Narrated Zaid bin Thabit:
Abu Bakr As-Siddiq sent for me when the people of Yamama had been killed (i.e., a number of the Prophet’s Companions who fought against Musailama).
(I went to him) and found ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab sitting with him. Abu Bakr then said (to me), “Umar has come to me and said: “Casualties were heavy among the Qurra’ of the! Qur'aan (i.e. those who knew the Quran by heart) on the day of the Battle of Yalmama, and I am afraid that more heavy casualties may take place among the Qurra’ on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qur'aan may be lost. Therefore I suggest, you (Abu Bakr) order that the Qur'aan be collected.”
I said to ‘Umar, “How can you do something which Allaah’s Apostle did not do?”
‘Umar said, “By Allaah, that is a good project. “Umar kept on urging me to accept his proposal till Allaah opened my chest for it and I began to realize the good in the idea which ‘Umar had realized.”
Then Abu Bakr said (to me). ‘You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allaah’s Apostle. So you should search for (the fragmentary scripts of) the Qur'aan and collect it in one book).”
By Allaah If they had ordered me to shift one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qur'aan.
Then I said to Abu Bakr, “How will you do something which Allaah’s Apostle did not do?”
