III Existing Interpretations

II Representative Texts: Sunnī Sources

Four people report these narratives:

i. ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib (rta)

ii. Al-Yamān

iii. ‘Ikramah mawlā Ibn ‘Abbās (rta)

iv. Muhammad ibn Sīrīn

Following are the details

i. ‘Alī (rta)

و أخبرنا أبو عبد الله الطبري قال أخبرنا أبي، قال حدثنا أبو علي المقري قال حدثنا أبو علي المقرئ حريث عن عبد الرحمن بن أبي حماد، عن الحكم بن ظهير، عن السدي عن عبد خير، عن علي ع أنه رأى من الناس طيرة عند وفاة رسول الله ص فأقسم أن لا يضع على ظهره رداء حتى يجمع القرآن، فجلس في بيته حتى جمع القرآن، فهو أول مصحف جمع فيه القرآن، جمعه من قلبه، و كان عند آل جعفر

‘Abd Khayr reported from ‘Alī (rta) that when he saw people in despair and frustration at the death of the Prophet, he swore that he would not wear his cloak on his back until he had collected the Qur’ān. Then he sat in his house and collected the Qur’ān. So it was the first mushaf in which the Qur’ān had been collected – collected from his heart and this [mushaf] is with the descendents of Ja‘far.1

ii. Al-Yamān

قرئ على الحاكم أبي عبد الله سنة أربعمائة و أنا أصغي قال حدثنا محمد بن يعقوب المعقلي قال حدثنا محمد بن منصور الكوفي، قال حدثنا إبراهيم بن محمد بن ميمون قال حدثنا الحكم بن ظهير، عن السدي عن عبد خير عن يمان قال لما قبض النبي ص أقسم علي أو حلف أن لا يضع رداءه على ظهره حتى يجمع القرآن بين اللوحين، فلم يضع رداءه على ظهره حتى جمع القرآن

‘Abd Khayr reports from al-Yamān: “When the Prophet died, ‘Alī swore or made a pledge that he would not put on his cloak on his back until he had collected the Qur’ān between two covers. So he did not put on his cloak on his back until he had collected the Qur’ān.”2

iii. ‘Ikramah

أخبرنا أحمد ، قال : حدثنا محمد ، قال : حدثنا أبو علي بشر بن موسى قال : حدثنا هوذة بن خليفة ، قال : حدثنا عوف ، عن محمد بن سيرين ، عن عكرمة ، فيما أحسب قال : " لما كان بعد بيعة أبي بكر رضي الله عنه ، قعد علي بن أبي طالب في بيته . فقيل لأبي بكر : قد كره بيعتك . فأرسل إليه فقال : أكرهت بيعتي ؟ فقال : لا والله قال : ما أقعدك عني ؟ قال : رأيت كتاب الله يزاد فيه ، فحدثت نفسي أن لا ألبس ردائي إلا لصلاة حتى أجمعه . فقال أبو بكر : فإنك نعم ما رأيت . قال محمد : فقلت له : ألفوه كما أنزل ، الأول فالأول ؟ قال : لو اجتمعت الإنس والجن على أن يؤلفوه ذلك التأليف ما استطاعوا . قال محمد : أراه صادقا

‘Ikramah said:3 “After people had pledged their allegiance to Abū Bakr, ‘Alī sat in his house. So, Abū Bakr was told: ‘He is averse to pledging allegiance to you.’ He then sent for ‘Alī and asked him: ‘Do you dislike pledging allegiance to me.’ ‘Alī replied: ‘By God! No.’Abū Bakr then asked: ‘What kept you away from me.’ ‘Alī replied: ‘I saw that additions were being made in the Book of God and I said to myself that I would only wear my cloak to go out for any of the prayers until I have collected it.’ Abū Bakr then remarked: ‘What a good opinion you have formed.’” Muhammd ibn Sīrīn said: “I asked him4: ‘Did they compile the Qur’ān according to its sequence of revelation?’ He replied: ‘If all men and jinn get together to arrange it in that sequence, they would not be able to do so.’” Muhammd ibn Sīrīn said: “I considered him to be correct in forming this opinion.”5

iv. Muhammad ibn Sīrīn

حدثنا عبد الله قال حدثنا محمد بن إسماعيل الأحمسي قال : حدثنا ابن فضيل ، عن أشعث ، عن محمد بن سيرين قال :لما توفي النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أقسم علي أن لا يرتدي برداء إلا لجمعة حتى يجمع القرآن في مصحف ففعل فأرسل إليه أبو بكر بعد أيام أكرهت إمارتي يا أبا الحسن ؟ قال : " لا والله إلا أني أقسمت أن لا أرتدي برداء إلا لجمعة فبايعه ثم رجع " [ قال أبو بكر : لم يذكر المصحف أحد إلا أشعث وهو لين الحديث وإنما رووا حتى أجمع القرآن يعني : أتم حفظه فإنه يقال للذي يحفظ القرآن قد جمع القرآن ]

Muhammad ibn Sīrīn said: “When the Prophet died, ‘Alī swore that he would not wear his cloak except for the Friday prayer until he had collected the Qur’ān in a mushaf. He did so. Then after some days, Abū Bakr sent for him and said: ‘Are you averse to pledging allegiance to me O Abū al-Hasan?’ He replied: ‘By God! The truth is that I had sworn not to wear my cloak except for the Friday prayer.’ He then pledged allegiance and returned.” Abū Bakr ibn Abī Dā’ūd said: “The only person who has mentioned the word mushaf is Ash‘ath and he is layyin al-hadīth. Others have narrated the words ‘ … until I collected the Qur’ān,’ which mean that he had finished memorizing it because he who has memorized the Qur’ān is called he who has collected it.”6

___________________________
 

1. Hākim al-Haskānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, 1st ed. (Beirut: Mu’assasah al-a‘lamī li al-matbū‘āt, 1974), 26-27. See also: Abū ‘Abdullāh Shams al-Dīn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Uthmān ibn Qāyamaz ibn ‘Abdullāh al-Dhahabī, Siyar a‘lām al-nubalā’, 9th ed., vol. 14 (Beirut: Mu’assasah al-risālah, 1413 AH), 22; Abū Nu‘aym, Hilyah al-awliyā’, 4th ed., vol. 1 (Beirut: Dār al-kitāb al-‘arabī, 1405 AH), 67; Al-Dhahabī, Abū ‘Abdullāh Shams al-Dīn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Uthmān ibn Qāyamaz ibn ‘Abdullāh al-Dhahabī, Tadhkirah al-huffāz, 1st ed., vol. 2 (Beirut: Dār al-kutub al-‘ilmiyyah, n.d.), 661; Abū al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Ishāq. ibn Nadīm, Al-Fihrist, 2nd ed. (Beirut: Dār al-kutub al-‘ilmiyyah, 2002), 44. Ibn Nadīm’s narrative specifies that ‘Alī completed this task in three days.

2. Al-

6. Abū Bakr ‘Abdullāh ibn Abī Dā’ūd Sulaymān ibn al-Ash‘ath, Kitāb al-masāhif, 1st ed. (Beirut: Dār al-kutub al-‘ilmiyyah, 1985), 16; Abū Bakr ‘Abdullāh ibn Muhammad ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Musannaf fī al-hadīth wa al-athār, 1st ed., vol. 6 (Riyād: Maktabah al-rushd, 1409 AH), 148, (no. 30230); Yūsuf ibn ‘Abdullāh ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, Al-Tamhīd limā fī al-mu’attā’ fī al-ma‘ānī wa al-masānīd, vol. 8 (Rabat: Wazarah al-umūr al-awqāf wa al-shu’ūn al-islāmiyyāh, 1387 AH), 300-301; Yūsuf ibn ‘Abdullāh ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, Al-Istī‘āb fī ma‘rifah al-ashāb, 1st ed., vol. 3 (Beirut: Dār al-jīl, 1412 AH), 973-974; Abū ‘Abdullāh Muhammad ibn Sa‘d al-Zuhrī, Al-Tabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 2, (Beirut: Dār sādir, n.d.), 338; Abū al-Qāsim ‘Alī ibn al-Husayn ibn ‘Asākir, Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq, vol. 42 (Beirut: Dār al-fikr, 1995), 398; Ibid., vol. 42, 399; Jalāl al-Dīn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Kamāl al-Dīn Abī Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Sābiq al-Dīn al-Suyūtī, Kitāb al-khulafā’, 1st ed., (Egypt: Matba‘ah al-sa‘ādah, 1952), 185; ‘Alā al-Dīn ‘Alī ibn Hussām al-Dīn al-Muttaqi, Kanz al-‘ummāl fī sunan al-aqwāl wa al-af‘āl, 1st ed., vol. 2 (Beirut: Dār al-kutub al-‘ilmiyyah, 1998), 249, (no. 4792); Abū al-‘Abbās Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al-Mustaghfirī, Fadā’il al-Qur’ān, 1st ed., vol. 1 (Beirut: Dār Ibn Hazm, 2006), 358, (no. 420); Al-Haskānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, 26; Ibid., 27-28; Ibid., 28. In the very last of these references (Ibid., 28), the words قال حدثني seem to be missing between Hasan ibn Ishāq and Abū Ma‘mar and between ‘Abd al-Wārith and Ayyūb Sakhtiyānī. This is evident from another edition of Shawāhid al-tanzīl. See: Al-Hākim Al-Haskānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1 (n.p.: Mu’assasah chāp wa nashr, 1411 AH), 38.