Refuting Islam

The Compilation Conundrum: Why Was Abu Bakr Hesitant If the Qur’an Was Perfectly Preserved?

April 15, 2025

One of Islam’s most enduring claims is the doctrine of tawātur—the idea that the Qur’an has been preserved perfectly, word-for-word, from the time of Muhammad until today. Cited in countless apologetics, da’wah pamphlets, and Friday sermons, this concept undergirds Islam’s superiority claim over Judaism and Christianity: Our book was never altered. Theirs were.

But history tells a more complicated story—one that begins not with infidels or heretics, but with Islam’s first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, the Prophet’s closest companion. In fact, according to Sahih Bukhari, Islam’s most authoritative hadith collection, Abu Bakr initially refused to compile the Qur’an at all, calling it an innovation the Prophet himself never authorized.

This raises a profoundly unsettling question for the doctrine of perfect preservation:

If the Qur’an was truly being preserved flawlessly during Muhammad’s lifetime, why did Abu Bakr hesitate to compile it after his death?

1. Setting the Stage: The Battle of Yamama

Background:

After Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, the Arabian Peninsula was in chaos. Many tribes apostatized or refused to pay zakat. Abu Bakr launched a brutal campaign to reassert control, culminating in the Battle of Yamama (c. 633 CE) against the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah.

Casualties:

According to Sahih Bukhari (6.61.509), this battle resulted in the death of a large number of Qur’an reciters (qurrāʾ)—people who had memorized the Qur’an in whole or in part.

This posed an existential crisis for the young Muslim community. The Qur’an, which had been revealed orally over 23 years and preserved primarily through memorization, was now in danger of being lost as its human vessels fell in battle.

2. The Shock of Hesitation: Abu Bakr’s Reaction

Enter Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph-to-be. Disturbed by the mass deaths at Yamama, Umar urged Abu Bakr to initiate the compilation of the Qur’an into a single manuscript. Abu Bakr’s reaction is recorded in one of the most important hadiths on the Qur’an’s compilation:

“How can I do something which Allah’s Messenger did not do?”
— Sahih Bukhari 6.61.509

Abu Bakr initially resisted the idea. He feared it was a bidʿah (innovation)—a forbidden act in Islam if it contradicts or adds to what the Prophet taught. Only after persistent urging did Abu Bakr relent and appoint Zaid ibn Thabit, Muhammad’s former scribe, to carry out the task.

3. Let’s Pause: Why Is This Hesitation So Damning?

This moment deserves deep scrutiny. Let’s examine the contradiction embedded in Abu Bakr’s hesitance.

Islam’s Claim:

Qur’an 15:9:

“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder, and indeed, We will preserve it.”
Muslims cite this verse to argue that Allah Himself guarantees the Qur’an’s preservation—not humans.

Yet Here’s the Problem:

If Allah is preserving the Qur’an, why the panic?
Why did Umar need to intervene?
Why did Abu Bakr, the most righteous man after the Prophet according to Sunni Islam, resist an act supposedly necessary to safeguard God’s revelation?
More strikingly, why wasn’t Muhammad himself concerned with compiling it into a single book if preservation was so critical?

4. Contradictions Within Islamic Orthodoxy

This episode creates several internal paradoxes within Islamic theology and tradition.

A. The Preservation Paradox

If the Qur’an is perfectly preserved by divine will (15:9), the deaths at Yamama shouldn’t have mattered. Even if all the reciters died, Allah would ensure its survival.
Yet, Umar feared the Qur’an would be lost unless humans acted.
This suggests the real preservation mechanism was human memory, not divine intervention.

B. The Innovation Inconsistency

Abu Bakr feared compiling the Qur’an was an innovation. But today, Muslims claim the very same compilation is part of divine preservation.
If the compilation was divinely mandated, how could Abu Bakr even consider rejecting it?
This exposes a contradiction: either Abu Bakr was wrong to hesitate (which undermines his authority), or the compilation wasn’t divinely inspired (which undermines the Qur’an’s perfection).

C. The Post-Mortem Compilation Problem

Muhammad died without leaving behind a compiled Qur’an.
The first codex was only assembled after his death, based on oral testimonies and fragmented writings.
This contradicts the narrative of an eternally preserved book. Instead, it was a patchwork reconstruction based on human recollection—prone to error and omission.

5. Zaid ibn Thabit’s Testimony: A Chilling Insight

Zaid, tasked with compiling the Qur’an, expresses his own dread:

“By Allah! If he (Abu Bakr) had ordered me to shift one of the mountains, it would not have been harder for me than compiling the Qur’an.”
— Sahih Bukhari 6.61.509

Let that sink in.

Zaid, a man who had served as Muhammad’s scribe for years, found this task more terrifying than moving a mountain.

Why?

Because he was piecing together fragments from:

Palm leaves
Stones
Shoulder blades
Scraps of parchment
The memories of men—many of whom had already died

This was no divine download. It was an act of desperate human preservation.

6. The Canonical Chaos: Uthman’s Burning of Qur’ans

If you think the situation improved later, think again.

Roughly 20 years later, during the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, major disputes broke out over conflicting Qur’anic readings. Again, panic set in. Uthman ordered all regional Qur’ans burned and commissioned a standardized version—the famous Uthmanic codex.

“So Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Qur’anic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burned.”
— Sahih Bukhari 6.61.510

Why burn other versions if the Qur’an had been preserved perfectly?

Why was there disagreement on readings, dialects, and content?

This further demonstrates that the Qur’an we have today was not miraculously preserved, but actively curated, edited, and enforced by political authority.

7. Implications: The Myth of “Perfect Preservation”

The compilation of the Qur’an under Abu Bakr, and the subsequent standardization under Uthman, reveal a far more human and fallible process than most Muslims are taught.

The Myth:

“The Qur’an has never been changed, never lost, never altered. It was memorized by thousands and written down meticulously during Muhammad’s lifetime.”

The Reality:

Muhammad died without compiling the Qur’an.
Abu Bakr feared that the Qur’an could be lost—contradicting 15:9.
Zaid compiled it reluctantly, using fragile and incomplete sources.
Uthman had to burn competing versions to establish unity.
Disputes in reading and content persisted even after this.

This isn’t the story of miraculous preservation—it’s the story of a reactive scramble to prevent loss.

Conclusion: Faith Versus Facts

Abu Bakr’s hesitation to compile the Qur’an is more than a historical curiosity—it is a theological crisis for the doctrine of perfect preservation. His reluctance, Umar’s panic, and Zaid’s dread all speak to a fragile, human process, not a divinely ordained certainty.

Far from confirming the Qur’an’s perfection, the early history of its compilation raises serious doubts. If the Qur’an truly had been preserved by Allah, there would have been no reason for fear, no need for burning variant texts, and certainly no hesitation from the Prophet’s most trusted companion.

So the question remains:

Why would Abu Bakr hesitate to preserve something that Allah Himself was supposedly preserving?

The only plausible answer is the one Islamic orthodoxy dares not speak: because he knew it wasn’t.