3 of 3 · 12 AH / 633 CE · Madinah
Zayd ibn Thabit رضي الله عنه
Gathering the Qur'an under Abu Bakr
After the Battle of al-Yamamah against the false prophet Musaylimah, many reciters of the Qur'an had been killed. 'Umar went to Abu Bakr alarmed that more battles might take more of those who knew the Qur'an by heart, and urged him to have it gathered. Abu Bakr hesitated: how could he do something the Prophet ﷺ had not done? 'Umar kept saying it was good, until Allah opened Abu Bakr's heart to it.
Abu Bakr sent for Zayd and told him, "You are a young and intelligent man, and we do not doubt you. You used to write the revelation for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so search for the Qur'an and gather it." Zayd said, "By Allah, had they asked me to move a mountain, it would not have been heavier for me than what they asked of gathering the Qur'an." But he accepted and began.
Zayd would accept nothing as written unless two witnesses attested that it had been written in the Prophet's presence, and it also matched what was memorised. He found the last verses of Surat al-Tawbah only with Abu Khuzaymah al-Ansari. The sheets were kept by Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, and after him by his daughter Hafsah (Sahih al-Bukhari 4679; 4986; 7191).
Preserving something precious calls for both humility before the task and rigour in doing it.
When you are given a trust that feels too heavy, do you carry it with care or avoid it?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4679 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4986 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 7191Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Hajar, Fath al-BariHistorical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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