nence and great prestige among tbe people. This was one of the most powerful rea‌ sons for the people to have an interest in memorizing the Quran, either in its en‌ tirety, or any portion of it possible.
٤. Requital and reward [in the hereafter] accrued to the reader and memorizer of ttie
Quran for reciting and preserving it.

These are the most important factors that induced the people to memorize and to safeguard the Quran. The Muslims attached great importance to the Quran and safe‌ guarded it more than their own selves, or their wealth and their children. It has been related that a number of women collected the entire Quran. Ibn Sad, in his al- Tabaqlit relates the following narrative:

AI-Faql b. Dakin informed us, ai-Waad b. AbdAllah b. Jami related to us, saying: "My grandmother told me about Umm Waraqa bint AbdAllah b. al-f::larith, whom the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his progeny) used to visit and call a martyr (shahfda), and she.used to collect the Quran. When the Messenger of God was about to leave for the battle of Badr, she said to him, Do you allow me to come• out with you to nurse your wounded and take care of your sick? Maybe God would lead me to mar‌ tyrdom (shahada). The Prophet replied, Indeed, God has planned martyrdom for you through your collection of the Quran."١٢

If this was the case with women in the matter of the collection of the Quran, what would be the case with the men? A large number of those who memorized the Quran during the Prophets time are cited in the sources. Thus, al-Ququbi writes: "Seventy Quran reciters were killed during the battle of Yamama, and a similar number had been killed during the Prophets t me ١٣
In tradition ١٠, cited above, it was mentioned that the reciters who were killed in
the battle of Yamama numbered four hundred. Moreover, the importance that was attached by the Prophet to the Quran-in fact, he had many scribes, particularly since the Quran was revealed gradually in twenty-three years-impels us to conclude with certainty that the Prophet had ordered the writing of the Quran during his lifetime. To this effect, Zayd b. Thabit reported, "We used to record the Quran from parch‌ ments in the presence of the Messenger of God." And, about this tradition, al-I:Iakim says: "According to the rules set by the two shaykhs [al-Bukhari and Muslim], this tradition is"sound, although they have not mentioned it. Hence, this tradition pro‌ vides clear evidence that the Quran was collected during the Prophets time." ١٤
As for memorization of some suras or part of a sura, this was very common. In fact, there was rarely a Muslim man or woman who did not do that. Ubada b. al‌ Samit reports:
The Messenger of God used to be busy. Thus, when any person immigrated and came to the Messenger, he would send him to one of us to teach him the Quran." ١٥

Kulayb related:

I was with Ali (peace be upon him). He heard the voices of those who were reciting the Quran in the mosque. At that he said, "Blessed be those...."١٦

In another tradition, Ubada b. al-Samit says:

When a person used to migrate [to Medina], the Messenger of God used to tum him over to one of us to teach him the Quran. Thus, the mosque of the Messenger of God