Write a detailed account of the battle of Yamama, and of the compilation of the Qur'an during the caliphate of Abu Bakr.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2016). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. (a) In response to this question, a detailed account of when and what happened in the battle of Yamama, with names of commanding generals and outcome, etc. need to be given along with how Abu Bakr was persuaded to compile the Qur'an by 'Umar and how he went about doing it. Answers could state that the Battle of Yamama was fought against the false prophet Musaylimah, who belonged to a central Arabian tribe of Banu Hanifa and had claimed prophethood during the Prophet's (pbuh) lifetime and had been accepted as one by his tribe. In December 632, he was in command of 40000 Bedouin, some of whom did not believe his claims but had joined forces with him to support their tribe. Abu Bakr first sent Shurhbeel bin Hasanah and 'Ikrimah to crush the rebellion and instructed them to wait for each other to launch a combined attack on Musaylimah. They disobeyed him and hence were defeated. Abu Bakr then sent a larger force under the command of Khalid bin Waleed to Yamama. The Muslims, numbering 13000, fought a long drawn out battle with many casualties as they met with a strong resistance. Eventually Musaylimah was killed by Wahashi. In this battle, many hundreds of Muslims were martyred; amongst them were 360 huffaz. 'Umar therefore advised Abu Bakr to take the necessary steps needed to preserve the Qur'an lest it be lost, forgotten or corrupted. Abu Bakr, though hesitant at first, finally saw the importance of carrying out this task and appointed Zayd ibn Thabit along with a group to collect the texts of all the verses from the surviving huffaz and companions of the Prophet (pbuh). These were then compared, authenticated and compiled into a single volume. The mark is not divided between the two parts; the answer needs to be read as a whole and a global mark for both parts of the answer should be given.
2. (b) During his caliphate, Abu Bakr fought to uphold the finality of the Prophet (pbuh) in the wars against the false prophets; he refused to give in to the demands of those who wanted to be exempted from paying zakat and fought battles with them, and he preserved the word of God by having the Qur'an compiled. One or more of these events could be given by candidates as examples of how Abu Bakr always stood by the truth and fought to maintain it, by which he lived up to the title of 'al-Siddiq' (Testifier of the Truth) which the Prophet (pbuh) had given him when he was the first to believe the Prophet's (pbuh) account of mi'raj.