It is therefore established that the Divine Speech—glorified be He—is neither composed of letters nor comparable to them. A full discussion of this question is extensive; its completion is found in the works of theology, and we have treated it at length in Al-Kitāb al-Asnā, our commentary on Allah’s Most Beautiful Names.

Section
(On the Rafidah’s Attack on the Qur’an)

The Rafidah—may Allah Most High disgrace them—have impugned the Qur’an, saying: “A single individual suffices to transmit a verse or even one word, as you yourselves have done; for you inserted, on the authority of one man only—Khuzaymah ibn Thābit—the close of Sūrat al-Barā’ah, that is, His words: ‘Among the believers are men ….’”

The reply is that when Khuzaymah, may Allah be pleased with him, produced those two verses many of the Companions remembered them, and Zayd already knew them. For that reason he said, “I have missed two verses from the end of Sūrat al-Tawbah.” Had he not known them, he would not have realized that anything was missing. The verses were thus established by consensus, not by Khuzaymah alone.

A second reply is that they were accepted on Khuzaymah’s solitary testimony because proof exists—derived from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him—that his witness is equal to that of two men. This supporting evidence made it unnecessary to seek a second witness, unlike the verse in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, which was confirmed by the testimony of both Zayd and Abū Khuzaymah, for they had heard it directly from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

So explained al-Muhallab, who also noted that Khuzaymah is not the same person as Abū Khuzaymah, and that the Abū Khuzaymah with whom the verse from Sūrat al-Tawbah was found is a known Companion from the Anṣār. Anas recognized him and said, “We inherited it,” while the verse in al-Aḥzāb was found with Khuzaymah ibn Thābit. There is therefore no contradiction; the two incidents are distinct and free of confusion.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said: “The personal name of Abū Khuzaymah is uncertain; he is known only by his kunya. He is Abū Khuzaymah ibn Aws ibn Zayd ibn Aṣram ibn Thaʿlaba ibn Ghanm ibn Mālik ibn al-Najjār. He was present at Badr and all subsequent battles, and he died during the caliphate of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān. He was the brother of Masʿūd ibn Aws.”

Ibn Shihāb narrated—from ʿUbayd ibn al-Sabbāq—from Zayd ibn Thābit: “I found the ending of Sūrat al-Tawbah with Abū Khuzaymah al-Anṣārī—this very man—and there is no genealogical link between him and al-Ḥārith ibn Khuzaymah (also called Abū Khuzaymah) except that both belong to the Anṣār, one from the Aws and the other from the Khazraj.”

Muslim and al-Bukhārī relate from Anas ibn Mālik that he said: “Four men—all of them from the Anṣār—compiled the Qur’an during the lifetime of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, Muʿādh ibn Jabal, Zayd ibn Thābit, and Abū Zayd.” I asked Anas, “Who is Abū Zayd?” He replied, “One of my uncles.”

Al-Bukhārī also records from Anas that he said: “The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, passed away and no one had compiled the Qur’an except four: Abū al-Dardāʾ, Muʿādh ibn Jabal,