Abstract
collection to the Prophet’s lifetime, whereas others locate it in the periods of the early caliphs. The earliest traceable isnād for the report commonly cited as “Jamʿ al-Qurʾān ʿalā ʿahd Rasūl Allāh”— the most explicit narrative affirming a Prophet-era compilation — can be dated, on the basis of ḥadīth-dating methodologies, to at least the late first Islamic century. This report is transmitted through a relatively compact network consisting of one Companion (Anas b. Mālik) and four Successors (Qatāda, al-Shaʿbī, Ibn Sīrīn, and Muḥammad al-Qurazī). In contrast, the earliest verifiable isnāds for the diverse and at times mutually contradictory reports concerning compilation under the caliphs emerge only in the latter half of the second Islamic century. Given the extant evidence, no demonstrable basis exists for positing their circulation prior to this period. The resulting temporal gap of approximately one century between the two corpora of reports underscores the chronological precedence of those describing compilation during the Prophet’s lifetime. Furthermore, isnād diagramming reveals that the earliest transmitters in the Prophet-era reports function as the principal shared links (ḥalaqāt mushtaraka) within their transmission networks, a structural feature that enhances their historical reliability. While this conclusion does not allow for a definitive reconstruction of the precise mechanisms of compilation during the Prophet’s time, it nevertheless indicates that—when assessed through isnād-based criteria—the reports affirming a Prophet-era compilation possess significantly stronger evidentiary support than those attributing the process to the caliphs.
Main Subjects
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