The Qur’an An Abiding Wonder
The Preservation of the Qur’an
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Riqa’a -Thin
leather piece
Likhaf -
Thin slates of white stone
Katf -
The round bone of the shoulder of the
camel
‘Asib -
The wide part of the root of the date
branch.
In the hadith, the second stage of this process is
referred to as “compilation.” That is, first the verses
were written down at the time of revelation. Then,
when one chapter was completed, the whole
chapter (often it took several revelations to
complete one chapter) was written in compiled
form, i.e. arranged in proper order on
riqa’a
(leather). Such copies of the compiled Qur’an
(complete or incomplete) were in the possession of
a large number of people during the lifetime of the
Prophet. We have the well known incident of Umar
who beat his own sister and brother-in-law
mercilessly for having accepted Islam. Finally,
when his anger had subsided, he asked them to
show him the book they were reading from. His
sister replied that he could not touch it in a state of
