The Ridda Wars and the Quran

Part oneA year of revolt

When the news of the Prophet's passing ﷺ travelled across Arabia, some tribes saw their chance. A few refused to pay zakat, the yearly charity due on wealth, saying that the agreement had been made with the Prophet ﷺ and ended with him. Others followed men and women who claimed prophethood. Musaylimah had claimed, even in the Prophet's lifetime, that he shared in his mission, and he led the Banu Hanifah, a large and proud tribe, in the fertile region of Yamamah. Tulayhah rose among the Banu Asad, and a woman named Sajah drew followers among the Banu Tamim. The whole movement is called the Ridda, which means the turning back.

Madinah itself was thinly guarded, since the army of Usamah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) was still away. Tribes nearby threatened the town, and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) posted guards on the roads into it, where the Companions took turns keeping watch. When Usamah's force returned, he led the Muslims out against the nearest tribes.

He also faced a hard question. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) advised patience with the tribes that were only withholding zakat, because they still prayed. Abu Bakr answered that he would fight anyone who separated prayer from zakat, since the two had been joined by the Prophet ﷺ. Umar said afterwards that Allah had opened Abu Bakr's heart to the truth of the matter, and he accepted it.

Abu Bakr organised the Muslims into eleven columns, each with a banner and a commander. Khalid ibn al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) led the strongest of them and defeated Tulayhah at Buzakhah. Tulayhah later returned to Islam. Within about a year the revolts in central Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the south were over, and the tribes were back inside the community. Arabia was now one land, ruled from Madinah.

Part twoYamamah and the pages of the Quran

The hardest fight was at Yamamah in 12 AH (633 CE), against the followers of Musaylimah. It was long and costly for the Muslim army. Among the dead was Zayd ibn al-Khattab, Umar's brother. After the battle the Banu Hanifah returned to the community. Many of the Muslims who fell were Companions who had memorised the Quran by heart and taught it to the people around them.

The Quran had been recorded in the Prophet's lifetime. It was memorised by many, and his scribes wrote down each revelation on whatever was at hand, including palm ribs and flat stones. It was not yet in one volume. Umar saw the loss at Yamamah and went to Abu Bakr with a plain warning: if more reciters fell in other battles, parts of the Quran could be lost. He urged him to have it collected.

Abu Bakr hesitated. How could they do something the Prophet ﷺ had not done? Umar kept repeating that it was good, until Abu Bakr was convinced. Then he sent for Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him), a young man from the Ansar who had written down revelation for the Prophet ﷺ and who knew the Quran by heart. Abu Bakr told him he was trusted and capable. Zayd found the task heavy at first. He said afterwards that moving a mountain would have been easier. But he agreed.

From the hadith

Narrated Zaid bin Thabit:

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq sent for me when the people of Yamama had been killed (i.e., a number of the Prophet's Companions who fought against Musailima). (I went to him) and found `Umar bin Al- Khattab sitting with him. Abu Bakr then said (to me), "`Umar has come to me and said: "Casualties were heavy among the Qurra' of the Qur'an (i.e. those who knew the Qur'an by heart) on the day of the Battle of Yamama, and I am afraid that more heavy casualties may take place among the Qurra' on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qur'an may be lost. Therefore I suggest, you (Abu Bakr) order that the Qur'an be collected." I said to `Umar, "How can you do something which Allah's Apostle did not do?" `Umar said, "By Allah, that is a good project." `Umar kept on urging me to accept his proposal till Allah opened my chest for it and I began to realize the good in the idea which `Umar had realized." Then Abu Bakr said (to me). 'You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). So you should search for (the fragmentary scripts of) the Qur'an and collect it in one book." By Allah If they had ordered me to shift one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qur'an. Then I said to Abu Bakr, "How will you do something which Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) did not do?" Abu Bakr replied, "By Allah, it is a good project." Abu Bakr kept on urging me to accept his idea until Allah opened my chest for what He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and `Umar. So I started looking for the Qur'an and collecting it from (what was written on) palme stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it by heart, till I found the last Verse of Surat at-Tauba (Repentance) with Abi Khuzaima Al-Ansari, and I did not find it with anybody other than him. The Verse is: 'Verily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty..(till the end of Surat-Baraa' (at-Tauba) (9.128-129). Then the complete manuscripts (copy) of the Qur'an remained with Abu Bakr till he died, then with `Umar till the end of his life, and then with Hafsa, the daughter of `Umar.

Zayd would not rely on his own memory alone. He checked each passage against what had been written in the Prophet's presence and against what other Companions had memorised. The sheets gave the community one written copy, kept in the care of the state. They were kept first with Abu Bakr, then with Umar, and after Umar with his daughter Hafsah, a wife of the Prophet ﷺ (may Allah be pleased with her). They stayed with her until Uthman asked for them, as a later chapter tells.

The first fronts beyond Arabia

With Arabia settled, Abu Bakr sent armies north. Khalid went to the frontier of Iraq, and other commanders went toward Syria. Abu Bakr gave them instructions that are remembered to this day. They were not to harm women, children or the elderly, or to cut down fruit trees or kill animals except for food. Monks who lived apart in their places of worship were to be left alone.

Part threeThe end of a short reign

Abu Bakr fell ill and passed away in Jumada al-Akhirah in 13 AH (634 CE), little more than two years after the pledge at the Saqifah. He was about sixty-three, the age at which the Prophet ﷺ had passed away. In his last days he asked that the allowance he had drawn from the treasury be repaid from his own property, and Umar wept when it was brought to him. Before he died Abu Bakr consulted senior Companions and named Umar as the next caliph. He was buried beside the Prophet ﷺ in the room of Aishah.

He had no dynasty and no palace to leave. He left a united Arabia and a gathered Quran, with armies already on the move.

He left a united Arabia and a gathered Quran, with armies already on the move.

More on How to Muslim

• guide.howtomuslim.orgThe QuranThe book they gathered into one volume.
• quran.howtomuslim.orgAyah UnpackedShort reflections and mind maps of the surahs.

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The mapWhere it happened

• Madinah
• Buzakhah
• Yamamah
• the frontier of Iraq
• the frontier of Syria

This map is a simple sketch to help you picture where events took place. Positions, distances and borders are approximate, so please use it for reference only, not as an accurate map.

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