Death of Musailamah and Compilation of Qur'an

Musailamah was an imposter who called himself a Prophet, even during the life time of the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam). After the death of the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe 'wasallam), people of the weak faith, especially among wandering Arabs, began to desert Islam and become renegades. Musailamah took advantage of the situation and succeeded in causing a large number of people to fall a prey to his seduction. Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho anho) decided to put a stop to this onslaught on Islam. A fierce battle was fought with him, in which the Muslims triumphed with the help of Allah, and Musailamah was killed. A good number of Sahabah, including many Huffaz, however, lost their lives. After this battle, Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) went to Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho anho) and said:

"Many Huffaz gave been slain in this battle. 1 am afraid we are likely to lose a good portion of the Qur'an if we fight a few more battles and suffer loss of Huffaz at this rate. I, therefore, suggest that the Qur'an may he compiled and preserved in the form of one complete book."

Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho anho) remarked:

"How can I venture on a thing that was not done in the life of the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam)?"

But Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) pressed his point so much that Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho anho) agreed to it. He sent for Hadhrat Zaid bin Thabit (Radhiyallaho anho) and informed him of what had passed between him and Umar (Radhiyallaho anho), and then said:

"You are young and intelligent. Everybody considers you trustworthy. Moreover you were charged by the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) with the writing of the Qur'an during his life time. I, therefore, request you to go to the people and collect the Qur'an from them and compile it in the form of a book."

Hadhrat Zaid (Radhiyallaho anho) says:

"By Allah, if Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho anho) had asked me to shift a mountain from one place to another, it would not have been so hard for me as the compilation of the Qur'an. I said, 'How do you both dare to take up a thing which was not done by the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam)?" They explained to me their point, till Allah made the truth dawn on me, and I also was convinced of the importance of the task. I then started going to the people and collecting the Qur'an from those who had written it and from those who had learnt it by heart, till the final collection was ready."

Look at the spirit of the Sahabah as regards their strictly following the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam). Shifting of a mountain from its position was not so difficult for them as doing a thing that they had not seen the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) doing. Allah gave them the honor of doing the greatest service to Islam by compiling the Qur'an, which is the source-book of Islam. Hadhrat Zaid (Radhiyallaho anho) was so particular and cautious that he would accept the fragments only when these were proved to be written during the Prophet's time and after they were duly corroborated by the recitation of those who had preserved the Qur'an in their hearts. No doubt, he had to go from door to door and person to person, but Allah caused, thanks to his labours, every word revealed by Him to be collected and compiled. He was constantly assisted by Hadhrat Ubayy bin Ka'ab (Radhiyallaho anho), whom the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) had declared a great expert in Queanic knowledge. The Muslims of all times are highly indebted to the Sahabah for their marvelous achievement.