations
which I have exposed elsewhere as baseless.' Another candidate for official
scribe is Khalid b. Sa'id b. al-'A;;, who states, "I was the first to write down
'Bismilliih ar-Rahmiin ar-Rahim' (r-=>)\ c.r>-)\ .JJ\ r: In the Name of Allah,
Most Compassionate, Most Merciful)."6
Al-Kattani cites this incident: when Rafi' b. Malik al-Ansari attended
al-'Aqaba, the Prophet handed him all the verses that had been revealed
during the previous decade. Once back in Madinah, Rafi' gathered his
tribe together and read these pages to them. 7

2. During the Madani Period

i. Scribes of the Prophet

Regarding the Madani period we have a wealth of information including,
at present, the names of approximately sixty-five Companions who functioned
as scribes for the Prophet at one time or another:
Aban b. Sa'td, Abo Urnama, Abo Ayyub al-Ansari, Abo Bakr as-Siddiq,
Abo Hudhaifa, Abo Sufyan, Abo Salama, Abo 'Abas, Ubayy b. Ka'b, al-
Argam, Usaid b. al-Hudair, Aus, Buraida, Bashlr; Thabit b. Qais, Ja'far
b. Abt Talib, Jahm b. Sa'd, Juhaim, Hatib, Hudhaifa, Husain, Hanzala,
Huwaitib, Khalid b. Sa'ld, Khalid b. al-Walid, az-Zubair b. al-IAwwam,
Zubair b. Argam, Zaid b. Thabit, Sa'd b. ar-Rabl', Sa'd b. 'Ubada, Sa'Id
b. Sa'Id, Shurahbil b. Hasna, Talha, 'knir b. Fuhaira, 'Abbas, 'Abdullah b.
al-Argam, 'Abdullah b. Abl Bakr, 'Abdullah b. Rawaha, 'Abdullah b. Zaid,
'Abdullah b. Sa'd, 'Abdullah b. 'Abdullah, 'Abdullah b. 'Amr, 'Uthman b.
'Affan, 'Uqba, al-'Ala' al-Hadrami, al-'Ala' b. 'Uqba, 'All b. Abl Talib,
'Umar b. al-Khattab, 'Amr b. al-'A~, Muhammad b. Maslama, Mu'adh
b.Jabal, Mu'awiya, Ma'n b. 'Adl, Mu'aiqib, Mughira, Mundhir, Muhajir
and Yazld b. Abl Sufyan."

2 Ibn Durais, Fat/ii'il al-Qy.r'iin, p. 33.
3 Az-Zuhri, Taneil al-Qy.r'iin, 32; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidiiya, v:340; Ibn Hajar, Fathul
Bdti, ix:22.
4 Ibn f:lajar, Fatbul Biin, ix:22.
5 For details see M.M. al-A'zami, Kuttiib an-Nabi, 3rd edition, Riyad, 1401 (1981),
pp.83-89.
6 As-Suytiti, ad-Durr al-Manthiir, i:II. The printed text gives his name as Khalid b.
Khalid b. Sa'td, likely the mistake of a previous copyist.
7 Al-Kattani, at-Tariit!b al-Idiiriya, i:44, quoting Zubair b. Bakkar, Akhbiir al-Madina.
8 For a detailed study, see, M.M. al-A'zarni, Kuttiib an-Nabi.