In the name of Allah.
Following is my paper for Tafseer class. Just wanted to share with everyone.
After the war of Al-Yamamah,
on the suggestion of Umar, Abu Bakr asked Zaid bin Thaabit to preserve Quran by
compiling it in one place, as huffaz were dying fast, and part of Quran could
be lost. Zaid said, “How can I do something that messenger of Allah (PBUH) did
not do?”. Umar replied “By Allah, this is something good” (Umar pg 151). Some
can misinterpret this incident, as Umar supported innovation in deen, as long
as it is good, but that is not correct. He was trying to convince Zaid that
this is not an innovation which falls into prohibition. If we look at the life
of Umar, we can see that he opposed Innovation more than anyone else. When
people started praying salah close to the tree of Ar-Ridwan, he ordered it to
be cut down, and when grave of Prophet Daniel was found he ordered it to be
confused among thirteen graves (Umar pg 296). If he supported good innovations,
he could have allowed salah close to Ar-Ridhwan, but he did not support
innovating anything in deen, even if it leads to good.
There are two separate
questions here. First, was it an innovation in deen? Second, if it was an innovation,
does this mean we are allowed to innovate as long as they are good? Recently,
people have argued that as long as innovations are good, they are allowed, and
they use compilation of Quran by Abu Bakr as evidence. In this article, I would
like to prove that compilation of Quran, during the time of Abu Bakr, was not
an innovation in deen, and we are not allowed to innovate in deen, even if it
is good. Most of the misunderstanding happens when the translation of Arabic
words are ill-defined, so let us define these words accurately. Following is
the famous hadith that prohibits any innovation in deen.
'A'isha reported Allaah's Messenger
(sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) as saying: He who innovates things in our
affairs for which there is no valid (reason) (commits sin) and these are to be
rejected. (Sahih Muslim #4266)
In the above hadith, the word innovation (bid’aa) refers
to the innovation in beliefs, not innovation in worldly matters? We know that using motor vehicle to go to
Masjid is a new addition, but is it not what meant by the word “Bid’aa” in the
hadith, because means of transport is not a matter of belief. Similarly, storing a written copy of Quran in
electronic format is not innovation in deen, because we are not adding a new
belief. Moreover, Abu Bakr wanted to preserve the Quran, and he ordered the
compilation of Quran into a single source, which is a worldly matters, and not
matters of belief, so no innovation in deen was done.
“Verily,
We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Qur’aan) and surely, We
will guard it (from corruption)”(Quran 15:9)
Now, some may argue that if Allah has taken upon himself
to preserve the Quran, how Abu Bakr can order preservation of it, since that
could imply that the above verse was not true. In fact, Prophet (PBUH),
himself, had appointed scribe to preserve the Quran, which means that Prophet
(PBUH) understood that Allah meant preserving Quran through the means of this
world. Hence, Abu Bakr acted according to the Sunnah, and ordered Zaid ibn
Thaabit to merely collect already preserved Quran in small chunks with many of
the Companions.
Narrated Abu Sa'id Al-Mu'alla,Prophet (PBUH)
said, "…Shall I not teach you the most superior Surah in the Qur'an? He
said, '(It is), 'Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. ' (i.e., Surat
Al-Fatiha) which consists of seven repeatedly recited Verses and the
Magnificent Qur'an which was given to me." (Bukhari Book 6 Vol 61 # 528)
Narrated Abu-Huraira, Gabriel used to repeat
the recitation of the Qur'an with the Prophet once a year, but he repeated it
twice with him in the year he died. (Bukhari Book 6 Vol 61 # 520)
In Addition, some may object that the compilation
included innovating order of verses and Surah, but that is not true either. Quran
was revealed in pieces, but the sequence of these verses was part of divine
instruction. For example, one of the above ahadith tells us that Surah
Al-fatiha was known to be an ordered combination of verses, and the verses were
organized under Surah, within Prophet (PBUH) lifetime. Also, the order of
Surahs was also ordained by Allah, as Jibril used to recite Quran with the
Prophet (PBUH) once a year, in one of the above ahadith, so there must had been
an order in that recitation. So, Quran was already being compiled into a book,
as it was being revealed, because the Surahs were ordered, and verses within
them were ordered, but only it was not put together physically in one written
medium or storage location. Since none of the scribe had a complete version of
Quran, the effort Abu Bakr ordered was to setup a complete non-perishable
storage of Quran.
“This is
the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of
Allah“ (Quran 2:1)
Moreover, in the very first verse of second Surah, Allah
refers Quran as a book himself, which means Quran is a book that can be written
down, compiled, and copied, but it was not revealed to Muhammad (PBUH) as a
single book. It was revealed in small pieces out of order to provide guidance
and solutions for believers on occasions. There was no need to compile Quran in
a single compiled form, when the Prophet (PBUH) was alive, as he and other
companions memorized the Quran, and was preserved in their heart. After the death
of the Prophet (PBUH), huffaz as the only source of complete Quran was
concerning, because huffaz were also dying in large numbers. So, the effort
ordered by Abu Bakr was to transfer complete Quran into a source which can be
preserved for coming generation.
The Prophet (PBUH) said: “I urge you to adhere
to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly-Guided khaleefahs after me.”
(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2676; Abu Dawood, 4607; Ibn Maajah, 42. This hadeeth
was classed as saheeh by al-Tirmidhi, by al-Haakim, 1/177; and by al-Albaani in
Sahih al-Jaami’, 2549, from the hadeeth of al-‘Irbaad ibn Saariyah)
As a last argument, if we assume that Abu Bakr ordered an
innovation in deen, it is still not evidence that later generation can do the
same, because Abu Bakr was one of the rightly guide Khulfah, and his life is part
of Sunnah, as the above hadith mentions. So, even if it seems to us that he
innovated in deen, we take their actions as the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH),
but cannot innovate ourselves. In fact, anything the rightly guided khulfah did
would have been according to the Sunnah, because they were very careful on
staying away from bid’aa (innovation in deen).
Once we have proven that Abu Bakr did not innovated in
deen when he ordered compilation of Quran, the claim that a good innovation in
deen is allowed, should have no leg to stand upon. Even if Abu Bakr innovated
in deen, with compiling Quran into a single tangible location, his actions are
part of the Sunnah, and by definition not an innovation in deen. No one,
specially the generations after the right guided Khulfah is allowed to innovate
in deen of Islam, and every such attempt should be rejected. And Allah knows
best
JazakAllah Khairin
AbuArman Jumani
References
1- Quran
2- Sahih
Al-Bukhari
3- Sahih
Al-Jaami by Shaik Al-Albaani
4- “Umar
ibn Al-Khattab, his life & times” by Dr. Ali Muhammad as-Sallabi
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