When the prophet (‘s) advanced to the battle of Badr she...

When the prophet (‘s) advanced to the battle of Badr she asked him if she could go along with him for nursing the ill and tending the wounded so that Allah may bless her with martyrdom. And the Prophet answered: `Allah has prepared for you the martyrdom '[^1]. If the ladies had undertaken such a task, we can expect men to have done better. A large group of people was known to have known the Qur'an by heart in the era of the Prophet (‘s).

Al‑Qurutbi says: "Seventy of the reciters were killed in the battle of Yamamah, and in the days of the Prophet (‘s) nearly the same number were killed at Bir Maunah". And in the preceding tenth report, we find that four hundred reciters had been killed at Yamamah.

The fact that the Prophet (‘s) showed particular concern about compilation of the Qur'an, with several scribes at his disposal, and that the Qur'an was revealed to him piece by piece during twenty three years, gives us justifiable certitude that the Prophet asked for the Qur'an to be written down in full. Zaid b. Thabit says: "We used to organize the Qur'an from the parchments, in presence of the Prophet (‘s)".

Al Hakim says: "This report is auth­entic, based on the conditions laid down by the two Sheikhs (Bukhari and Muslim) though they have not recorded it". And in this there is a clear evidence that the Qur'an was collected during the era of the Prophet (‘s).[^2] And as for committing certain Surah s or parts thereof to memory, we know that it was a common practice. There was hardly a Muslim male or female, who did not do that. Ubadah b. Samit says: "The Prophet (‘s) used to remain occupied.

So when any Muhajir called upon him, he would entrust him to one of us for teaching him the Qur'an". [^3] And Kulaib reports: "I was with Ali (‘a) when he heard loud voices of people in the mosque, reciting the Qur'an. He said: "They are blessed... "[^4] And another report from Ubadah b. Samit says: "Whenever someone migrated to Medina, the Prophet (‘s) would send him to us for learning the Qur'an.

And loud voices of recitation of the Qur'an could be usually heard from the mosque, till the Prophet (‘s) asked them to lower the voices so as to avoid errors in confusion". [^5] Yes, the memorization of the Qur'an or its parts was current among the Muslims, so much so that a Muslim lady would ask for being taught one Surah or more from the Qur'an in lieu of her Mahr (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasai, al‑Taj).