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Musnad Ahmad 399 (Book 4, Hadith 1) #34075
The Placement of Surahs in the Quran

SUMMARY: Uthman bin Affan explains why he put two surahs of the Quran, Al-Anfal and Bara'ah, together without a line between them.

It was narrated that Yazeed said: Ibn 'Abbas (رضي الله عنه) said to us. I said to 'Uthman bin 'Affan: What made you take al-Anfal, which is one of al-Mathani (the seven long soorahs), and Bara'ah, which is one of al-Mi'een (soorahs with one hundred verses or thereabouts), and put them next to one another and not write - Ibn Ja'far said: A line between them saying Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem - and you put them with the seven long ones? What made you do that? 'Uthman (رضي الله عنه)said: Sometimes many surahs would be revealed (incomplete) to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ , and when something was revealed he would call one of the scribes to write it down for him and say: "Put this in the Soorah in which such and such is mentioned'; and verses would be revealed to him and he would say, 'Put these verses in the soorah in which such and such is mentioned"; and a verse would be revealed to him and he would say: 'Put this verse in the soorah in which such and such is mentioned". Al-Anfal was one of the first surahs to be revealed in Madinah and Bara'ah was one of the last surahs of the Qur'an, and the stories and content of the two surahs were similar. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away without having stated clearly to us that it was part of it, but we thought that it was, hence I put them together and I did not put between them the line Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem. Ibn Ja'far said: I put it with the seven long ones.
حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَوْفٌ، حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ يَعْنِي الْفَارِسِيَّ، قَالَ أَبِي أَحْمَدُ بْنُ حَنْبَلٍ و حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَوْفٌ، عَنْ يَزِيدَ، قَالَ قَالَ لَنَا ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قُلْتُ لِعُثْمَانَ بْنِ عَفَّانَ مَا حَمَلَكُمْ عَلَى أَنْ عَمَدْتُمْ، إِلَى الْأَنْفَالِ وَهِيَ مِنْ الْمَثَانِي وَإِلَى بَرَاءَةٌ وَهِيَ مِنْ الْمِئِينَ فَقَرَنْتُمْ بَيْنَهُمَا وَلَمْ تَكْتُبُوا قَالَ ابْنُ جَعْفَرٍ بَيْنَهُمَا سَطْرًا بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ وَوَضَعْتُمُوهَا فِي السَّبْعِ الطِّوَالِ مَا حَمَلَكُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ قَالَ عُثْمَانُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ كَانَ مِمَّا يَأْتِي عَلَيْهِ الزَّمَانُ يُنْزَلُ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ السُّوَرِ ذَوَاتِ الْعَدَدِ وَكَانَ إِذَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ الشَّيْءُ يَدْعُو بَعْضَ مَنْ يَكْتُبُ عِنْدَهُ يَقُولُ ضَعُوا هَذَا فِي السُّورَةِ الَّتِي يُذْكَرُ فِيهَا كَذَا وَكَذَا وَيُنْزَلُ عَلَيْهِ الْآيَاتُ فَيَقُولُ ضَعُوا هَذِهِ الْآيَاتِ فِي السُّورَةِ الَّتِي يُذْكَرُ فِيهَا كَذَا وَكَذَا وَيُنْزَلُ عَلَيْهِ الْآيَةُ فَيَقُولُ ضَعُوا هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ فِي السُّورَةِ الَّتِي يُذْكَرُ فِيهَا كَذَا وَكَذَا وَكَانَتْ الْأَنْفَالُ مِنْ أَوَائِلِ مَا أُنْزِلَ بِالْمَدِينَةِ وَبَرَاءَةٌ مِنْ آخِرِ الْقُرْآنِ فَكَانَتْ قِصَّتُهَا شَبِيهًا بِقِصَّتِهَا فَقُبِضَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَلَمْ يُبَيِّنْ لَنَا أَنَّهَا مِنْهَا وَظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهَا مِنْهَا فَمِنْ ثَمَّ قَرَنْتُ بَيْنَهُمَا وَلَمْ أَكْتُبْ بَيْنَهُمَا سَطْرًا بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ قَالَ ابْنُ جَعْفَرٍ وَوَضَعْتُهَا فِ السَّبْعِ الطِّوَالِ‏.‏
TOPICS
revelation  *  placement  *  quran  *  surah

QUICK LESSONS:
Follow instructions from Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) . Respect religious texts . Understand Allah's will .

EXPLANATIONS:
This hadith is about how Uthman bin Affan placed two surahs of the Quran, Al-Anfal and Bara'ah, together without a line between them. It was narrated that Yazeed said that Ibn Abbas asked Uthman why he did not write Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem between these two surahs as it is usually done with other long soorahs. Uthman explained that sometimes many verses would be revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ incompletely and he would tell his scribes to put those verses in certain soorahs but never stated clearly which one should go where or if they should be separated by Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem or not. Since Al Anfal was one of the first suras revealed in Madinah and Bara'ah was one of the last ones revealed, their stories were similar so Uthman decided to place them together without any separation line between them. This hadith teaches us about how important it is for us to follow what Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has taught us even if we don't understand its importance at first glance because Allah knows best what is good for us even if we don't understand it ourselves at times.

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