The Qur’an
Memorised and written: the Qur’an in the Prophet’s lifetime
The Qur’an was revealed over about 23 years. While the Prophet ﷺ was alive, how was it kept: in memory, in writing, or both?
1The question
How was the Qur’an kept while the Prophet ﷺ was alive?
2What Christians believe
Christian writers point out that when the Prophet ﷺ died, the Qur’an had not yet been gathered into a single book. It was written on many separate materials and held in the memories of different companions.
They also point to a report in Sahih al-Bukhari in which Zayd ibn Thabit, collecting the Qur’an under Abu Bakr, found the last verses of Surah 9 written down only with one man, Abu Khuzayma al-Ansari. They ask how secure a text can be if some verses were found with a single person.
3What the texts say
Words kept in the heart and taught aloud
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
A prophet’s words written from his mouth
Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
Writing revelation down
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
4What scholars say
Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami (The History of the Qur’anic Text from Revelation to Compilation, 2003) describes the scribes who wrote down revelation for the Prophet ﷺ, among them Zayd ibn Thabit, and the many companions who memorised it.
Nicolai Sinai (The Qur’an: A Historical-Critical Introduction, 2017) and Angelika Neuwirth (The Qur’an and Late Antiquity, English edition 2019) stress that the Qur’an was first a recited text, heard in public worship from the beginning.
Scholars agree that the Qur’an was recited aloud in prayer from early on, and that parts of it were written down during the Prophet’s lifetime.
5The Islamic perspective
The first revelation was a command to read, or recite. The Qur’an tells the Prophet ﷺ not to hurry to memorise it, because God himself would gather it, and it speaks of the Qur’an on honoured pages written by scribes:
Read: In the name of thy Lord Who createth,
Stir not thy tongue herewith to hasten it. Lo! upon Us (resteth) the putting together thereof and the reading thereof.
On honoured leaves Exalted, purified, (Set down) by scribes
And thou (O Muhammad) wast not a reader of any scripture before it, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand, for then might those have doubted, who follow falsehood.
Muslims also report, in Sahih al-Bukhari, that Gabriel reviewed the Qur’an with the Prophet ﷺ every Ramadan, and twice in the last year of his life. The text lived both on paper and in the memories of many people at once.
6Objections and responses
“Zayd found the end of Surah 9 written down only with one man.”
Response: Zayd and many others knew those verses by heart. Abu Bakr asked for each written piece to be confirmed by witnesses, so Zayd was looking for a written copy to match what was already memorised, not discovering verses no one knew.
“Human memory is not reliable.”
Response: One person’s memory can slip, but the Qur’an was recited aloud every day in prayer by whole communities, who corrected each other. Millions of people still memorise the whole Qur’an today, and the same checking goes on.
7Conclusion
Both sides agree that the Qur’an was not yet bound as one volume when the Prophet ﷺ died, and that it was both memorised and written down during his life. Christians ask how complete the written record was. Muslims see a text kept in two ways at once, each checking the other.
Read Qur’an 75:16–19 and 96:1–5, then Jeremiah 36:1–4, and compare how each prophet’s words were kept.
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Sources
- Bible, King James Version:Deuteronomy 6:6Deuteronomy 6:7Jeremiah 36:4Habakkuk 2:2
- Qur’an, translated by M. Pickthall:Qur’an 96:1Qur’an 75:16–17Qur’an 80:13–15Qur’an 29:48
- Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami, The History of the Qur’anic Text from Revelation to Compilation (2003)
- Nicolai Sinai, The Qur’an: A Historical-Critical Introduction (2017)
- Angelika Neuwirth, The Qur’an and Late Antiquity (2019)