How the Sahaba Learned the Qur'an: Ten Verses at a Time

How the Sahaba learned the Qur'an is captured in one well-known report: they took ten verses at a time from the Prophet ﷺ and did not move on to the next ten until they had learned the knowledge in them and put it into practice. They learned face to face, in small portions, with understanding and action growing together.

This article sets out that report with its source and grading, the other authentic narrations that show how the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) studied, and a ten-verse cycle you can follow yourself, whether you are memorising, revising or reading the Qur'an with its meaning for the first time.

What is the ten verses narration?

The ten verses narration is a report from Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, a Successor who learned the Qur'an from the Companions and taught it in Kufa for decades (his story is told in our article on the hadith "the best of you"). In the wording recorded by Imam Ahmad, he said:

"Those of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ who used to teach us the Qur'an told us that they would take ten verses from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and would not start on the next ten until they knew the knowledge and the action contained in these. They said: so we learned knowledge and action." (Musnad Ahmad 23482)

Is the ten verses narration authentic?

Yes, the ten verses narration is reliable. Imam Ahmad records it in his Musnad (23482), and Shaykh Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut graded its chain hasan (good) in his edition of the Musnad. Ibn Abi Shaybah and al-Tahawi record it as well, and IslamQA quotes it in its answer on the Companions who memorised the Qur'an.

Al-Tabari records a similar report from 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) in his tafsir, through a chain that has been judged authentic: when a man among them learned ten verses, he would not go beyond them until he knew their meanings and how to act on them. Two separate routes describe the same habit.

Why did the Companions stop at ten verses?

The Companions stopped at ten verses so that understanding and practice could keep pace with recitation. Ten verses is small enough to understand properly and to start living before the next portion begins. The Qur'an itself came down in that unhurried way, in parts over the years of prophethood, which is one stage in how the Qur'an was preserved from revelation to mushaf:

You can think of each ten-verse portion as having three parts. First the words: hearing the verses from a teacher and reciting them back correctly. Then the knowledge: what the verses mean and what they ask of you. Then the action: doing what they ask before taking on more. The report shows the Companions did not leave out the knowledge or the action, and those are exactly the parts a modern learner tends to drop.

What did knowledge and action look like for the Companions?

For the Companions, acting on a verse often meant acting on it the same day. Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) describes Abu Talhah, who owned more palm gardens than anyone among the Ansar and loved one above all: Bayruha', facing the Prophet's mosque. Then this verse was revealed:

Abu Talhah went to the Prophet ﷺ, recited the verse, and gave Bayruha' in charity for Allah's sake (al-Bukhari 1461). Anas also describes serving drinks at Abu Talhah's house when the announcement came that wine had been prohibited; Abu Talhah told him to go and pour it out, and it was seen flowing through the streets of Madinah (al-Bukhari 4620). In both cases, what had been heard was acted on at once.

How did the Sahaba learn the Qur'an from the Prophet ﷺ?

The Sahaba learned the Qur'an by hearing it directly from the Prophet ﷺ and reciting it back. 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said in a sermon, "By Allah, I learnt over seventy surahs direct from Allah's Messenger ﷺ", and the Arabic he used means, literally, from his mouth (al-Bukhari 5000). He also described the Prophet ﷺ teaching him the tashahhud with his hand between the Prophet's hands, "as he taught me a surah from the Qur'an" (al-Bukhari 6265).

Jibril would go over the Qur'an with the Prophet ﷺ once every year, and twice in the year he died (al-Bukhari 4998). Going over the Qur'an with someone else is the same habit that sits behind the chains of transmission teachers carry today, which our guide to ijazah and sanad explains.

Who taught the Qur'an among the Companions?

Many Companions taught the Qur'an, and the Prophet ﷺ named four that people should learn it from: 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Salim, Mu'adh and Ubayy ibn Ka'b.

Teaching spread quickly. Before the Prophet ﷺ reached Madinah, Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr and Ibn Umm Maktum were already there teaching people the Qur'an, and al-Bara' ibn 'Azib had read Surah al-A'la and other surahs of al-mufassal before the Prophet ﷺ arrived (al-Bukhari 3925). IslamQA notes that the best-known Companion teachers included 'Uthman, 'Ali and Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and that anyone who missed something while away on a campaign learned it from his companions.

Al-Dhahabi relates in Ma'rifat al-Qurra' al-Kibar (quoted by IslamQA), through Suwayd ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, that in the mosque of Damascus Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) taught after Fajr by dividing the learners into groups of ten, each with its own instructor, while he watched from the mihrab. A learner who made a mistake went to his instructor, and when an instructor erred, he asked Abu al-Darda'.

Did the Sahaba learn faith before the Qur'an?

Jundub ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) describes learning faith first and then finding that the Qur'an increased it. He said: "We were with the Prophet ﷺ, and we were strong youths, so we learned faith before we learned Qur'an. Then we learned Qur'an and our faith increased thereby" (Ibn Majah 61, graded sahih in the Darussalam edition).

That order is a useful check for anyone studying today. If your Qur'an time has shrunk to lines memorised and pages ticked off, the ten-verse habit brings you back to what the verses tell you about Allah, about yourself and about what you should do next.

How long did the Sahaba take to learn a surah?

No authentic report fixes how long a surah took the Sahaba; the ten verses report shows only that they moved on once a portion had been understood and acted on. Imam Malik mentions in al-Muwatta that it reached him that 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar spent eight years learning Surah al-Baqarah (Muwatta Malik, Book 15), but he gives no chain of narrators for it, so it cannot be treated as verified.

The depth of their knowledge shows in Ibn Mas'ud's words: "There is no surah revealed in Allah's Book but I know at what place it was revealed; and there is no verse revealed in Allah's Book but I know about whom it was revealed." He added that if he knew of anyone who knew the Book better and could be reached by camel, he would ride to him (al-Bukhari 5002).

How can you learn the Qur'an the way the Sahaba did?

You can follow the Sahaba's method today by working in small portions and keeping the words, the meaning and the practice together. Here is a ten-verse cycle that suits most learners; where the verses are long, take fewer.

Reflection is one of the reasons the Book was sent down, as Allah says:

A teacher who can hear your recitation and explain what you are reading makes this cycle far easier to keep. You can find a Qur'an or Arabic teacher of your choice and ask them to take you through your portions this way, starting with the short surahs.