Musnad Ahmad

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that once I asked Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him): What compelled you people to combine Surah Anfal, which is from the Mathani, with Surah Bara’ah, which is from the Mi’in, and not write even a line of “Bismillah” between them, and you counted both among the “Seven Long Surahs”? Why did you do this? Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: When revelation was being sent down to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), sometimes several surahs would be revealed together, and it was the habit of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that when any revelation was sent down, he would call one of his scribes and have it written, and would say: Place this in such-and-such surah at such-and-such place. Sometimes several verses would be revealed, and on that occasion, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would indicate that these verses should be placed in this surah, and sometimes only a single verse would be revealed, but even then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would specify its place. Surah Anfal was revealed in the early period of Madinah, while Surah Bara’ah, in terms of revelation, is among the last parts of the Noble Qur’an, and the events and rulings of both are extremely similar to each other. Meanwhile, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) departed from this world and could not clarify to us whether it is a part of it or not. I assumed that Surah Bara’ah is a part of Surah Anfal, so I combined both and did not write the line of “Bismillah” between them, and counted them among the “Seven Long Surahs.”