Dr. Shehzad Saleem, years ago, produced an eight-part series on the questionable nature of the Hadith describing the supposed compilation of the Quran during the reign of Abu Bakr. The first part of the video series can be found below along with some highlights pointed out by Dr. Saleem.
Hadith Narration
For reference, here are the Hadith narrations regarding the questionable compilation that is being analyzed.
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Abu Bakr As-Siddiq sent for me when the people of Yamama had been killed (i.e., a number of the Prophetโs Companions who fought against Musailima). (I went to him) and found Umar bin Al- Khattab sitting with him. Abu Bakr then said (to me), โUmar has come to me and said: โCasualties were heavy among the Qurraโ of the Qurโan (i.e. those who knew the Qurโan by heart) on the day of the Battle of Yamama, and I am afraid that more heavy casualties may take place among the Qurraโ on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qurโan may be lost. Therefore I suggest, you (Abu Bakr) order that the Qurโan be collected.โ I said to Umar, โHow can you do something which Allahโs Apostle did not do?โ Umar said, โBy Allah, that is a good project.โ Umar kept on urging me to accept his proposal till Allah opened my chest for it and I began to realize the good in the idea which Umar had realized.โ Then Abu Bakr said (to me). โYou are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ). So you should search for (the fragmentary scripts of) the Qurโan and collect it in one book.โ By Allah If they had ordered me to shift one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qurโan. Then I said to Abu Bakr, โHow will you do something which Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ) did not do?โ Abu Bakr replied, โBy Allah, it is a good project.โ Abu Bakr kept on urging me to accept his idea until Allah opened my chest for what He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and Umar. So I started looking for the Qurโan and collecting it from (what was written on) palme stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it by heart, till I found the last Verse of Surat at-Tauba (Repentance) with Abi Khuzaima Al-Ansari, and I did not find it with anybody other than him. The Verse is: โVerily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty..(till the end of Surat-Baraaโ (at-Tauba) (9.128-129). Then the complete manuscripts (copy) of the Qurโan remained with Abu Bakr till he died, then with Umar till the end of his life, and then with Hafsa, the daughter of `Umar.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4986
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4986 โ
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Abu Bakr sent for me and said, โYou used to write the Divine Revelations for Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ): So you should search for (the Qurโan and collect) it.โ I started searching for the Qurโan till I found the last two Verses of Surat at-Tauba with Abi Khuza`ima Al-Ansari and I could not find these Verses with anybody other than him. (They were): โVerily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty โฆโ (9.128-129)
Sahih al-Bukhari 4989
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4989 โ
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Abu Bakr sent for me owing to the large number of casualties in the battle of Al-Yamama, while Umar was sitting with him. Abu Bakr said (to me), Umar has come to my and said, โA great number of Qaris of the Holy Qurโan were killed on the day of the battle of Al-Yamama, and I am afraid that the casualties among the Qaris of the Qurโan may increase on other battle-fields whereby a large part of the Qurโan may be lost. Therefore I consider it advisable that you (Abu Bakr) should have the Qurโan collected.โ I said, โHow dare I do something which Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ) did not do?โ Umar said, By Allah, it is something beneficial.โ Umar kept on pressing me for that till Allah opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chest of Umar and I had in that matter, the same opinion as Umar had.โ Abu Bakr then said to me (Zaid), โYou are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ). So you should search for the fragmentary scripts of the Qurโan and collect it (in one Book).โ Zaid further said: By Allah, if Abu Bakr had ordered me to shift a mountain among the mountains from one place to another it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qurโan. Then I said (to Umar and Abu Bakr), โHow can you do something which Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ) did not do?โ Abu Bakr said, โBy Allah, it is something beneficial.โ Zaid added: So he (Abu Bakr) kept on pressing me for that until Allah opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and Umar, and I had in that matter, the same opinion as theirs. So I started compiling the Qurโan by collecting it from the leafless stalks of the date-palm tree and from the pieces of leather and hides and from the stones, and from the chests of men (who had memorized the Qurโan). I found the last verses of Sirat-at-Tauba: (โVerily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselvesโโ (9.128-129)) from Khuzaima or Abi Khuzaima and I added to it the rest of the Sura. The manuscripts of the Qurโan remained with Abu Bakr till Allah took him unto Him. Then it remained with Umar till Allah took him unto Him, and then with Hafsa bint Umar.
Sahih al-Bukhari 7191
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7191 โ
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Abu Bakr sent for me, so I collected the Qurโan till I found the last part of Surat-at-Tauba with Abi Khuza`ima Al-Ansari and did not find it with anybody else. (The Verses are): โ โVerily, there has come to you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves..(till the end of Surat Baraโa) (i.e., at- Tauba).โ (9.128-129) Yunus also narrated as above.
Sahih al-Bukhari 7425
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7425 โ
Narrated Az-Zuhri: โFrom โUbaid bin As-Sabbaq, that Zaid bin Thabit narrated to him, he said: โAbu Bakr As-Siddiq sent for me โ (regarding) those killed at Al-Yamamah โ and โUmar bin Al-Khattab was with him. He (Abu Bakr) said: โโUmar came to me and said: The fighting inflicted many casualties among the reciters of the Qurโan on the Day of Al-Yamamah, and I fear that there will be more casualties among the reciters in other parts of the land, such that much of the Qurโan may be lost. In my view, you should order that the Qurโan be collected.'โ Abu Bakr said to โUmar: โHow can I do something which was not done my the Messenger of Allah (๏ทบ)?โ โUmar said: โBy Allah! It is something good.โ โUmar continued trying to convince me until Allah opened up my chest to that which He had opened the chest of โUmar, and I saw it as he saw it.โ Zaid said: โAbu Bakr said: โYou are a young wise man, and we have no suspicions of you. You used to write down the Revelation for the Messenger of Allah as the Qurโan was revealed.โ He (Zaid) said: โBy Allah! If they had ordered to move one of the mountains it would have been lighter on me than that.โ He said: โI said: โHow will you do something which was not done by the Messenger of Allah (๏ทบ)?โ Abu Bakr said: โBy Allah! It is something good.โ Abu Bakr and โUmar continued trying to convince me, until Allah opened up my chest for that, just as He had opened their chests, the chest of Abu Bakr and the chest of โUmar. So I began searching for Qurโanic material from parchments, leaf stalks of date-palms and Al-Likhaf โ meaning stones โ and the chests of men. I found the end of Surah Baraโah with Khuzaimah bin Thabit: Verily, there has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty. He is eager for you; for the believers (he is) full of pity, kind, and merciful. But if they turn away, say: โAllah is sufficient for me. There is no god but He, in Him I put my trust, and He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne (9: 128 & 129).'โ
For such a supposed monumental event and task, it is strange that this Hadith has been narrated by only a single individual. One would assume that based on the gravitas of what is being reported that if such an event took place, there would have been many more corroborating testimonies to the event. Not only is this event recorded by a single individual (Zayd ibn Thabit d. 45 AH / 53 AH), but so are the next two individuals in the chain of transmission (โUbayd ibn al-Sabbaq (d. 90 AH) and Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (d. 124 AH). Part1/8 @ ~10min
It is additionally strange that according to historical sources, Zayd ibn Thabit had over forty students in Medina, and only a single person narrated this account on his behalf (โUbayd ibn al-Sabbaq (d. 90 AH). It is worth mentioning that some of these other students were notable individuals as well. Part 1/8 @ ~14min
Lack of Mention in Early Hadith
Part 1/8 @ ~17min 40sec, Another peculiarity of this narration is that it is absent from the earliest history books and only found in Bukhari and a single narration from at-Tirmidhi among the Hadith compilations.
For instance, the Muwatta by Imam Malik (d. 179 AH) is completely void of this narrative. This is particularly perplexing because Imam Malik resided in Medina and would have certainly heard this narration had it been true and included in his work, but it is nowhere to be found. Not only that, but Imam Malik was a student of Shihab al-Zuhri and one that he records from in his compilation. Additionally, we find a mursal narrative in it which has a chain of narration which includes โUbayd ibn al-Sabbaq from whom Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri reports. Also, Malikโs Muwatta even has a section on narratives about the Quran, which would be a well-suited place to include such a narration.
Part 1/8 @ ~21min, this narrative is also absent from the Hadith compilation of Sahih Muslim (d. 261 AH), who was a student of Imam al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH). Muslim also sourced narratives from Shihab al-Zuhri and has sections in his compilation that would be suitable for such topics.
Lack of Mention in Earliest HISTORY BOOKS
Part 1/8 ~27min. Additionally, this history is not present in the works of the early historians of Islam, including al-Tabari (d. 310 AH), Ibn Saโd (d. 230 AH), and Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276 AH). The lack of mention of the narrative in al-Tabari is very strange as he narrates the history of the Battle of Yamama that supposedly sparked this effort, but no mention of this narration of compilation. The lack of mention in Ibn Saโdโs al-Tabaqat and in Ibn Qutaybahโs al-Maโarif is also very consequential. Both these works contain extremely detailed biographical accounts of all people who appear in the narrative: Abu Bakr, โUmar, Zayd ibn Thabit, and Hafsa bint Umar. None of these accounts even hint at any collection of the Quran in spite of the fact that they depict some very minor details of the lives of these people.
Open Unanswered Questions About the Narration
Part 2 of the series poses the following open questions regarding the narrative of the compilation.
If this collection was an official collection, then why wasnโt this version used throughout the conquered lands by Umar?
Why werenโt copies made and distributed?
Why was it passed to Hafsa by โUmar instead of being passed to the third caliph, Uthman?
Why was it returned to Hafsa after Uthmanโs compilation?
Why was Hafsa reluctant to give the copy to Uthman when he was supposedly compiling his musโhaf?
Why was there no consultation (shurah) for this compilation among the notable scribes and memorizers of the Quran?
Criticism of Chain of Transmission
In Part 3 of the series, Dr. Saleem points out some of the criticism towards the isnad of the narration, showing that it is claimed that the chain is broken because โUbayd ibn al-Sabbaq never met Zayd ibn Thabit according to โImadiโ. While referring to al-Bukhariโs Tarikh al-kabir, he says that โUbayd ibn al-Sabbaq died in 118 AH at the age of 68. He says that these details have been written by a famous commentator of Sunan Abu Daโud, Shams al-Haq Muhaddith โAzimabadi, on the margins of Ibn Hajarโs Fath al-Bari.
He then refers to Ibn Hajar, according to whom Zayd died in 45 AH. He says that other authorities place his death in 48 AH, 51 AH, and 54 AH. Although these views, according to โImadi, are weak, he says that even if the weakest of these (54 AH) is taken, the age of โUbayd turns out to be 4 at the death of Zayd. โImadi has also pointed out that Ibn Saโd has not mentioned Zayd as a teacher of โUbayd.
Additionally, none of the early rijal works gives us any information on the birth, death, and age of โUbayd ibn al-Sabbaq. Al-Safadi (d. 643 AH) in his al-Wafi bi al-wafayat gives โUbaydโs year of death as 90 AH and gives no information about his age or year of birth.
Criticism of al-Zuhri
In Part 3, at around 12 min, Dr. Saleem cites criticisms that are known regarding al-Zuhri, that he was known for narrating Tadlis, Isnads that someone narrates what he has not heard from a person whom he has bet giving the impression that he has heard it from him; or narrates from someone who is contemporary but he has not met him giving the impression that he has met him or has heard from him. Moreover, at times there is no one person, and at times more between this narrator and from the ones he narrates.
Additionally, in Part 3 @ 18min, al-Zuhri is accused of Idraj. With idraj, what is inserted in the Hadith of Godโs Messenger from the words of a narrator such that a companion or a narrator after the companion mentions some words from himself after he narrates the Hadith and a narrator after him joins these words with the Hadith without mentioning the two separately by stating its narrator. This causes ambiguity in the discourse on the person who does not know the reality, and he thinks that all of it is from Godโs messenger.
More discussion on these accusations towards al-Zhuri can be found in the below video.