Pada masa Nabi ﷺ, teks Al-Qur'an dijaga dalam ingatan dan juga dituliskan pada batu pipih, kayu, dan tulang.

During the time of the Prophet (saw), the text of the Qur‟an was preserved in memory and also inscripted on flat stones, wood, and bones.

Al-Qur'an dahulu diturunkan kepada Rasulullah ﷺ, dan beliau biasa memerintahkan orang-orang untuk menghafalkannya dan menuliskannya pada lembaran kulit, kertas, tulang belikat, pelepah kurma, tulang-belulang, tangkai daun kurma, dan sebagainya. Ketika ayat-ayat diturunkan, beliau memberi perintah agar ayat-ayat tersebut ditempatkan di tempat yang semestinya dalam surah (bab). Maka beliau biasa berkata: letakkan ayat ini dalam surah sekian setelah ayat sekian. Maka mereka pun meletakkannya di tempat yang semestinya dalam surah tersebut. Telah diriwayatkan dari Utsman (ra) bahwa ia berkata, "Ayat-ayat itu dahulu diturunkan kepada Nabi ﷺ, lalu beliau bersabda: 'Letakkanlah ayat-ayat ini dalam surah yang menyebutkan hal sekian dan sekian.'" (HR. Ibnu Majah dan Abu Dawud)

The Qur‟an used to be revealed to the Messenger of Allah (saw) and he used to instruct people to memorise it and write it down on pieces of leather, paper, scapula, palm risp, bones, leaf stalks of date palm etc. When the Ayat were revealed he used to give the order that they be placed in their proper place in the Surah (chapter). Thus, he used to say put this Ayah in such and such Surah after such and such Ayah. So they used to put them in their proper place in the Surah. It has been narrated by Uthman (ra) that he said, “The Ayat used to be revealed to the Prophet (saw) and so he used to say: “Put these Ayat in the Surah which mentions such and such thing.” (Ibn Majah & Abu Dawud)

Demikianlah keadaannya hingga seluruh Al-Qur'an diturunkan dan Allah (SWT) mencabut ruh beliau ﷺ setelah turunnya Al-Qur'an selesai. Oleh karena itu, susunan ayat-ayat setiap Surah dalam bentuk sebagaimana yang ada sekarang di dalam mushaf ditetapkan berdasarkan wahyu (tawqeefan) dari Nabi ﷺ, yang disampaikan kepada beliau ﷺ oleh Jibril dari Allah (SWT). Sesuai dengan susunan ini, umat menyampaikan Al-Qur'an dari Nabi ﷺ dan tidak ada perselisihan mengenai hal ini. Urutan ayat-ayat di dalam surah-surah (Surah) sama dengan bentuk yang kita lihat hari ini.

It was done in this manner until the whole Qur‟an was revealed and Allah (swt) took his (saw) soul after the revelation of the Qur‟an was complete. That is why the arrangement of the verses of every Surah in the form as it is in now in the present script (Mushaf) was determined by the revelation (Tawqeefan) from the Prophet (saw) transmitted to him (saw) by Jibreel from Allah (swt). According to this arrangement the Ummah transmitted the Qur‟an from the Prophet (saw) and there is no dispute about this. The order of the verses within the chapters (Surahs) was in the same form as we see today.

Adapun susunan sebagian surat-surat (Surah) disusun berdasarkan ijtihad para Sahabat (semoga Allah meridhai mereka).

As for the arrangement of some of the chapters (Surahs) they were put together according to the Ijtihad of Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them).

Imam Ahmad dan para penyusun kitab Sunan telah meriwayatkan sebuah hadis dari Ibnu 'Abbas yang dinyatakan shahih oleh Ibnu Hibban dan al-Hakim. Mereka meriwayatkan bahwa Ibnu Abbas (ra) bertanya kepada Utsman (ra) mengapa ia menempatkan Surah Al-Bara'ah (At-Taubah) setelah Surah Al-Anfal, padahal Al-Anfal termasuk al-Matsani (surah-surah yang kurang dari 100 ayat) dan Al-Bara'ah termasuk al-Mi'un (surah yang berisi sekitar 100 ayat). Ibnu Abbas berkata, "Kalian menggabungkan keduanya, tetapi tidak menuliskan di antara keduanya بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ (Bismillahirrahmanirrahim), dan kalian menempatkannya di antara tujuh surah yang panjang (ath-Thiwal)." Maka Utsman berkata, "Seringkali sebuah surah diturunkan kepada Rasulullah ﷺ yang memuat sejumlah ayat. Ketika sesuatu diturunkan kepadanya, yakni ayat-ayat darinya, beliau memanggil seseorang dari mereka yang biasa menulis untuknya dan berkata: 'Letakkanlah ayat-ayat ini di dalam surah yang di dalamnya disebutkan ini dan itu.' Surah Al-Anfal termasuk yang pertama kali diturunkan di Madinah, dan Al-Bara'ah diturunkan di akhir Al-Qur'an. Kisah keduanya menyerupai satu sama lain, sehingga aku mengira Al-Anfal adalah bagian dari Al-Bara'ah. Rasulullah ﷺ wafat dan beliau tidak menjelaskan kepada kami apakah Al-Anfal bagian dari Al-Bara'ah." Diriwayatkan pula oleh Sa'id bin Jubair dari Ibnu Abbas, ia berkata: "Nabi ﷺ tidak mengetahui berakhirnya suatu surah hingga turun Bismillahirrahmanirrahim." Dalam riwayat lain: "Ketika Bismillahirrahmanirrahim turun, mereka mengetahui bahwa surah itu telah berakhir." Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa urutan ayat dalam setiap surah bersifat tauqifi (ditetapkan berdasarkan wahyu). Dan karena Nabi ﷺ tidak menjelaskan persoalan al-Bara'ah, Utsman (ra) menggabungkannya dengan al-Anfal berdasarkan ijtihadnya sendiri. Penulis kitab al-Iqna' meriwayatkan bahwa Bismillah (singkatan dari Bismillahirrahmanirrahim) untuk al-Bara'ah terdapat dalam Mushaf Ibnu Mas'ud. Dilaporkan bahwa para Sahabat dahulu menyimpan salinan-salinan yang susunan surahnya berbeda, meskipun tidak ada perbedaan dalam susunan ayat. Maka Mushaf Ibnu Mas'ud disusun dengan cara yang berbeda dari Mushaf Utsman dalam hal susunan surah. Mushaf itu dimulai dengan Al-Fatihah, kemudian Al-Baqarah, Al-Nisa dan Aal-Imran. Berbeda dengan Mushaf Utsmani yang susunannya adalah Al-Fatihah, Al-Baqarah, Aal-Imran, lalu Al-Nisa. Tidak satu pun dari keduanya disusun menurut urutan turunnya wahyu. Dikatakan bahwa Mushaf Ali disusun menurut urutan turunnya wahyu. Mushaf itu dimulai dengan Iqra', kemudian Al-Muddaththir, Nun wal qalam, Al-Muzzammil, Tabbat, Al-Takwir, Sabbih, dan terus demikian hingga akhir surah-surah Makkiyah, lalu dilanjutkan dengan surah-surah Madaniyah.

Imam Ahmad and the Sunan compilers have reported a hadith by Ibn 'Abbas which has been declared sound by Ibn Hibban and al-Hakim, they narrated that Ibn Abbas (ra) asked Uthman (ra) as to why he put Surah Al-Bara‟ah (At-Tawba) after Surah Al-Anfal when it is from the Mathani (Surahs with less than 100 Ayahs) and Al-Bara'ah is from the Mi'un (consisting of about 100 Ayahs). Ibn Abbas said, “You have put them together them and you did not write between the line بِسْمِ اللَّوِ الرَّحَْْنِ الرَّحِيمِ 'Bism‟illah ar-rahman ar-rahim” and you have placed them among the seven long (Tiwal) Surahs. So Uthman said, “Often a Surah would be revealed to the Messenger of Allah (saw) that would have a number of verses. When something was revealed to him – i.e. verses from it - he used to call someone from among those who used to write for him and say: „Place these Ayah in the Surah, in which this and this is mentioned. Surah Al-Anfal was one of the first to be revealed in Madinah and Al-Bara'ah was at the end of the Qur‟an. Their narrative used to resemble each other so I thought Anfal was part of Bara‟ah.” The Messenger of Allah (saw) died and he did not clarify to us if Al-Anfal was part of Al-Bara'ah. Thus, it has been narrated by Sa'eed b. Jubayr from Ibn 'Abbas who said that: “The Prophet (saw) did not know the ending of a Surah until 'Bism‟illah ar-rahman a-rahim' was revealed.” In another narration: “When Bism‟illah ar-rahman ar-rahim was revealed they knew that the Surah had come to an end.” This indicates that the verse order in every Surah was determined by revelation (Tawqifiyyan). And since the Prophet (saw) did not elucidate the issue of al-Bara'ah, Uthman (ra) added it to al-Anfal according to his own Ijtihad. The author of al-Iqna' reported that the Bism‟illah (abbr. for Bism‟illah ar-rahman ar-rahim) for al-Bara'ah is present in the Mushaf (collection) of Ibn Mas'ud. It has been reported that the Sahabah used to keep copies whose arrangement of Surahs was different though there were no differences in the verse arrangement. So the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud was compiled in a manner different to the Mushaf of Uthman in terms of the arrangement of the Surahs. It began with Al-Fatiha, then Al-Baqarah, Al-Nisa and Aal-Imran. Contrary to the Uthmani Mushaf whose arrangement is al-Fatiha, al-Baqarah, Aal-Imran and then Al-Nisa. None of them were compiled according to the order of revelation. It is said that the Mushaf of 'Ali was according to the order of revelation, it began with Iqra', then Al-Muddaththir, Nun wal qalam, Al-Muzzammil, Tabbat, Al-Takweer, Sabbih, it went on in this manner to the end of the Makkan Surahs and then to the Madinan Surahs.

Semua ini menunjukkan bahwa urutan beberapa surah ditata berdasarkan ijtihad para Sahabat. Oleh karena itu, menjaga urutan surah dalam membaca tidak wajib, baik dalam membaca Al-Qur'an (Tilawah), dalam shalat (Salat), dalam pelajaran maupun dalam pengajaran, sebagaimana dibuktikan dengan fakta bahwa Nabi ﷺ membaca Surah An-Nisa sebelum Ali 'Imran dalam shalat malam beliau. Adapun yang diriwayatkan tentang larangan membaca Al-Qur'an secara terbalik, yang dimaksud adalah bahwa satu ayat dalam satu surah tidak boleh dibaca terbalik, bukan membaca surah-surah secara terbalik urutannya.

All of this indicates that the Surah arrangement in relation to some Surahs were arranged according to the Ijtihad of the Sahabah. That is why maintaining the arrangement of Surahs in recitation in not obligatory whether in reciting the Qur‟an (Tilaawah), in the prayer (Salah), in a lesson or in teaching, as evidenced by the fact that the Prophet (saw) read Surah al-Nisa before Aal-Imran in his night prayer. As for what has been reported about the prohibition of reciting the Qur‟an in reverse order, what was intended was that an Ayah in one Surah should not be read in reverse, not the recitation of Surahs in reverse order.

Malaikat Jibril biasa membacakan kepada Rasulullah ﷺ seluruh apa yang telah diturunkan dari Al-Qur'an sekali setiap tahun. Dan pada tahun wafatnya Rasulullah ﷺ, Jibril membacakan seluruh Al-Qur'an dua kali kepada Rasulullah ﷺ. Hal ini diriwayatkan oleh Aisyah (ra.) dari Fatimah (ra) bahwa:

The angel Jibreel used to read once every year all of what had been revealed to the Messenger (saw) from the Qur‟an. And in the year in which the Messenger of Allah (saw) died Jibreel recited the whole of the Qur‟an twice to the Messenger (saw). It has been narrated by Aisha (ra.) on the authority of Fatimah (ra) that:

Nabi ﷺ menyampaikan kepadaku bahwa: „Jibril biasa membacakan Al-Qur'an kepadaku setiap tahun.‟" (HR. Bukhari)

“The Prophet (saw) confided in me that: „Jibreel used to read the Qur‟an to me every year.‟” (Bukhari)

Diriwayatkan juga dari Abu Hurayra, bahwa beliau berkata:

It has also been narrated by Abu Hurayra that he said:

"Jibril dahulu menyampaikan Al-Qur'an kepada Nabi ﷺ setiap tahun sekali, namun di tahun beliau wafat, Jibril menyampaikannya dua kali kepada beliau." (Bukhari)

“Jibreel used to present the Qur‟an to the Prophet once a year, but he presented it twice to him in the year he died.” (Bukhari)

Penyajian Al-Qur'an oleh Jibril kepada Rasulullah ﷺ setiap tahun berarti beliau memaparkan susunan ayat-ayatnya dalam kaitannya dengan ayat-ayat lain, serta susunan ayat-ayatnya di dalam surah masing-masing, karena menyajikan kitab berarti menyajikan kalimat-kalimatnya, kata-katanya, dan susunannya.

Jibreel's presentation of the Qur‟an to the Messenger (saw) every year means that he presented the arrangement of its verses in relation to other verses and the arrangement of its verses in their respective chapters because presenting the book means to present its sentences, words and arrangement.

Ada pula hadits-hadits lain yang secara eksplisit menyebutkan susunan ayat. Hadits-hadits tersebut menjelaskan hubungan ayat-ayat satu dengan yang lain serta susunan ayat dalam surah masing-masing, seperti: "Letakkanlah ayat-ayat ini di surah sekian setelah ayat sekian," dan "Letakkanlah ayat-ayat itu di dalam surah yang menyebutkan hal sekian dan sekian." Suatu surah berakhir dan surah lain dimulai sebagaimana telah ditetapkan oleh Allah melalui Jibril. Semua ini jelas menunjukkan bahwa susunan ayat dalam surah-surahnya, serta bentuk surah-surah dari segi jumlah ayat dan tempat-tempatnya, seluruhnya bersifat tauqifi, yakni ditetapkan oleh Allah ﷻ. Umat menyampaikannya dalam bentuk ini dari Nabi ﷺ, dan hal itu dibuktikan dengan tawatur (riwayat yang mutawatir).

There are also other Ahadith which explicitly mention the arrangment of verses. They state the verses in relation to each other and the arrangment of verses in their respective chapters, “Place these verses in such and such Surah after such and such Ayah.” “Place those verses in that Surah that mentioned such and such thing.” A Surah would end and another Surah would begin as decreed by Allah through Jibreel. All of this definitely indicates that the arrangement of verses in their chapters and the form of the Surahs in terms of the number of verses and their places, all of that is determined (Tawqifi) by Allah (swt). The Ummah transmitted it in this form from the Prophet (saw) and that is proven by Tawaatur (recurrent reports).

Diriwayatkan dari Ummul Mukminin, Aisyah (ra), bahwa seseorang dari Irak datang kepadanya dan bertanya, "Jenis kain kafan apa yang terbaik?" Aisyah menjawab, "Semoga Allah merahmatimu! Apa pedulinya?" Orang itu berkata, "Wahai Ummul Mukminin! Perlihatkanlah kepadaku (salinan) Al-Qur'an milikmu." Aisyah bertanya, "Mengapa?" Orang itu berkata, "Agar aku dapat menyusun dan mengatur Al-Qur'an sesuai dengannya, karena orang-orang membacanya dengan surat-suratnya tidak dalam urutan yang semestinya." Aisyah berkata:

It was narrated by the mother of the believers, Aisha (ra), that a person from Iraq came to her and asked, “What type of shroud is the best?” Aisha said, “May Allah be merciful to you! What does it matter?” He said, “O mother of the believers! Show me (the copy of) your Qur‟an.” She said, “Why?" He said, “In order to compile and arrange the Qur‟an according to it, for people recite it with its Surahs not in proper order.” 'Aisha said:

"Apa pentingnya bagian mana yang kamu baca lebih dulu? Ketahuilah bahwa yang pertama kali diturunkan darinya adalah sebuah surah dari Al-Mufashshal, dan di dalamnya disebutkan tentang surga dan neraka. Ketika orang-orang memeluk Islam, barulah turun ayat-ayat tentang perkara halal dan haram. Seandainya yang pertama kali turun adalah: 'Jangan minum minuman keras.' niscaya orang-orang akan berkata, 'Kami tidak akan pernah meninggalkan minuman keras,' dan seandainya yang diturunkan adalah, 'Jangan berzina,' niscaya mereka akan berkata, 'Kami tidak akan pernah meninggalkan zina.' Ketika aku masih seorang gadis kecil yang suka bermain, ayat berikut diturunkan di Makkah kepada Muhammad ﷺ: “Bahkan hari kiamat itulah waktu yang dijanjikan kepada mereka, dan hari kiamat itu lebih dahsyat dan lebih pahit.” (QS. Al-Qamar: 46)"

“What does it matter which part of it you read first? Know that the first thing that was revealed thereof was a Surah from Al-Mufassal, and in it was mentioned Paradise and the Fire. When the people embraced Islam, the verses regarding legal and illegal things were revealed. If the first thing to be revealed was: 'Do not drink alcoholic drinks.' people would have said, 'We will never leave alcoholic drinks,' and if there had been revealed, 'Do not commit illegal sexual intercourse, 'they would have said, 'We will never give up illegal sexual intercourse.' While I was a young girl of playing age, the following verse was revealed in Makkah to Muhammad: “Nay! But the Hour is their appointed time (for their full recompense), and the Hour will be more grievous and more bitter.” (TMQ Al-Qamar: 46)

"Surah Al-Baqarah dan Surah An-Nisa' diturunkan ketika aku bersamanya." Kemudian 'Aisyah mengeluarkan salinan Al-Qur'an untuk laki-laki itu dan mendiktekan kepadanya ayat-ayat dari surah-surah tersebut. Hadis ini menunjukkan bahwa surah-surah dalam Al-Qur'an belum disusun secara berurutan. Bersama dengan apa yang telah disebutkan sebelumnya mengenai perbedaan susunan dalam mushaf-mushaf para Sahabat, menjadi jelas bahwa penyusunan surah-surah tersebut dilakukan berdasarkan ijtihad para Sahabat.

Surah Al-Baqara and Surah al-Nisa were revealed while I was with him.” Then 'Aisha took out the copy of the Qur‟an for the man and dictated to him the verses of the Surahs. This hadith shows that the chapters of the Qur‟an had not been put together in order. Together with what was mentioned earlier about the different arrangements in the Mushaf‟s of various Sahabah it becomes clear that the arrangement of the Surahs was according to the Ijtihad of the Sahabah.