Islam Rediscovered
15. Preservation, Updating, Da‘wah
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continued indirectly through his
Ummah
. The task to
be performed by later generations has been divided,
basically, into three categories:
(a) Process of Preservation,
(b) Process of Updating,
(c) Process of
da’wah
The goal of the first process is to keep the book
brought by the Prophet intact in its original form,
generation after generation. There must be no
human interpolations and none of its parts should
be destroyed.
The first major step in the process of preservation
was undertaken, after the passing away of the
Prophet, during the life of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr
Siddiq. At that time tens of thousands of the
companions of the Prophet had learnt the complete
Qur’an by heart. It was thus completely preserved
in human memory.
But as far as the writing of the Qur’an was
concerned, it existed only in fragments on different
kinds of writing materials. The first Caliphs,
