Outline the reasons why the caliphs Abu Bakr and 'Uthman thought it necessary to compile the Qur'an and describe how they went about completing this task.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2017). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. 3(a) Here candidates need to write in detail how after the battle of Yamama, in which 360 huffaz were martyred, the suggestion was put forward to Abu Bakr by 'Umar to get the Qur'an compiled so that it does not meet the same fate as the earlier scriptures. Abu Bakr was at first reluctant to act upon this advice as he felt how could he take on this task if the Prophet (pbuh) had not done it himself. He was however, persuaded by 'Umar. As for 'Uthman's time they could say that with the expansion of the empire many non Arabic speakers had accepted Islam and it was brought to 'Uthman's attention by one of his commanders that in the newly conquered territories where Arabic was not spoken the Muslims were reading the Qur'an in different ways. A need was thus felt to standardise the Qur'an in the Quraysh dialect so that the entire umma could read the Qur'an identically which would save God's word from being distorted and create unity amongst the Muslims. Detail and development of the above points and others like who was appointed with the task of compiling the Qur'an, how did they go about compiling it etc. will take the answer to higher levels.
2. 3(b) Once again as in all Part (b) answers we are looking to get the candidate's opinion. An example of what can be found in the answers is that it could be said that if the Qur'an had not been compiled, it could have been lost as some earlier scriptures were or changes could have been made in its text as in other scriptures... Without the correct dialect the real message of God would not have reached the umma and the differences in its reading and understanding could have caused disunity amongst the Muslims. Candidates could also say that had the Qur'an not been compiled many Muslims today may not have had access to it. The above are some points that could be given in the answer there could be others and all valid responses must be credited.