Mishkat al-Masabih — Hadith #49399

On the authority of Zaid bin Thabit, he said: Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, sent me a report on the killing of the people of Al-Yamamah. So Omar bin Al-Khattab was with him. Abu Bakr said that Omar came to me and said that murder was committed on the Day of Al-Yamamah by the reciters of the Qur’an, and I fear that murder was committed. By the reciters, by the citizens, and much of the Qur’an is lost, and I think that you should order the collection of the Qur’an. I said to Omar, “How can you do something that he did not do?” The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace? Then Omar said, “By God, this is good.” Omar kept checking with me about it until God opened my heart to that, and I saw what Omar saw. Zaid said. Abu Bakr said, “You are a young, sensible man. We do not accuse you. You were writing revelations to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace.” So follow the Qur’an and collect it. By God, if they had charged me with moving one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than what he commanded me to do with collecting it. The Qur’an said: I said: How can you do something that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not do? He said, “By God, it is good.” I kept reviewing it until God opened my heart to the one to whom God opened the heart of Abu Bakr and Omar. So I got up and traced the Qur’an, collecting it from the palm tree, the sand, and the breasts of the men, until I found Surat Al-Tawbah. There are two verses with Abu Khuzaymah Al-Ansari that I did not find with anyone else (Indeed, a messenger has come to you from among yourselves) until the conclusion of Bara’ah. The scrolls were with Abu Bakr until God took his death, then during his lifetime, then with Hafsa. Narrated by Al-Bukhari