2 of 2 · 13–45 AH · Madinah
Hafsah bint 'Umar رضي الله عنها
Keeper of the Qur'an
After many reciters were killed at al-Yamamah, Abu Bakr had Zayd ibn Thabit gather the Qur'an into written sheets. Those sheets stayed with Abu Bakr until he died, then with 'Umar, and when 'Umar died they passed to Hafsah (Sahih al-Bukhari 4986). For years, the first complete written compilation of the Qur'an was kept in her house.
When 'Uthman decided to unite the Muslims on one standard copy, he sent to Hafsah asking for the sheets, promising to return them. The copies were made from them and sent to the provinces, and the sheets were returned to her (Sahih al-Bukhari 4987). 'Umar also left her in charge of a charitable endowment he had set up.
She died in Madinah, most likely in 45 AH, and was buried at al-Baqi'. Every standard copy of the Qur'an in the world today descends from the copies made from the sheets she kept.
She was trusted with the most precious thing the Ummah owned, and returned every trust intact.
What has been entrusted to you, and how carefully are you keeping it?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4986 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4987 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sunan Abi Dawud, Kitab al-WasayaGrade not recorded here
- al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'Historical 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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