By Allah, I had embraced Islam while he was still in the loins of an idolater!—meaning Zayd ibn Thābit. For that reason ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd said:

“O people of Iraq, conceal the copies of the Qur’an that are with you and keep them under lock and key, for Allah, Mighty and Exalted, says: ‘Whoever defrauds shall come forth with what he has defrauded on the Day of Resurrection.’ So meet Allah with your codices in hand.”

Al-Tirmidhī records this report, and the discussion of it will come, God Most High willing, in Sūrat Āl ʿImrān.¹

Abū Bakr al-Anbārī said: The preference shown to Zayd over ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd for compiling the Qur’an was not because Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān regarded Zayd as superior. In fact, ʿAbd Allāh was more virtuous than Zayd, earlier in accepting Islam, possessed of more precedents, and endowed with greater merits. The sole reason was that Zayd’s memorisation of the Qur’an was more complete: he had retained the whole of it while the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—was still alive, whereas ʿAbd Allāh had memorised a little over seventy sūrahs during the Prophet’s lifetime and learned the remainder only after his death. Accordingly, the one who completed and preserved the Qur’an while the Messenger of Allah was yet living was more entitled to oversee the production of the codices and more deserving of preference.

No ignorant person should imagine that this in any way disparages ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd. Even if Zayd had a stronger grasp of the Qur’an, that does not necessarily place him above ʿAbd Allāh, for Zayd’s mastery of the Qur’an also surpassed that of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with them—yet he was neither better than nor equal to them in virtue and distinction.

Abū Bakr [al-Anbārī] continued: Whatever objection ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd voiced arose out of anger; it is not something to be acted upon or taken as a precedent. There is no doubt that, once his anger subsided, he recognised the soundness of the choice made by ʿUthmān and the Companions who were with him. He then remained in agreement with them and abandoned any opposition.

What is widespread and well known among the scholars of narration is that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd learnt the rest of the Qur’an only after the death of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Some leading scholars have even said that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd died before completing the Qur’an. Yazīd ibn Hārūn said, “The two sūras of seeking refuge stand on the same footing as al-Baqarah and Āl ʿImrān; whoever claims that they are not part of the Qur’an is a disbeliever in Allah the Magnificent.” He was asked, “What about the statement attributed to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd regarding them?” He replied, “There is no disagreement among the Muslims that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd died without having memorised the Qur’an in its entirety.”

I say: This assertion requires further examination, and it will be addressed in due course.

Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq and others narrated—Ḥammād, I think, from Anas ibn Mālik—that when they differed over a verse they would say, “The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—taught it as …”

¹ The forthcoming discussion appears under the commentary on Sūrat Āl ʿImrān.