According to Islamic belief, the Quran is the word of Allah, revealed to Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. Muhammad recited and conveyed the revelation, while companions recorded it. The account preserved in Sahih al-Bukhari describes a collection commissioned by Abu Bakr and standardized copies later commissioned by Uthman.
The question “Who wrote the Quran?” can therefore mean several things: who is its source in Islamic belief, who physically recorded its verses, and who collected the written text? Each question concerns a different role.
Who Is the Author of the Quran According to Islam?
Muslims believe that Allah is the source of the Quran and that Muhammad received and conveyed it as revelation.
Quran 2:97 explicitly identifies Gabriel as bringing the revelation to Muhammad’s heart by God’s permission. Quran 26:192–195 describes it as a revelation from the Lord of all worlds, delivered in clear Arabic.
In this understanding, Muhammad’s companions helped record and transmit the revelation. Their work as scribes and collectors does not make them its authors in the theological sense.
Did Muhammad Write the Quran?
In Islamic belief, Muhammad did not compose the Quran. He received it as revelation and recited it to others.
Whether he personally wrote its words is a separate question. Quran 29:48 states that, before the revelation, he had not been reading a scripture or writing it with his right hand. Muslim tradition also describes companions acting as scribes.
Questions about Muhammad’s literacy and questions about the Quran’s authorship are related, but they are not identical. The clearest description of his role in the Islamic account is that he received, recited, and conveyed the Quran.
Who Wrote the Quran Down?
Islamic tradition describes the Quran being transmitted through both recitation and writing during Muhammad’s lifetime.
One named scribe was Zayd ibn Thabit. In the collection account recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari 4986, Abu Bakr refers to Zayd’s earlier work writing down revelation for Muhammad.
The same report describes Zayd later gathering Quranic material from written records and people who had memorized it. Both oral and written transmission are therefore central to the traditional account.
Zayd is an important figure in the Quran’s recording and collection. Describing him as its sole writer would obscure the participation of other companions and the role of memorization. For a practical introduction to that continuing oral tradition, see our guide to memorizing the Quran step by step.
Who First Compiled the Quran?
According to the account preserved in Sahih al-Bukhari, Abu Bakr commissioned Zayd ibn Thabit to collect the Quran after Muhammad’s death.
The report connects this decision with the Battle of Yamama. Umar became concerned that the deaths of Quran reciters could lead to the loss of material and urged Abu Bakr to commission a collection.
Zayd describes gathering the text from written materials and people who knew it by heart. The collected sheets subsequently remained with Abu Bakr, then Umar, and later Hafsa, Umar’s daughter.
Here, “compilation” means gathering material into a collection. Abu Bakr is presented as commissioning that work, while Zayd carried it out. Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 4986.
Who Compiled the Quran Under Uthman?
Uthman, the third caliph—a leader of the early Muslim community—is associated with preparing and distributing standardized copies.
According to Sahih al-Bukhari 4987, disagreements over recitation prompted him to request the collected sheets held by Hafsa. He appointed a committee consisting of Zayd ibn Thabit and three other companions to produce copies.
The report states that copies were sent to different provinces. It also records Uthman’s instruction that other Quranic written materials be destroyed.
- Abu Bakr’s collection: gathering Quranic material into collected sheets.
- Uthman’s standardization: using those sheets to prepare copies for wider distribution.
Standardization should not be understood as establishing one fully vowel-marked modern reading. Scholars distinguish the early written framework from later systems of vowel marking and the transmission of recognized readings.
When Was the Quran Written?
The Quran’s history involves several stages, so a single date can be misleading.
| Stage | Approximate date or sequence |
|---|---|
| Revelation, recitation, and initial recording | Traditionally 610–632 CE |
| Collection commissioned by Abu Bakr | After Muhammad’s death in 632 CE |
| Standardized copies commissioned by Uthman | Traditionally around the middle of the seventh century |
The University of Birmingham summarizes the traditional revelation period as 610–632 CE and places Uthman’s codification around 650 CE. These dates describe different activities: the age of a surviving manuscript, for example, does not by itself establish when the Quran was first collected.
What Language Was the Quran Originally Written In?
The Quran was recited and recorded in Arabic. Quran 26:195 describes the revelation as being in clear Arabic.
An English edition is a translation of its meaning; the translator’s name identifies the person responsible for that translation. Commentary, or tafsir, explains and interprets the text. Our guide to the difference between translation and tafseer explains these roles in more detail.
What Do Early Quran Manuscripts Tell Us?
Early manuscripts provide physical evidence for the Quran’s written transmission.
The Birmingham Quran manuscript contains portions of surahs, or chapters, 18–20. According to the University of Birmingham, its parchment was radiocarbon-dated to 568–645 CE with 95.4% probability.
- The result dates the animal material used to make the parchment.
- It does not directly date the ink or establish the exact year of writing.
- The surviving leaves contain part of the Quran.
- The scribe cannot be identified with certainty.
The date range therefore does not establish that Quranic writing existed before Muhammad, nor does it identify the manuscript as a copy written by a particular companion. Its value lies in the early physical evidence it preserves. Source: University of Birmingham, Birmingham Quran manuscript FAQs.
What Does Historical Scholarship Say?
Historical researchers study manuscripts alongside literary accounts. They examine handwriting, spelling, textual differences, and relationships between surviving copies.
In a 2019 study, Marijn van Putten argued that shared spelling patterns in manuscripts belonging to the Uthmanic text type point to a common written ancestor. Distinctive spellings suggest that these manuscripts descend from an earlier written model.
Nicolai Sinai, in his two-part 2014 study “When did the consonantal skeleton of the Quran reach closure?”, argued that dating the standard consonantal text to around 650 CE or earlier should remain the default position unless stronger contrary evidence emerges.
The rasm is the basic written outline of the Arabic text. Early manuscripts generally lacked the systematic vowel signs and consonant dotting familiar from modern editions, although some consonant dots occur.
These studies investigate the history of the written text. Manuscript research does not establish or disprove divine revelation. Researchers continue to debate details of early transmission and how individual manuscripts relate to the traditional accounts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Abu Bakr write the Quran?
The account in Sahih al-Bukhari identifies Abu Bakr as commissioning its collection. Zayd ibn Thabit was assigned to gather the material.
Did Uthman create a new Quran?
According to Sahih al-Bukhari, Uthman commissioned copies using the collected sheets held by Hafsa and ordered other Quranic written materials destroyed. The report presents his project as copying, standardization, and distribution.
Who wrote the Koran?
“Koran” is an alternative English spelling of “Quran.” Muslims believe it is Allah’s revelation to Muhammad; companions recorded it, and later collection projects brought the written material together.
Is the Birmingham manuscript the original complete Quran?
No. It contains portions of three chapters. Its parchment has an early radiocarbon date, but the precise writing date and the identity of its scribe are unknown.
Sources and Further Reading
- Quran 2:97; 26:192–195; 29:48.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4986, collection under Abu Bakr; 4987, copies commissioned by Uthman.
- University of Birmingham, Birmingham Quran manuscript FAQs.
- Marijn van Putten, “‘The grace of God’ as evidence for a written Uthmanic archetype: the importance of shared orthographic idiosyncrasies”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 82(2), 2019, pp. 271–288.
- Nicolai Sinai, “When did the consonantal skeleton of the Quran reach closure?”, Parts I and II, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 77(2), 2014, pp. 273–292; 77(3), pp. 509–521.