Those Who Recited It Out Loud

Narrated Uthman ibn Affan:

:

Yazid al-Farisi said: I heard Ibn Abbas say: I asked Uthman ibn Affan: What moved you to put the (Surah) al-Bara'ah which belongs to the mi'in (surahs) (containing one hundred verses) and the (Surah) al-Anfal which belongs to the mathani (Surahs) in the category of as-sab'u at-tiwal (the first long surah or chapters of the Qur'an), and you did not write "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful" between them?

Uthman replied: When the verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Prophet ﷺ, he called someone to write them down for him and said to him: Put this verse in the surah in which such and such has been mentioned; and when one or two verses were revealed, he used to say similarly (regarding them). (Surah) al-Anfal is the first surah that was revealed at Medina, and (Surah) al-Bara'ah was revealed last in the Qur'an, and its contents were similar to those of al-Anfal. I, therefore, thought that it was a part of al-Anfal. Hence I put them in the category of as-sab'u at-tiwal (the seven lengthy surahs), and I did not write "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful" between them.

أَخْبَرَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عَوْنٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا هُشَيْمٌ، عَنْ عَوْفٍ، عَنْ يَزِيدَ الْفَارِسِيِّ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ، قَالَ قُلْتُ لِعُثْمَانَ بْنِ عَفَّانَ مَا حَمَلَكُمْ أَنْ عَمَدْتُمْ، إِلَى بَرَاءَةَ وَهِيَ مِنَ الْمِئِينَ وَإِلَى الأَنْفَالِ وَهِيَ مِنَ الْمَثَانِي فَجَعَلْتُمُوهُمَا فِي السَّبْعِ الطُّوَلِ وَلَمْ تَكْتُبُوا بَيْنَهُمَا سَطْرَ { بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ } قَالَ عُثْمَانُ كَانَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ مِمَّا يَنْزِلُ عَلَيْهِ الآيَاتُ فَيَدْعُو بَعْضَ مَنْ كَانَ يَكْتُبُ لَهُ وَيَقُولُ لَهُ " ضَعْ هَذِهِ الآيَةَ فِي السُّورَةِ الَّتِي يُذْكَرُ فِيهَا كَذَا وَكَذَا " . وَتَنْزِلُ عَلَيْهِ الآيَةُ وَالآيَتَانِ فَيَقُولُ مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ وَكَانَتِ الأَنْفَالُ مِنْ أَوَّلِ مَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ بِالْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَتْ بَرَاءَةُ مِنْ آخِرِ مَا نَزَلَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ وَكَانَتْ قِصَّتُهَا شَبِيهَةً بِقِصَّتِهَا فَظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهَا مِنْهَا فَمِنْ هُنَاكَ وَضَعْتُهُمَا فِي السَّبْعِ الطُّوَلِ وَلَمْ أَكْتُبْ بَيْنَهُمَا سَطْرَ { بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ } .

The above mentioned tradition has been reported by ibn abbas through a different chain of narrators to the same effect. This version adds:

The apostle of Allah ﷺ died, but he did not mention to us that surah al baraah ins a part of al-anfal.

Abu Dawood said: Al-sha’bl, Abu Malik, Qatadah, and Thabit b. ‘Umarah said: The prophet( may peace be upon him) did not write”In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful” until Surah al-naml was revealed. This is the meaning of what they said. Further, this is a mursal traditional(omitting the name of the companion)

حَدَّثَنَا زِيَادُ بْنُ أَيُّوبَ، حَدَّثَنَا مَرْوَانُ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ مُعَاوِيَةَ - أَخْبَرَنَا عَوْفٌ الأَعْرَابِيُّ، عَنْ يَزِيدَ الْفَارِسِيِّ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ، بِمَعْنَاهُ قَالَ فِيهِ فَقُبِضَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَلَمْ يُبَيِّنْ لَنَا أَنَّهَا مِنْهَا . قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ قَالَ الشَّعْبِيُّ وَأَبُو مَالِكٍ وَقَتَادَةُ وَثَابِتُ بْنُ عُمَارَةَ إِنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ لَمْ يَكْتُبْ { بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ } حَتَّى نَزَلَتْ سُورَةُ النَّمْلِ هَذَا مَعْنَاهُ .