Who Wrote the Quran? How It Was Revealed, Written Down and Compiled
Who wrote the Quran according to Muslim belief, who recorded it, when it was compiled into one book under Abu Bakr and standardised under Uthman, and what manuscripts show.
Last updated: 2026-10-03
“Who wrote the Quran?” has two kinds of answer: what Muslims believe about where it comes from, and the historical record of how the text was written down and gathered into a book. This article covers both, without taking sides on questions of faith.
The Muslim belief: revealed, not authored
Muslims believe no human wrote the Quran. It is understood as the word of God, brought by the angel Gabriel (Jibril) to the Prophet Muhammad, who then recited it to his companions. Islamic tradition describes Muhammad as ummi, usually understood as unable to read or write, which Muslims see as one reason the Quran could not be his own composition. The revelation began around 610 CE and continued until his death in 632 CE.
Who wrote it down during the Prophet’s life?
As passages were revealed, companions memorised them and scribes recorded them on whatever was available: parchment, palm stalks, flat stones and shoulder bones. The best-known scribe is Zayd ibn Thabit, a young companion from Medina. At this stage the Quran existed in two forms at once — in the memories of many people and on scattered written pieces — but not yet as a single bound volume.
The first compilation under Abu Bakr
After the Prophet’s death, many people who had memorised the Quran were killed in the Battle of Yamama (around 632–633 CE). According to the Islamic sources, Umar ibn al-Khattab urged the first caliph, Abu Bakr, to collect the Quran into one manuscript so nothing would be lost. Zayd ibn Thabit led the work, checking written pieces against what people had memorised. The resulting copy stayed with Abu Bakr, then Umar, then Umar’s daughter Hafsa.
The standard copies under Uthman
As Islam spread, people in different regions recited with differences of dialect and pronunciation. Around 650 CE the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, had a committee (again including Zayd) produce standard copies based on Hafsa’s manuscript, sent them to the main cities, and ordered other personal copies to be destroyed. The script used in printed Quran copies today is still called the Uthmani script after this standardisation.
Dots and vowel marks came later
Early Arabic writing had no dots to distinguish similar letters and no vowel signs. To help new Muslims who weren’t native speakers read correctly, scholars in the first Islamic century added vowel marks and dots in stages. These additions fix pronunciation; they don’t change the consonantal text of the Uthmanic copies.
When was the Quran “published”?
There isn’t a single publication date. The text was complete by 632 CE, gathered into one manuscript within about two years, and standardised around 650 CE. Printing came much later: the 1924 Cairo edition became the model for most modern printed copies, and the King Fahd Complex in Medina, founded in 1984, prints the widely used Madinah mushaf.
What historians and manuscripts show
Very early manuscripts survive. Leaves held by the University of Birmingham were radiocarbon-dated in 2015 to between about 568 and 645 CE, and the Sana’a manuscripts found in Yemen are also from the first Islamic century. Academic historians debate details of how and when the text took its final form; most agree it was fixed early, within decades of the Prophet’s lifetime.
So, how old is the Quran?
Counting from the first revelation in about 610 CE, the Quran is roughly fourteen centuries old — about 1,400 years. For more on how the revelation began, read when the Quran was revealed.
Frequently asked questions
- Did the Prophet Muhammad write the Quran?
- Muslims believe he did not: the Quran is understood as God's word that the Prophet received and recited. Companions memorised it and scribes such as Zayd ibn Thabit wrote it down.
- When was the Quran compiled into one book?
- According to Islamic sources it was first gathered into a single manuscript under the caliph Abu Bakr, shortly after the Prophet's death in 632 CE, and standard copies were made under the caliph Uthman around 650 CE.
- Has the Quran been changed?
- Muslims believe the text has been preserved since the Prophet's time, through memorisation and writing together. Early manuscripts, some dated to the first Islamic century, are very close to the standard text; academic historians continue to study the details of its early history.
This article explains common understanding and history for general readers; it is not a religious ruling. For questions of practice, consult a qualified scholar. See the disclaimer.
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