Provenance of the Quran
\r\nProphet Muhammad reportedly received his first revelation in the year 610 CE. Thereafter, revelations continued on an episodic basis until the close of his life in 632 CE. As such, the Quran can be said to have an earthly birth during the years 610 through 632 CE. Throughout these 22 years, the companions of Prophet Muhammad listened to his recitations of the revelations, memorized them, and wrote them down on stones, palm leaves, and whatever other writing surface on which they could lay their hands. Those companions who successfully memorized the entire Quran were known as "Hafez".
\r\nUpon the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE, Abu Bakr was chosen as the first Caliph of Islam. Approximately a year later, i.e. circa 633 CE, Abu Bakr appointed Zayd ibn Thabit to produce a written copy of the entire Quran, as revealed to Prophet Muhammad by Allah. Zayd ibn Thabit, himself an Hafez, and one who had served as the principle secretary to the Prophet produced a complete copy of the Quran just about a year after the demise of the Prophet. Zayd completed this task by using: his own memorization of the entire set of revelations, as well as those of other Hafez; and the available written fragments of the revelations.
\r\nThis single, authenticated copy of the Quran was preserved dearly by Abu Bakr until his death in 634 CE. Soon thereafter, the possession passed to Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second Caliph of Islam. Umar entrusted this copy of the Quran to his daughter, Hafsah, who was one of the widows of Prophet Muhammad. After Umar's death in 644 CE, the third Caliph of Islam, Uthman ibn Affan, directed Zayd ibn Thabit to utilize the copy of the Quran that had been entrusted to Hafsah, and to make a final recension of the Quran. This final recension consisted primarily of standardizing minor differences in dialect among the various Arab-speaking Muslims of the time.
\r\nWithin the Quran, there are divisions into Surat (chapters) and Ayat (signs or verses). Further, with some degree of accuracy, one can separate the Quran into earlier revelations and later revelations, into revelations received at Makkah and revelations received at Madinah, and into content areas such as sacred history, community rules and laws, and instruction on the proper belief in and worship of Allah. Nonetheless, the Quran remains a single, unitary book of revelation, i.e., a verbatim recording of Muhammad's recitation of the revelations he received.
\r\nIt is thus clear that the Quran is a single document, representing a single source, which is dependent only on the revelations received by Muhammad. There has been no cut-and-paste compiling, layering of diverse material from different times, or editorial re-writes or redactionistic revisions of the Quran. In this regard, the provenance of the Quran as tracing solely to the Prophet Muhammad is historically indisputable. Whether or not Muhammad's statements of received revelation are seen by contemporary readers as being divine revelations from Allah through Jibril is a religious verdict. However, the strictly historical verdict is unambiguously clear. The provenance of the Quran traces only to Prophet Muhammad.
\r\nCompiled From:
\r\n "The Cross & The Crescent" - Jerald Dirks, pp. 45, 46