According to the narration of Sahih Bukhari and Tirmidhi, when the Quran was being compiled under the reign of Abu Bakr, the only person to bear witness to the supposed verses of 9:128-129 was one single individual by the name of Khuzaima.
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 Prophetโs Companions who fought against Musailima). (I went to him) and found Umar bin Al- Khattab sitting with him. Abu Bakr then said (to me), โUmar has come to me and said: โCasualties were heavy among the Qurraโ of the Qurโan (i.e. those who knew the Qurโan by heart) on the day of the Battle of Yamama, and I am afraid that more heavy casualties may take place among the Qurraโ on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qurโan may be lost. Therefore I suggest, you (Abu Bakr) order that the Qurโan be collected.โ I said to Umar, โHow can you do something which Allahโs Apostle did not do?โ Umar said, โBy Allah, that is a good project.โ Umar kept on urging me to accept his proposal till Allah opened my chest for it and I began to realize the good in the idea which Umar had realized.โ Then Abu Bakr said (to me). โYou are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ). So you should search for (the fragmentary scripts of) the Qurโan and collect it in one book.โ By Allah 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 Qurโan. Then I said to Abu Bakr, โHow will you do something which Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ) did not do?โ Abu Bakr replied, โBy Allah, it is a good project.โ Abu Bakr kept on urging me to accept his idea until Allah opened my chest for what He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and Umar. So I started looking for the Qurโan and collecting it from (what was written on) palme stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it by heart, till I found the last Verse of Surat at-Tauba (Repentance) with Abi Khuzaima Al-Ansari, and I did not find it with anybody other than him. The Verse is: โVerily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty..(till the end of Surat-Baraaโ (at-Tauba) (9.128-129). Then the complete pages (suhuf) of the Qurโan remained with Abu Bakr till he died, then with Umar till the end of his life, and then with Hafsa, the daughter of `Umar.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4986
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4986 โ
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Abu Bakr sent for me and said, โYou used to write the Divine Revelations for Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ): So you should search for (the Qurโan and collect) it.โ I started searching for the Qurโan till I found the last two Verses of Surat at-Tauba with Abi Khuza`ima Al-Ansari and I could not find these Verses with anybody other than him. (They were): โVerily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty โฆโ (9.128-129)
Sahih al-Bukhari 4989
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4989 โ
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Abu Bakr sent for me owing to the large number of casualties in the battle of Al-Yamama, while Umar was sitting with him. Abu Bakr said (to me), Umar has come to my and said, โA great number of Qaris of the Holy Qurโan were killed on the day of the battle of Al-Yamama, and I am afraid that the casualties among the Qaris of the Qurโan may increase on other battle-fields whereby a large part of the Qurโan may be lost. Therefore I consider it advisable that you (Abu Bakr) should have the Qurโan collected.โ I said, โHow dare I do something which Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ) did not do?โ Umar said, By Allah, it is something beneficial.โ Umar kept on pressing me for that till Allah opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chest of Umar and I had in that matter, the same opinion as Umar had.โ Abu Bakr then said to me (Zaid), โYou are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ). So you should search for the fragmentary scripts of the Qurโan and collect it (in one Book).โ Zaid further said: By Allah, if Abu Bakr had ordered me to shift a mountain among the mountains from one place to another it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qurโan. Then I said (to Umar and Abu Bakr), โHow can you do something which Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ) did not do?โ Abu Bakr said, โBy Allah, it is something beneficial.โ Zaid added: So he (Abu Bakr) kept on pressing me for that until Allah opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and Umar, and I had in that matter, the same opinion as theirs. So I started compiling the Qurโan by collecting it from the leafless stalks of the date-palm tree and from the pieces of leather and hides and from the stones, and from the chests of men (who had memorized the Qurโan). I found the last verses of Sirat-at-Tauba: (โVerily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselvesโโ (9.128-129)) from Khuzaima or Abi Khuzaima and I added to it the rest of the Sura. The pages (suhuf) of the Qurโan remained with Abu Bakr till Allah took him unto Him. Then it remained with Umar till Allah took him unto Him, and then with Hafsa bint Umar.
Sahih al-Bukhari 7191
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7191 โ
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Abu Bakr sent for me, so I collected the Qurโan till I found the last part of Surat-at-Tauba with Abi Khuza`ima Al-Ansari and did not find it with anybody else. (The Verses are): โ โVerily, there has come to you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves..(till the end of Surat Baraโa) (i.e., at- Tauba).โ (9.128-129) Yunus also narrated as above.
Sahih al-Bukhari 7425
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7425 โ
Narrated Az-Zuhri: โFrom โUbaid bin As-Sabbaq, that Zaid bin Thabit narrated to him, he said: โAbu Bakr As-Siddiq sent for me โ (regarding) those killed at Al-Yamamah โ and โUmar bin Al-Khattab was with him. He (Abu Bakr) said: โโUmar came to me and said: The fighting inflicted many casualties among the reciters of the Qurโan on the Day of Al-Yamamah, and I fear that there will be more casualties among the reciters in other parts of the land, such that much of the Qurโan may be lost. In my view, you should order that the Qurโan be collected.โโ Abu Bakr said to โUmar: โHow can I do something which was not done my the Messenger of Allah (๏ทบ)?โ โUmar said: โBy Allah! It is something good.โ โUmar continued trying to convince me until Allah opened up my chest to that which He had opened the chest of โUmar, and I saw it as he saw it.โ Zaid said: โAbu Bakr said: โYou are a young wise man, and we have no suspicions of you. You used to write down the Revelation for the Messenger of Allah as the Qurโan was revealed.โ He (Zaid) said: โBy Allah! If they had ordered to move one of the mountains it would have been lighter on me than that.โ He said: โI said: โHow will you do something which was not done by the Messenger of Allah (๏ทบ)?โ Abu Bakr said: โBy Allah! It is something good.โ Abu Bakr and โUmar continued trying to convince me, until Allah opened up my chest for that, just as He had opened their chests, the chest of Abu Bakr and the chest of โUmar. So I began searching for Qurโanic material from parchments, leaf stalks of date-palms and Al-Likhaf โ meaning stones โ and the chests of men. I found the end of Surah Baraโah with Khuzaimah bin Thabit: Verily, there has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty. He is eager for you; for the believers (he is) full of pity, kind, and merciful. But if they turn away, say: โAllah is sufficient for me. There is no god but He, in Him I put my trust, and He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne (9: 128 & 129).โโ
This was clearly a problem because if we are to accept this narrative that verses 9:128 and 129 were only with Khuzeimah, this means that during the prophetโs life, not a single one of his companions could have honestly claimed to have memorized the whole Quran. This includes Abu Bakr (first caliph, d. 634), โUmar b. al-Khattab (second caliph, d. 656), โUthman b. โAffan (third caliph, d. 656), โAli b. Abi Talib (fourth caliph, d. 660), Abu Musa al-Ashโari (d. 664), Zaid b. Thabit (d. 665), or Aisha the wife of the prophet. Additionally, this means that not a single one of the 65 scribes that the prophet had at his disposal had these two written down anywhere. How is this possible with the supposed thousands of companions who memorized the Quran, that not a single one of them aside from Khuzeimah had these two verses written or memorized?
No other witness is cited in any of the six canonical compilations of Hadith (Kutub as-Sittah), nor in the Muwatta of Imam Malik. Clearly, the fact that these non-mutawatir verses could enter the Quran left many unsettled. Therefore some point to these other narrations as support to the claim that others knew these verses as well. However, as we will see, these narrations cause many other contradictions and only shed more doubt on the entire narrative regarding the addition of these verses in the Quran.
Narrated to us, Ibn Wahb said: Omar bin Talha al-Laithi informed me that Muhammad bin Amr bin Alqama reported from Yahya bin Abdul Rahman bin Hatib who said: Uthman bin Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, stood up and said, โ Whoever has any portion of the Quran with him, let him come to us with it.โ And he did not accept anything from that until two witnesses testified to it. Then Khuzaimah bin Thabit came and said, โI have seen that you have left out two verses from the Quran that you did not write.โ Uthman asked him, โWhat are they?โ Khuzaimah replied, โI received them from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They are from Surah Al-Tawba, from verse 128 to the end of the Surah.โ Uthman said, โI bear witness that they are from Allah. Where do you suggest we place them?โ Khuzaimah said, โInclude them in the end.โ Uthman included them at the end. Abu Salama bin Abdul Rahman said, โUthman ordered some young men from the Arabs to write the Quran and Zaid bin Thabit dictated it to them. When they reached the verse that referred to a โTabutโ (box), Zaid bin Thabit said, โWrite it as Tabaqaโ. But they said, โNo, we will write it as Tabutโ. So, they informed Uthman of this and he said, โWrite it as Tabut. Verily, it was revealed on a man from among us, in clear Arabic language.'โ
According to this narration, it was Uthman who was collecting the Quran. This would imply that this was done during the second compilation during Uthmanโs reign when he compiled and attempted to standardize the rasm and recitation of the Quran because there were disputes in its recitation throughout the Muslim empire, rather than the first compilation carried out during the reign of Abu Bakr as is claimed in the ahadith from Bukhari and Tirmidhi.
Additionally, it indicates that it was Khuzaimah bin Thabit instead of Khuzaima Al-Ansari, as specified in the Bukhari hadith, who presented the missing verses. This also corresponds with the later compilation under Uthman as opposed to the first compilation under Abu Bakr. In this later compilation, Khuzaimah bin Thabit supposedly provided the missing page of Sura 33:23 during the compilation of Uthman.
Narrated Kharija bin Zaid: Zaid bin Thabit said, โWhen the Qurโan was compiled from various written manuscripts, one of the Verses of Surat Al-Ahzab was missing which I used to hear Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ) reciting. I could not find it except with Khuza`ima bin Thabit Al-Ansari, whose witness Allahโs Messenger (๏ทบ) regarded as equal to the witness of two men. And the Verse was: โ โAmong the believers are men who have been true to what they covenanted with Allah.โ (33.23)
Sahih al-Bukhari 2807
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2807
This later compilation was also when the discussion regarding the spelling of Tabut ( ุงูุชููุงุจููุชู) was had according to the narrations from Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3104.
That aside, If this narration is true, this would mean that a person by the name of Khuzaimah already pushed to insert these verses in the first compilation during the compilation under the reign of Abu Bakr and was repeating this task again in the second compilation under the supervision of Uthman. So by this time, it wouldnโt be a surprise that Uthman would have already accepted Khuzaimahโs testimony regarding these two verses and could say he bore witness to these verses because it was already accepted in the first compilation despite having a single witness because they claimed that Khuzaimahโs testimony is worth that of two men.
If we look at the supposed hadith where it is shown that Khuzaimahโs testimony is worth that of two men we see the absurdity of this narration because it claims that since Khuzaimah was willing to bear false witness in favor of the prophet declared that from then on Khuzaimahโs testimony would be that of two men. For reference, below is the Hadith:
Narrated Uncle of Umarah ibn Khuzaymah: The Prophet bought a horse from a Bedouin. The Prophet took him with him to pay him the price of his horse. The Messenger of Allah walked quickly, and the Bedouin walked slowly. The people stopped the Bedouin and began to bargain with him for the horse as, and they did not know that the Prophet had bought it. The Bedouin called the Messenger of Allah saying: If you want this horse, (then buy it), otherwise I shall sell it. The Prophet stopped when he heard the call of the Bedouin, and said: Have I not bought it from you? The Bedouin said: I swear by Allah, I have not sold it to you. The Prophet said: Yes, I have bought it from you. The Bedouin began to say: Bring a witness. Khuzaymah ibn Thabit then said: I bear witness that you have bought it. The Prophet turned to Khuzaymah and said: On what (grounds) do you bear witness? He said: By considering you trustworthy, Messenger of Allah! The Prophet made the witness of Khuzaymah equivalent to the witness of two people.
Sunan Abi Dawud 3607
https://sunnah.com/abudawud:3607
Another peculiarity in this first example is that Utham bore witness to the verse along with Khuzaimah, except Uthamn was unclear where the two verses supposedly belonged. So he asked Khuzaimah to tell him where he shall place the verses even though he had already stated that they were verse 128 of Sura al-Tawba. Not only does this not make sense, but even if we entertain this narrationโs apparent contradiction, it means that not even Uthman remembered or knew where these two verses supposedly belonged. So we are to believe that the Khuzaimah was authorized to dictate where to place verses.
Additionally, it is well established in Hadith corpus that Sura 9, Ultimatum (Barรฃโah / ุณูุฑุฉ ุจูุฑูุงุกูุฉู) was sent in a single revelation.
Narrated Al-Bara: The last Sura which was revealed in full was Baraa (i.e. Sura-at-Tauba), and the last Sura (i.e. part of a Sura) which was revealed was the last Verses of Sura-an-Nisaโ: โ โThey ask you for a legal decision. Say: Allah directs (thus) About those who have No descendants or ascendants As heirs.โ (4.177)
Abu Ishaq said that he heard al-Baraโ b. โAzib (Allah be pleased with him) say: The last complete sura revealed (in the Holy Qurโan) is Sura Tauba (i e. al-Baraโat, ix.), and the last verse revealed is that pertaining to Kalala.
Sahih Muslim 1618c
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1618c
It is even understood that these two verses are not part of the revelation of Sura 9, as Sura 9 was revealed in Medina, but these two supposed verses were revealed in Mecca. Nowhere else in the Quran do we have a Medinan sura that ends with Meccan verses.
This shows that these two verses were not part of Sura 9 and, therefore, not part of the original Quran, but were added later arbitrarily to the end of Sura 9.
And Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Shukr al-Tamimi, from Isfahan, informed us that Abul Khair Muhammad ibn Raja ibn Ibrahim ibn Umar ibn Al-Hassan ibn Yunus had told them, reciting to them: โI am Ahmad ibn Abdul Rahman al-Zakwani, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Musa ibn Marduwaih, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ziyad, Al-Hasan ibn Al-Abbas al-Razi, and Abu Yahya al-Zaโfarani. They said, โAhmad ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Saโd al-Dashtaki informed us, and Abdullah ibn Abi Jaโfar al-Razi said, โMy father told me that Al-Rabiโ reported from Abu Al-Alaโia who reported from Ubay ibn Kaโb that they collected the Qurโan in Musโhafs (codices) during the caliphate of Abu Bakr. Some men used to write and recite to them, and Ubay ibn Kaโb was one of them. When they reached the verse in Surat Al-Barah, โThen Allah turned their hearts after that,โ they thought that it was the last verse that was revealed from the Qurโan. Ubay ibn Kaโb said to them, โIndeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) recited two more verses after it: โVerily, there has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty. He (the Messenger of Allah) is anxious over you (to be rightly guided, to repent to Allah, and beg Him to pardon and forgive your sins, in order that you may enter Paradise and be saved from the punishment of the Hell-fire), for the believers he is full of pity, kind, and merciful. Then, if they turn away, say: โAllah is sufficient for me. La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), in Him I put my trust, and He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne.โ (Quran, 9: 128-129)
According to this narration, the compilation was not done by Zaid ibn Thabit but Ubay ibn Kaโb instead. This narration also uses the term โ musโhafโ ( ู ูุตูุงุญูู) rather than โ suhufโ ( ุตููุญูู) in regard to the manuscript. It is well established that the musโhaf was compiled during the reign of Uthman and not Abu Bakr, as this Hadith claims.
Also, note that according to the scribes, they thought that verse 127 was the end of the Sura. This is further evidence that this was not a verse that was known by the very people that one would expect to have memorized the entire Quran. Also, this poses another major red flag. If apparently, after 9:127, there were two more verses, how is it possible that this was not more well-known? If it was truly the last verses revealed in the Quran, then one would expect that these verses and this fact would have made these supposed two verses more famous rather than being unknown by the masses.
Another red flag is that according to the isnad in the source link for this Hadith, the Muhammad bin Rajaa Al-Asbhani ( ู ุญู ุฏ ุจู ุฑุฌุงุก ุงูุฃุตุจูุงูู) is considered โanonymousโ ( ู ุฌููู ุงูุญุงู).
Ali ibn Bahar narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Salama narrated to us from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from Yahya ibn Abbฤd, from his father Abbฤd ibn Abdullฤh ibn Zubayr who said: Harith ibn Khazima came to us with these two verses from the end of Surat al-Tawbah, (verse 128), until he reached the part about Umar ibn al-Khattab. Umar asked, โWho was with you when you heard this?โ Harith replied, โI donโt know, but I testify that I heard it from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and I understood and memorized it.โ Umar then said, โI also testify that I heard it from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). If it were three verses, I would have made it a separate chapter. Look for a chapter of the Quran and place it in it.โ So I placed it at the end of Surat al-Tawbah.
In this narration, the verse was introduced by Harith ibn Khazima and, this time, presented to Umar. Despite Umar supposedly also claiming to testify to hearing it from the Messenger of Allah, from the narration, it is clear they didnโt know where it belonged and even considered making it its own Sura if there were three verses. This narration is a major insult to the authenticity of the compilation of the Quran. If Umar was arbitrarily adding verses to Suras or deciding to make certain verses of three or more into its own Sura, what would this say regarding the rest of the compilation if this was true?
This narration contradicts all the other narrations on this topic as it is the only one that mentions Harith ibn Khazima or Umar as involved in this compilation. Also, this narration has the same red flag as previously stated, i.e., Sura 9 coming down in a single revelation, the laissez-faire attitude to which Sura they should amend these verses on top of, and that they even considered making it its own sura.
Abu Ahmad Abdullah bin Ahmad Al-Harbi informed us in Al-Harbiyah that Hibatullah Al-Lah informed them that Al-Hassan bin Ali, Ahmad bin Jaโfar, and Abdullah bin Ahmad said: โRuha bin Abdul-Muโmin narrated to us that Umar bin Shaqeeq narrated to us that Abu Jaโfar Al-Razi narrated to us that Al-Rabiโ bin Anas reported from Abu Al-Alaโ that they collected the Qurโan in manuscripts (musโhafs) during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and there were people who wrote and dictated to them, including Ubay bin Kaโb. When they finished reciting this verse from Surat Al-Tawbah (9:127) โThen Allah turned their hearts after that because they were a people who did not understand,โ their hearts were saddened because they thought this was the end of the Qurโanโs revelation. Ubay bin Kaโb then told them that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had recited two more verses after this, โThere has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful. But if they turn away, [O Muhammad], say, โSufficient for me is Allah; there is no deity except Himโฆโ (9:128-129), and he said, โThis is the end of what was revealed from the Qurโan,โ and he sealed it with โAllah, there is no deity except Himโ (Taha 20:98), which is the saying of Allah, blessed and exalted, โAnd We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to himโฆโ
This narration has the same challenges as mentioned in the previous examples. For example, it uses the term musโhaf rather than suhuf, implying that this was not a single compilation and therefore alluding that this was regarding the compilation associated with Uthman rather than Abu Bakr, like the Hadith claims. This is further corroborated since it claims that Ubay bin Kaโb did the compilation, not Zaid bin Thabit. Also, this narration again states that the scribes thought verse 127 was the last verse of Sura 9. Additionally, according to the source linked above, one of the narrators in the chain, Al-Hassan bin Ali Al-Tamimi. is considered weak in the isnad.
Conclusion
As shown, these Hadith do not help support the case for 9:128 and 129 but only cause more confusion and disarray to the entire history regarding how these verses were added to the Quran and shed more doubt on the authenticity of these verses. Most of these examples appear to conflate the compilation under the reign of Uthman in the creation of the musโhafs with the compilation described in Bukhari aHadith of the compilation of the suโhuf under the reign of Abu Bakr. Indication of this, in addition to the usage of musโhaf as opposed to suโhuf is further reinforced with the names used and the context described, e.g., the spelling of Tabut.
One other glaring weakness in these four examples provided is that these supposed narrations are from third parties attesting to something that happened to the people they are describing. Yet, the narrations from Bukhari are supposedly from Zaid bin Thabit himself, narrating the event that happened to him in the first person.
Furthermore, even if we accept these to be more sound than the Hadith cited by Bukhari, this just shows that the scribes were not even aware of these verses, the compilers in their respective Hadith were unsure where to put these verses, and that this addition happened later in the history of the Quran than described in Bukhari. All this just compounds the problem with the history of these verses and the lack of witnesses to the authenticity of these verses as part of the Quran.