Collection of the Qur'an

Prophet Muhammad (saw) exactly memorized the revelation that Jibrail brought. Allah (swt) stated that He would help him in this matter: “Move not your tongue with it, [O Muhammad], to hasten with recitation of the Qur'an. Indeed, upon Us is its collection [in your heart] and [to make possible] its recitation. So when We have recited it [through Gabriel], then follow its recitation.” (Qiyamah, 75/16-19) Prophet Muhammad (saw) recited the verse or verses that revealed to him to Muslims, and then had the revelation scribes dictate it. In this environment where oral culture was dominant, people easily memorized the verses that were revealed, recited the memorized parts in their prayers, and adopted the messages given by the verses as a principle. 

The verses of the Qur'an written by the revelation scribes were not collected in a book when Prophet Muhammad (saw) was alive. This was because Prophet Muhammad (saw) was alive and the revelation kept coming. It was only during Ramadan that the Messenger of God (saw) and Jibrail recited the verses that had been revealed until that day to each other. (Bukhari, Bad’u’l-halq, 6)

Shortly after the passing of Prophet Muhammad (saw), the Qur'an was completely collected and turned into a Mus'haf (book) during the caliphate of Abu Bakr. (Bukhari, Fadhail Al-Qur'an 3, 4) This task was carried out with precision by a committee led by Zayd ibn Thabit, one of the Prophet Muhammad's scribes of revelation. By the time of Caliph Uthman, this Mus'haf was reproduced in seven copies and sent to the main centers where Muslims lived. 

As a result of the sensitivity and

 efforts of Muslims, the Qur'an has remained far from the falsification that other books have been subjected to. Today, wherever one goes in the world, there is no difference between the existing copies of the Qur'an.