Islamiyat · May / June 2022 · Paper 11 · Question 5

Write about the various tasks performed by some of the Prophet’s Companions as his Scribes.

Use the AO1 Levels of Response

Candidates may include some of the following information. All other relevant information must be credited.

There were a number of Companions who acted as scribes of the Prophet (pbuh) and they each had different tasks, such as writing the revelation, recording public contracts and transactions, and letters sent from the Prophet (pbuh) to other leaders.

The Qur’an was written in its entirety during the Prophet’s time even though it was not compiled in one text. There were various companions who had different roles as scribes. They wrote verses down on a number of materials, for example, parchments, bone and dried leaves.

Zayd ibn Thabit was one of the most prominent scribes of the revelation, writing the revelation while the Prophet (pbuh) was alive, subsequently having most of the Qur’an in written form. He was asked by the Prophet (pbuh) to learn Hebrew so he could respond on the Prophet’s behalf to the Jews who wrote to him.

The Prophet (pbuh) used to instruct the scribes about the sequence in which a revealed message was to be placed in a particular sura (chapter). In this manner, the Prophet (pbuh) arranged the text of the Qur’an in a systematic order till the end of the chain of revelations. Zayd ibn Thabit reported, ‘We used to record the Qur’an from parchments in the presence of the Messenger of God’. Some companions, who did not write down the revelations, had memorised them instead and their versions were used to verify the written copies after the Prophet’s death.

Some of the Companions were official scribes who wrote letters for the Prophet (pbuh) and treaties.

Ubayy ibn Ka’ab, had memorised the Qur’an and is said to have had his own written portions of the Qur’an, and wrote letters to heads of state for the Prophet (pbuh).

ʿAli was also an important scribe and wrote treaties for the Prophet (pbuh), such as the Treaty of Hudaiybiyya.

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud was known for his knowledge of the Qur’an and the Prophet (pbuh) said about him, ‘Whoever wants to read the Qur’an as fresh as when it was revealed, then let him read according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd.’ He was someone who wrote portions of the Qur’an.

ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs was one of the first companions to write the Prophet’s sayings. He sought the Messenger’s specific permission asking, ‘May I write down everything I hear from you in the states of contentment and anger?’ He replied, ‘Yes, for I speak nothing but the truth.’ He had a book/journal that he kept to record the Hadith from the Prophet (pbuh). Due to this he is one of the main narrators of Hadith. Abu Hurayra said, none of the Sahaba would narrate more Hadith from me except ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAmr ibn al- ʿAs – he would write them down more than me.

Candidates might mention other scribes but should say what their roles were.

What are the benefits of the Qur’an being available to everyone on the internet?

Use the AO2 Levels of Response

Candidates may include some of the following information. All other relevant information must be credited.

Candidates could say it is a useful source to have the Qur’an online as it makes it more accessible to more people. There is a lot of information easily available on the internet, so it is possible to do a few searches and find a lot of sources available for you to read on different topics of the Qur’an. The Qur’an and most Hadith books are all online now, so people can easily access the information they need.

People who cannot read the Qur’an can access different recitations of it, or people who have just learned to read Arabic can use it to follow along while listening to a recitation. The Qur’an online can be in the language of the person reading it.

Some candidates may say there are not many benefits by saying, that the internet has its disadvantages as there may be Qur’ans online that are not standardised and there is more room for error as they cannot all be checked. They could say that the Qur’an is not available to everyone on the internet as not everyone has access to the internet.